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Phantom Corsair

1938 prototype automobile

1938 prototype automobile

FieldValue
image1938 Phantom Corsair Pebble Beach Concours dElegance 2007 02.jpg
namePhantom Corsair
manufacturerRust Heinz
Maurice Schwartz
model_years1938
classMid-size prototype
engine4.7 L Lycoming (Cord) L-head V8
body_style2-door 5/6 seater sedan
platformCord 810
wheelbase3175 mm
<!--front_track1422 mm
rear_track1549 mm --length = 6020 mm
width1943 mm
height1448 mm
weight2070 kg
assemblyPasadena, California
layoutFront-mid-engine, front-wheel-drive layout

Maurice Schwartz

The Phantom Corsair is a prototype automobile built in 1937. It is a six-passenger 2-door sedan that was designed by Rust Heinz of the H. J. Heinz family and Maurice Schwartz of the Bohman & Schwartz coachbuilding company in Pasadena, California.

It was shown to the local press in Pasadena in July 1937, and first exhibited publicly at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on 15 February 1938, with publicity including many construction details:

“Streamlined to the ultimate—underneath as well as above—the body of the car covers wheels and eliminates necessity for fenders or running boards and thus makes possible a longer seat on which four people ride abreast. A rumble seat accommodates two passengers who face the rear…With a body of electrically welded aviation steel tubing - and an outer surface of alloy steel - and a passenger compartment lined with rubber composition, passengers ride in a scientifically safe ‘steel cage.’ Electric push buttons replace door handles, while the hood raises by an automatic trigger on the instrument panel, automatically switching on an engine service light. Seats are of solid cast rubber, eliminating seat springs. There is a ‘crash board,’ padded with cork and sponge rubber and covered with leather to minimize injury in case of accident. Layers of cork and rubber latex applied to the entire body of the car kill vibration and rumble at its source and eliminate all normal highway and engine noises. Indirect lighting features the car’s interior, while built-in headlights of enormous candlepower, with amber fog lights below, afford 180-degree highway illumination….The passenger section contains luxury compartments—one on either side of the rumble seat. There is an all-wave radio with twin speakers and an aviationtype aerial. Ceiling and sidewalls are lined with three-quarter inch light cork composition and layer of sponge rubber under upholstery of tufted design. The floor is acoustically treated with a layer of pulp composition, sprayed cork, rubber and floor carpet. Interior features are of dull finished chromium, and unprotruding. Air conditioning, which is additional, thermostatically controls cold and heat producing units.”

Design

The Phantom Corsair's steel-and-aluminum body measured just 57 in in height and incorporated fully skirted wheels and completely flush fenders while forgoing running boards. Though these features from the Cord 810 chassis were all retained on the Phantom Corsair, the chassis was modified in order to accommodate the Corsair's large body. The body measured an impressive 237 in long and 76.5 in wide, enough to accommodate four people in the front row, including one person to the left of the driver. The back seats could only hold two passengers, however, in large part because of space limitations posed by on-board beverage cabinets. Though weighing a hefty 4600 lb, the Phantom Corsair could achieve speeds of up to 115 mph because of its modified, naturally aspirated 125 bhp Lycoming engine as well as its aerodynamic shape.

Production

Rust Heinz planned to put the Phantom Corsair, which cost approximately $24,000 to produce in 1938 (equivalent to about $370,000 in 2010), into limited production at an estimated selling price of $12,500. However, Heinz's death in a car accident in July 1939 ended those plans, leaving the prototype Corsair as the only one ever built.

The Phantom Corsair now resides in the National Automobile Museum (also known as The Harrah Collection) in Reno, Nevada.

Media appearances

  • The automobile was featured as the "Flying Wombat" in the David O. Selznick film The Young in Heart (1938), starring Janet Gaynor, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Paulette Goddard, and Billie Burke.
  • The Corsair was featured in a segment of the Popular Science film series in 1938.
  • Versions of the Corsair (referred to as the "Manta") feature as unique unlockable vehicles in the 2002 video game Mafia and its 2020 remake.
  • The Corsair is one of the 15 rare drivable vehicles featured in the 2011 video game L.A. Noire.

Notes

References

References

  1. "1938 Phantom Corsair Technical specifications". Carfolio.com.
  2. Though long described as a "1938" vehicle, it was publicized--and pictured--in several U.S. newspapers in late 1937. See "'Super' Automobile Designed, Built by Heinz Heir." Wilkes-Barre (PA) Record, 12 November 1937, 11. See also "Heinz Scion Builds Own "Phantom Corsair." St. Louis Globe-Democrat, 14 November 1937, 51. See also "'Super' Automobile Designed, Built by Heinz Heir." Bartlesville (OK) Daily Enterprise, 26 November 1937, 22. See also "'Super' Automobile Designed, Built by Heinz Heir." Washington Court House (OH) Record-Herald, 24 December 1937, 2.
  3. (October 2003). "Infamous Lemons: 1938 Phantom Corsair". Vermont Antique Automobile Society.
  4. "'Wonder Car of Tomorrow' Built Here: Streamlined Machine Constructed Secretly by Rust Heinz." Pasadena Post, 14 July 1937, 5, 7.
  5. ”Los Angeles Sees Last-word Car Really ‘Diffierent’.” Los Angeles Daily News, 16 February 1938, 13.
  6. ”Los Angeles Sees Last-word Car Really ‘Diffierent’.” Los Angeles Daily News, 16 February 1938, 13.
  7. Lamm, Michael. (December 13, 2010). "1938 Phantom Corsair". [[Motor Trend]].
  8. (June 21, 2013). "The incredible story of the futuristic Phantom Corsair". [[Haymarket Media Group]].
  9. Richard Owen. "1938 Phantom Corsair". Supercars.net.
  10. Wouter Melissen. (December 1, 2004). "Phantom Corsair". Ultimatecarpage.com.
  11. (September 29, 2020). "How to Find All Hidden Cars". [[IGN]].
  12. (June 8, 2011). "L.A. Noire: My Experience, Review, and 10 Tips (PS3 or XBox)". BooyaGadget.com.
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