Derham Body Company of Philadelphia was a custom coachbuilding company founded by Irish wheelwright Joseph Derham (1865–1928)[1] in 1887 to make carriages. As automobiles became more popular their clientele asked Derham to provide bodies for their cars.[2] It was claimed only New York's Brewster had a similar reputation.[1]
Following World War II Derham's business steadily declined. Most competitors had already been destroyed by the Great Depression. After the retirement of the last of the founder's sons in 1971 the entire premises were used as a Ferrari dealership.[1]
Carriages
Derham's Landaus, Victorias, Meadowbrooks, Phaetons and Broughams were much in demand by Philadelphia's élite.[1] Their requirements changed to automobile bodies.
Automobile bodies
To cope with the increased activity Derham required larger premises so a purpose-built plant was erected in Rosemont, Pennsylvania where many of their customers lived.[2]
Custom bodies
Derham always made one-off custom bodies but they were financially stabilised by taking on regular series production work.
Semi-custom bodies
From early on dealers would order more than one body of a particular design and this cost-saving practice grew to become short production runs of perhaps 20 or more identical automobiles.[1]
Cars made before the 1930s were mostly formal and intended to be chauffeur-driven but by the end of the 1920s Derham was making attractive convertibles and they became the bulk of production.[2]
Garthwaite
The Derham business and its building were sold to Al Garthwaite in 1964 when business had been reduced to armoring Cadillac and Lincoln limousines and restoration of classic cars.[1]
Floyd-Derham
Disagreements after the founder's death led to one of his sons going out on his own with William Floyd, a European car importer. Floyd-Derham exhibited for the first time in the fall of 1928. The onset of the depression led Floyd to pull out of the partnership and Philip Derham began to work for Duesenberg.[1]
The Derham archives are kept by the Classic Car Club of America.[1]
References
- Coachbuilt.com accessed June 25, 2017^
- Hugo Pfau, The Coachbuilt Packard, Darlton Watson, London 1973 ISBN 0901564109^