Hibbard Coachbuilders
Custom coachwork on both domestic and European car chassis was part of the automobile industry since its inception in the latter part of the 19th century. Manufacturers of horse-drawn carriages then made a relatively smooth transition to a chassis powered by an engine, not a four-legged equine with hooves.
Thomas L. Hibbard (1898-1982) had an amazing career as a designer of motor car coachwork, both in the USA and Europe. He was born in New York, just south of the Brooklyn Bridge in the Brooklyn Heights section of the city. He eventually went west after school for some early experience at the premises of coachbuilder Leon Rubay in Ohio, as well as C.P. Kimball & Company in Chicago. Both Rubay and Kimball had their work mounted on high-class luxury chassis such as White, Locomobile, and Pierce-Arrow.
By the time World War I was over, Hibbard and
