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Built of steel and aluminum, without running boards or fenders, and using buttons instead of door handles, the 1938 Phantom Corsair was the last word in long, low, streamlined art deco modernity on wheels. But when designer Rust Heinz (of ketchup fame, assisted by Maurice Schwartz) passed away shortly after the prototype was completed, dreams of putting the Phantom Corsair into limited production (at a whopping price tag of $12,500, approximately $189,000 today) died with him. The car did a star turn, however, as the “The Flying Wombat” in a 1938 film, The Young in Heart (you can see a few more clips here). In 1940, Modern Mechanix wondered if the Phantom Corsair was, in fact, the car of tomorrow. Alas, it wasn’t; today, the one-and-only Phantom Corsair resides at the National Automobile Museum in Reno, Nevada. More »
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One quick sight gag follows another in Tex Avery’s “The Car of Tomorrow” (1951), his second foray into predicting our future (hint: parking problems solved!). Don’t miss his depiction of modern marketing’s annoying practice of “pink-wrapping” items to make them allegedly more appealing to women (on the other hand, the “fender panties” remind me of the frilly trim on 60s TV’s Batgirl’s motorbike). More »
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