The Petersen Museum are fantastic at giving us deep dives of the collection on their YouTube channel, hosted by their chief historian Leslie Kendall. This time the museum is giving us a closer look at the 1 of 1 Corwin Getaway, a car that takes its name from the man who financed the project, a wealthy Japanese electronics importer. The real brains behind the car is a man called Cliff Hall, who was the chief photographer for the African-American newspaper, the Los Angeles Sentinel.

Building The Radical Looking Corwin

The Corwin Getaway was about Hall’s dream of building a car that was viable for production in the LA area, and to give back to his community. It would be easy to build, and would finance the dreams of those who were very underrepresented in the community.

He didn’t want any more big cars in the LA area either because of its traffic problems, and he thought a small car that was nippy and rational would be absolutely perfect for the city. The chassis and body were all designed by Hall, and it has a sleek body too with no air intake at the front.

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A Very Aerodynamic Car

Corwin Getaway Rear Quarter View
via Petersen Museum YouTube Channel

It's incredibly aerodynamic looking, and Kendall says it might have a great drag coefficient should it ever end up in a wind tunnel. What Hall designed was a little, mid-engine car that managed to get a lot of attention. It was in the newspapers, and caught the eye of many celebrities, such as Muhammad Ali and Marvin Gaye. Marvin Gaye had hoped to call it the Corwin Panther if he was able to finance it. But Hall himself never got the money to put the car in production, and it remained a one-off creation.

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In The Care Of The Petersen Museum

Corwin Getaway Side View
via Petersen Museum YouTube Channel

The car is now in the loving care of the Petersen Museum, although it isn’t in its original form. It has square, not round headlights, and went from a silver to black color. This was Hall’s attempt at updating the car for the 1980s. Hall ultimately approached the museum with an offer to put the car on display, with the museum very quickly deciding it should be on display. It went into the museum's Customs and Coach Built gallery, and Hall eventually did take the car back. He then decided that the car should be with the museum for good, and this is where it now lives as a reminder of Hall’s genius and vision.

Source: Petersen Museum YouTube Channel