One of the 1930's most amazing custom built cars was the Phantom Corsair. It was jointly designed by Rust Heinz of the Heinz (57 varieties) company and Maurice Schwartz of the Pasadena, California based Bohman & Schwartz coachbuilding company. The design was quite a departure from contemporary car design and it did away with many features that were later also abondoned by the mainstream designers like the running boards and seperate fenders. The curvacious coupe body was large enough to seat six adults in comfort.
To match the advanced design, Heinz chose the most advanced chassis available in the United States to fit the body on, the Cord 810. The V8 engined Cord was equipped with front wheel drive and an electronically operated four speed gearbox. To accomodate the large body various changes were carried through on the chassis. The slippery body enabled the 190 bhp Phantom Corsair to reach speeds of up to 115 miles per hour.
Heinz planned to built a limited run of Phantom Corsairs, with a price sticker of $12,500. The plans were shelved when he died soon after the first car was completed in 1938. The Phantom Corsair's claim to Hollywood fame is an appearance in the 1938 motion picture 'The young at heart'.
The completely unique Phantom Corsair now resides in the National Automobile Museum (The Harrah Collection) in Reno, Nevada. It is pictured here on the classic car display of the 2004 Canadian International Auto Show in Toronto.
Article by Wouter Melissen, last updated before 12 / 01 / 2004
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One of the 1930's most amazing custom built cars was the Phantom Corsair. It was jointly designed by Rust Heinz of the Heinz (57 varieties) company and Maurice Schwartz of the Pasadena, California based Bohman & Schwartz coachbuilding company. The design was quite a departure from contemporary car design and it did away with many features that were later also abondoned by the mainstream designers like the running boards and seperate fenders. The curvacious coupe body was large enough to seat six adults in comfort.
