Comments on: Zombie car raised from dead

Zombie car raised from dead

planetkyoto — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:19:23 -0800

The Aurora (mostly pictures, slightly more info here). One car, two men, three decades of rust. Guy buys truly hideous 1957 prototype car from junkyard, restores it to gleaming unsightliness. Conne_ticut?

By: 327.ca

327.ca — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:23:51 -0800

Come on! You left out the punchline! It was designed by Father Alfred Juliano, a catholic priest. [Insert obligatory joke about effects of celibacy on automotive design.]

By: me & my monkey

me & my monkey — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:26:42 -0800

[Insert obligatory joke about effects of celibacy on automotive design.] I think you've got it backwards - driving something like this would eliminate any opportunities to break your celibacy.

By: mischief

mischief — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:28:00 -0800

fugly

By: drezdn

drezdn — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:31:28 -0800

That car is awesome.

By: chrisroberts

chrisroberts — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:34:12 -0800

Seriously. That is one of the coolest cars I have ever seen.

By: uncleozzy

uncleozzy — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:39:20 -0800

I'd hit it. I mean drive it. Drive it.

By: 327.ca

327.ca — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:40:54 -0800

The fibreglass body is so heavy it takes four people to lift the bonnet I've always wondered why fibreglass isn't used more for cars. Is it that much heavier than steel?

By: cmyk

cmyk — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:45:08 -0800

Wouldn't the windshield shape ruin visibility? Distortion aside, once it got dirty there would be no way to clean it, short of climbing onto the hood of the car with a roll of paper towels and a bottle of glass cleaner. And forget rain...

By: planetkyoto

planetkyoto — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:53:29 -0800

Come on! You left out the punchline! It was designed by Father Alfred Juliano, a catholic priest. I was going to try for something about the ecclesiastical debate over removing the fuel line feeding the carburetor, but I didn't want to get slapped with a Schiavo tag.

By: me3dia

me3dia — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 08:54:13 -0800

I've always wondered why fibreglass isn't used more for cars. Is it that much heavier than steel? I'm pretty sure Corvettes are mostly fibreglass shelled. It's probably more an issue of it being super-thick fibreglass from the '50s. Fibreglass is typically lighter than steel. Very strange look to that thing. And exactly how did the reverend think people would be able to turn their seats around in time to protect themselves from a head-on crash?

By: Verdant

Verdant — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:10:15 -0800

Hmm. There's something familiar about that car. I can't help thinking I've seen something very similar, almost evocative of it. But where?

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:13:06 -0800

To add to me3dia's statement: Structurally, fiberglass is much more weight efficient than steel. Fiberglass as used today is typically an "advanced composite material" consisting of continuous fibers encased in a matrix of plastic resin. Such fiberglass is a close cousin of graphite, another composite material that is renown for its light weight and strength & stiffness. Fiberglass can also be used as chopped fibers that are only grossly oriented, but this is still relatively light. If it really took four people to lift the hood on this car, it was either (1) a very inefficient use of fiberglass (where there was maybe more plastic resin than glass fibers), or (2) it was attached poorly and was very awkward to open and close. Based on what I see, I would vote on a combination of both.

By: Popular Ethics

Popular Ethics — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:23:40 -0800

327.ca: I've always wondered why fiberglass isn't used more for cars. Is it that much heavier than steel? There's no quick answer to that. Steels come in many grades, and fiberglass in many densities and matrix types. On the balance though, steel and fiberglass have comparable strength/weight ratios or "specific strengths" That isn't the whole story though. Above strength, automotive bodies require durability or "toughness". fiberglass is notoriously brittle, which makes it inappropriate in an application where you'd want: - small dents not to crack the entire panel - lots of energy to be absorbed during a collision Composite parts are also labour intensive to fabricate, and have poor quality control compared to punching out steel panels. This is the best writeup I've seen on the difficulties selecting structural materials. (The article focuses on bicycles but it applies to any structural design) Oh yeah, and DAMN that car's fugly.

By: 327.ca

327.ca — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:28:44 -0800

Thanks for that, Pop.

By: salad spork

salad spork — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:29:52 -0800

Such fiberglass is a close cousin of graphite, another composite material that is renown for its light weight and strength & stiffness. How, exactly, is graphite a composite?

By: Floydd

Floydd — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 09:54:20 -0800

Doohickie meant composite material, spork.

By: JB71

JB71 — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 10:16:30 -0800

Just goes to show a good coat of silver paint can take out a lot of ugly when it comes to car design. Another hundred gallons should do the job.... J.

By: jackiemcghee

jackiemcghee — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 10:20:44 -0800

I swear at first I couldn't quite tell which bit is the front. It's outrageous.

By: QuietDesperation

QuietDesperation — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 10:21:31 -0800

I suppose if you're experienced with fiberglass you can work out how to make it light and strong. But I copied a boat rudder in the stuff once and it weighed twice what the original did. There was probably so much patching and jury-rigging going on that the weight kept going up. The 180-degree seats are hilarious. I can see someone saying, "Oh, I'm about to crash. Time to swivel..."

By: thomcatspike

thomcatspike — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 10:49:53 -0800

Composite parts are also labour intensive to fabricate, and have poor quality control compared to punching out steel panels. I recall people in the 70's putting down the Corvette's fiberglass body. Because its body had a higher cost fix when involved in an accident. As a minor crash may result in replacing the full body panel(s) than the steel body panel(s) that are easily bondo-ed and or hammered out. Then using steel it was cheaper fixing a car involved in an accident. Today the costs may have switched between the two.

By: patrickje

patrickje — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 11:03:37 -0800

The Homer

By: tr33hggr

tr33hggr — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 11:03:57 -0800

I think it's smiling at me, laughing even . . .

By: Debaser626

Debaser626 — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 11:21:19 -0800

Damn... I don't even think that whiny ass Luke Skywalker would drive this to Mos Eisley... Moisture farmer my ass... /inane comment

By: dabitch

dabitch — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 11:37:26 -0800

Aaaw, I think it's cute. :)

By: Bdave

Bdave — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 16:16:55 -0800

I had a picture of one of these in a car book when I was a kid (I still have the book BTW). It was referred to as the Aurora Safety Car. Looked a lot bigger in the picture. Fascinating find planetkyoto.

By: Doohickie

Doohickie — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 21:55:20 -0800

Thank you, Floydd....

By: arto

arto — Wed, 30 Mar 2005 22:30:13 -0800

I still say the Pontiac Aztek is uglier.

By: NinjaPirate

NinjaPirate — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 01:03:40 -0800

tr33hggr reminds me, before after