MURRELLS INLET, S.C. — Brookgreen Gardens is proud to announce the debut of an extraordinarily rare 1927 Diana “Straight 8” fully restored 4‑Door Sedan, now on public display in the Polack Gallery of the Rosen Galleries.
Manufactured by Diana Motors Company, a subsidiary of Moon Motor Car Company of St. Louis, the Diana was produced in extremely limited numbers—only about 2,500 vehicles were ever built, and only around a dozen are known to survive today. Brookgreen Gardens’ newly installed model is believed to be the only Diana of its kind currently on public view anywhere in the United States.
The Diana was marketed in its era as an automobile “designed for women,” reflecting both the trends and aspirations of 1920s American culture. Period advertising promoted its velvet upholstery, push-button start (a modern luxury compared to crank ignition), distinctive “diamond” headlights, and the elegant “feminine lines” of the coachwork. Its most striking feature—the hood ornament—is a reproduction of Diana of the Chase, one of Anna Hyatt Huntington’s most famous works, created around 1922…