Obviously, there have been many notable cars over the years… we wouldn’t have a job without them! But, one car that you might not be very familiar with is the Phantom Corsair. It really is one of history’s stand out automobiles. The Corsair was a modern marvel in its time, with features we sometimes take for granted today. How often do you think about front wheel drive? Or the warning light when you don’t close your door all the way? \u00a0Or the warning light when you’ve left your headlights on? Or a warning for leaving the radio on? (Geez, how idiot proof can a car be?)\u00a0Anyway, did we mention that the Phantom Corsair had all of these options… and all back in 1938!?!<\/p>\n
The Phantom began with a young man’s desire to build his own car. Rust Heinz, of the 57 variety Heinz family<\/a>, dropped out of Yale and moved to California with a vision. He brought in Bohman and Schwartz<\/a>, a coach building company in Pasadena, California, to bring his dream to life.<\/p>\n The Phantom was sleek, with a steel and aluminum body that stood a mere 57 inches tall. It used uninterrupted “through” fenders, blending fully skirted wheels with flush fenders to leave out any running boards. It also lacked ornamentation, chrome trim, and even door handles, instead favoring electrically controlled push buttons on the exterior and on the instrument panel.<\/p>\n Bohman and Schwartz used a Cord 810 sedan’s sub-frame for the Phantom. Likewise, the Cord 810’s Lycoming V8 rode comfortably in the Phantom on fully independent suspension and adjustable shocks. The 810’s chassis had to be modified a bit to fit the Phantom’s large body which measured 237 inches long and 76.5 inches wide. It was wide enough for four people to sit in the front seat, with one to the left of the driver. Of course, the back seats only held two people because of the two on-board beverage cabinets!<\/p>\n And although it weighed in at 4,600 pounds, the Phantom was said to generate 190hp, reaching speeds of 115 MPH. Not bad for 1938!<\/p>\n Heinz had hoped to put the Phantom Corsair into limited production at a price of $14,700, even though the prototype cost $24,000 to build. The production cost would be the equivalent of about $370,000 today. Unfortunately, the cost was so high that no orders were received… and when Heinz died in a tragic car accident in 1939, the plans to put the Phantom into production were shattered, leaving the prototype as the only one ever made.<\/p>\n