Rust Heinz
Rust Heinz (October 18, 1914 – July 24, 1939) was famed for designing the 1938 Phantom Corsair, a prototype car built on a Cord 810 chassis by the coach builder Bohman & Schwartz, incorporated a Lycoming 190bhp V8 engine, weighed two tons and had seating capacity for six people.
Rust Heinz | |
|---|---|
| Born | Henry Heinz October 18, 1914 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Died | July 29, 1939 (aged 24) Lincoln Highway near Versailles, United States |
| Cause of death | Car accident |
| Resting place | Homewood Cemetery, Pittsburgh |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Car and boat designer |
Notable work | 1938 Phantom Corsair |
| Relatives |
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The Phantom Corsair project was helped by finance from his aunt. Following his death, the car was never mass-produced and the prototype remains the only one ever made.
Background
Heinz was born in 1914 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[1] He was the second son of Howard Covode Heinz and Elizabeth Granger Heinz and grandson of the late Henry J. Heinz who founded the Heinz empire and was the brother of Henry John "Jack" Heinz, II. In 1937 he married Helen Clay Goodloe, and together had a daughter Helen Meredith Dewitt Heinz.
Heinz started out studying Naval Architecture at Yale University[2] and Westlawn Academy of Yacht Design [3] and designing a number of speedboats,[4] and abandoned his studies in 1936 went to live with his aunt in Pasadena, and set up a design studio and established himself as an automobile designer in California, realising a passion he held since 1936 when he was 21 years old, first designing a delivery vehicle called the Comet for the Heinz company which was built by the Square Deal Body Company on an Autocar chassis intended to be used for promotional work,[5] and then designing the Phantom Corsair.[6]
Death
Heinz was killed on July 24, 1939, in a car accident at Westinghouse Bridge in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. Heinz had allowed his friend Phil Brainard to drive his open Buick home from a dance he was attending with friends, and during the journey Brainard's hat flew off. After a detour to collect the trilby, the Buick ventured back on to the Lincoln Highway near Versailles and was broadsided by an unseen vehicle. Six people were injured in the crash and Heinz died the following morning from head injuries.[7]
Heinz is buried at Homewood Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.[8]
References
- Museum of Automobile Art & Design
- "The Deco Dream – Rust Heinz's Phantom Corsair". 2011-11-10.
- ""Wombat" or Not, the 1938 Phantom Corsair is Spectacular". 2016-03-21.
- "The incredible story of the futuristic Phantom Corsair". 2013-06-21.
- "A Dream Car Makes an Appearance". 2009-03-05.
- "The Phantom Corsair - Kustomrama". www.kustomrama.com. Retrieved 2018-10-23.
- "The incredible story of the futuristic Phantom Corsair". 2013-06-21.
- Interment.net