©2012 Automodello
- Year: 1938
- Exterior Color: Black
- Marque: Phantom
- Scale: 1:24
- Dream Disengaged Availability: Sold-Out
- Builds: 299 Standard Edition, and 75 Museum Edition hand-signed by Heinz family
- Official Release Date: March 3rd 2012
There is quite simply no other pre-war American automobile that strikes so many people in such a profoundly visceral way as the Phantom Corsair. And this is why Automodello™ has chosen to model it as our inaugural 1:24 replica in this highly detailed resin cast.
The Phantom Corsair is the quintessential American concept car. There was nothing whatsoever like this car at the time it was produced and there has been nothing like it since. In that regard, the visual signature not only remains purely unique and novel, its sinewy black silhouette continues to dominate any show it attends against even the finest designs of its time and for decades beyond.
Designed and conceived by Rust Heinz, heir to the famous ketchup fortune, it was a dream of his to design and build a futuristic car. Heinz was very interested in streamlined vehicles, having already designed and commissioned the build of the “Comet”, an interesting mini-van sort of vehicle with highly organic styling. The design for the Corsair was entirely a conceptual idea, which required highly dedicated skills from a key craftsman. That came at the hand of expert body constructor Maurice Schwartz of the famed Bohman and Schwartz company of Pasadena, California. Heinz had been experimenting with the use of early wind tunnels and applying some of his findings from aeronautics to the study of cars. Though his drawings and preliminary clay studies were crude expressions of forms, his passion to build cars, combined with his family fortune, were well suited for these expensive experiments.
Eager to build not just one car, Heinz intended to produce the car in limited numbers and offer them for sale at $12,500.00. Cost to produce the one and only Corsair however would be more than double that price. Prototype fabrication is not simply the sum total of the actual build. Much of the car is built three or four times as problems are concurrently solved while the design emerges. Sadly Heinz did not live to see such plans materialize as he died at age 25 shortly after the car had been completed, leaving many to wonder what he might have accomplished in a lifetime of work beyond the simple garnishing of hot dogs.
Automodello is proud to present one of the most magnificent automobiles to ever grace the roadways. The Phantom Corsair continues to engage every man, woman, and child that views this unique design. Even today it continues to inspire people to dream about a streamlined future and the promise of speed. Automodello presents this limited edition timeless beauty exactly as it was penned more than 70 years ago.
