[1][2] In 1932, the founder of Paramount Aircraft Corporation left his failing company at the peak of the Great Depression, and attempted to pursue revenue in the potentially lucrative air race competitions.

The Carr Special was built to compete in the Curtiss OX-5-powered class of the 1932 National Air Races, where many of the competitors were still biplanes.

The Carr Special was built around part of the fuselage as well as the OX-5 engine from a Travel Air 2000 biplane.

[4] It was a low wing strut-braced conventional landing gear monoplane with steel tube construction with aircraft fabric covering.

The Carr Special was entered in the 1932 National Air Races in the "Free for All", but pulled out after being lapped by all but one other entrant, and in the precision landing contest.