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.