The Corwin Getaway Was a Small Sports Car That Never Made It

The Corwin Getaway is quite possibly one of the coolest cars of all time. A 1 of 1 tiny little sports car that had prospects to change the city of LA. Sadly, the car never hit production, but it's time to dive into the history of the little car that almost changed history.

Let's start with the inventor of the Getaway, Cliff Hall. Cliff was a photojournalist for a local LA newspaper called the Los Angeles Sentinel. He was always tinkering, and he had the idea to build a small, maneuverable machine for the streets of Los Angeles. He wanted to build the car in LA so that he could provide jobs for the poorer sections of his city.

Cliff began to build the car with a small amount of experience with fiberglass cars for his children. Using what little knowledge he had, he invested the equivalent of over $700,000 today to build the Getaway. The name Corwin was decided on after his chief financial backer, Louis Corwin.

Cliff while building the Getaway - The Petersen Museum

Cliff while building the Getaway - The Petersen Museum

Power came from a 78 horsepower Subaru engine paired with a 4 speed manual. The Corwin Getaway stood just under 4 feet tall at 43 inches, and was just over 11 feet long. Corwin was able to display his prototype at the Los Angeles Auto Show, where it impressed many celebrities, including Muhammad Ali.

Unfortunately for Hall, he failed to receive more funding in order to get his dream off the ground, and the Getaway tucked into storage in his garage, where it was pulled away briefly for the opening of the Petersen Automotive Museum, returned to Hall, and donated back to the museum for a complete restoration.

The Getaway after sitting in Hall's garage for many years - The Petersen Museum

The Getaway after sitting in Hall's garage for many years - The Petersen Museum

Hall lived to see his creation restored to its former glory, but he passed away in early 2020 at the age of 94 years old.