If you have any embarassing habits as you sit in traffic, then this could be your automotive arch-enemy. Nose pickers and secret scratchers need not apply.
The transparent transport in question is a 1939 Pontiac Plexiglas Delux Six Ghost Car that was created for the 1939 World's Fair in New York. The car was a collaboration between General Motors and chemical company Rohm & Haas. R&H wanted to showcase their new product, Plexiglas. What better way than to create a car from the wonderous new material?
The car is a fascinating insight into all the details you usually miss when looking at a regular, boring opaque vehicle. The slide-down window mechanisms are clear to see, as is the chassis hiding behind the panels. There's no chance of hiding a body in the trunk either, as you can see inside without even opening it...
Under the see-through skin it's generally fairly conventional. It uses a standard Pontiac Deluxe Six chassis and the standard six-cylinder engine and three-speed gearbox. All that hardware hasn't had to work too hard though - only 86 miles are showing on the clock and the pristine white tires are the original U.S. Royals.
Even back in 1939 it cost a slightly scary-sounding $25,000 to build. In today's money, that's over $391,000! Still, the $475,000 the Pontiac is expected to make at auction on July 30 in Michigan it'll have turned in a tidy profit.
We'd love to see it on the road but unfortunately, that's unlikely. Not only would it spoil the stunning lines, but we can see it being a bit of a greenhouse in warmer climates...
[Wired]
