The Flying Wombat: a vivid COVID-19 dream or a reality? The richest British sportsman of all time: three contradictions in seven words? Daniel Ricciardo: the richest Australian car driver of all time? And we check in by Zoom on the old bloke who has found the three of us a new rally to enter.
In another world exclusive we have found the location of the world's only Flying Wombat. Get the tissues out readers, friends and others for this is what classic car writer Mick Davis calls a saga of self-made fortunes, divorces, suicides, alcoholism, fatal car, aircraft crashes and tomato sauce.
Rust Heinz was the grandson of the very religious Henry John Heinz, founder of the tomato sauce and pickle empire that carries his name to this day. The Heinz family rivals the Kennedys in terms of tragedies. A hit-run driver killed Rust when he was 24.
Moving right along. We all knew Rusty was going to be different when mum Liz gave him her maiden name as a Christian name. So, no surprise he rebelled against tomatoes and pickles, went to Yale and studied naval architecture rather than pickling science. Rusty designed a few hot water boats but his real passion was designing the most beautiful car in the world.
He got into bed with Bohman & Schwartz, custom coach builders to the stars and the obscenely rich, and out popped the Phantom Corsair. The black tomato of the Heinz family and millionaire playboy had created an entirely personal design that I think really is the most beautiful car ever made.
It is an aluminium-bodied two-tonne radical teardrop streamliner. Packed with a Lycoming L-head side valve 4.7-litre straight-eight engine, the Rusty's car of tomorrow had everything but performance and cool running. Pushbutton doors, triple layer safety glass, aircon, a compass, an altimeter, red leather interior and for drive-in movie lovers, four people could sit across the front.
But despite being Jack the Lad in tinsel town, the publicity the Phantom got didn't lead to any orders. There was only one answer. Put it in a movie. The film was The Young in Heart and tells the touching story of a family of confidence tricksters who insinuate themselves into a relationship with a lonely old millionairess.
One of the con persons gets a job at the Flying Wombat showroom in Glenville Arcade, London. His best line is: "If I were to say that the Wombat is the last word in mechanical perfection, I should be withholding the full truth. The Wombat is above mechanical perfection. The Wombat is ahead of its time."
Anyway, the film didn't help sales, Rusty died, the Wombat went through a number of owners before ending up in the collection of Bingo entrepreneur Bill Harrah in Reno. When Bill died in 1978 his collection became the National Automobile Museum and that's where our flying marsupial is today.