One of the last photos of Amelia Earhart shows her with her Cord Phaeton and her Lockheed Electra. Photograph courtesy the Hagerty Drivers Foundation.
Amelia Earhart’s Cord 812 Phaeton convertible was an unusual vehicle, and like the aviator herself, it had once vanished. But starting on Thursday it will be on display on the National Mall between the National Museum of American History and the USDA building as part of the Hagerty Drivers Foundation’s annual “
” exhibition. You’ll be able to see it until September 5, when another rare car will replace it: A 1952 Porsche America Roadster that’s one of only 16 produced., a program the foundation administers with the Department of the Interior.Earhart’s convertible has a glamorous history: An early example of unibody construction, it featured gee-whiz touches like front wheel drive, hidden headlights, and what would later be known as “suicide doors.