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Corbett & Company of Flushing, Queens New
York, specialized in conversions and customizations as well as
auto-body repairs. They are known to have built a 1939 Graham model 97
Formal Town Car (Sharknose) that looks much like the conversions
carried out by Derham during the same time period. The car was
displayed at Graham Motors, Inc. of NY. and was mentioned at the time
in Automobile Topics.
Although Hugo Pfau attributed the car to LeBaron,
historian Karl S. Zahm has discovered evidence that the Sharknose Town
Car was actually built by Corbett. He writes:
"According to the brief comment in Automobile
Topics (May 8, 1939), 'A Graham Supercharger Town Car with custom
coachwork by Corbett & Co. of Queens, New York City, appeared
recently in the showrooms of Graham Motors, Inc. of NY. The car was
built to order for a Manhattan customer and delivered for $3,200. The
custom work alone is reported to have cost $1,300.'
"This firm is also believed to have modified a
standard 1939 Graham sedan into a Berline with the addition of a
division partition. A photograph of the interior of this type appeared
in the May 1939 issue of Graham Supercharger News."
© 2004 Mark Theobald - Coachbuilt.com with
special thanks to Karl S. Zahm
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