Awesome eye-catcher - the transparent / see-through body!

Vehicle bodies can be designed in the most extraordinary variations in the tuning area. Tuners and tuning companies always come up with something new and the tuned vehicle does not always have to be driven in traffic. Extraordinary vehicles such as concept cars, which are usually not approved for road traffic, are presented at tuning shows or at auto shows and the like. An interesting question in this context is whether a transparent body can be built and used. In other words, a vehicle that has a completely transparent shell and was created, for example, to illustrate the technology underneath. A vehicle that is completely transparent, of course, somehow has its charm. The subject is discussed in more detail below.

transparent body - at auto shows

The supplier ZF, for example, presented a technology for autonomous driving and housed the technical system behind it at a car show in a transparent body. Visitors to the auto show were able to admire the autonomous driving system through the transparent body and track which components were used. But the advantage of such a body is that it not only shows the impressive internal technology, but also looks really noble and gives the car that certain something. A disadvantage, of course, is that it can be seen exactly what occupants are doing in the vehicle. Foot movements, hand movements and other movements as well as the clothing and the appearance of the driver, nothing remains hidden. The number of vehicle occupants and luggage in the trunk are also immediately visible.

transparent body for weight reduction

In the field of vehicle construction, work is continually being carried out on reducing the vehicle weight. Light materials such as aluminum or other light materials are used to save as much weight as possible. However, it is not just a matter of reducing the vehicle weight. This should also reduce CO2 emissions. Displacement-reducing internal combustion engines that have low CO2 emissions should be increased in performance without increasing CO2 emissions. Transparent bodies, for example made of certain plastic materials, can make a significant contribution to reducing weight. The bodies can currently only be seen at auto shows. But some tuners also want to build such a body.

Transparent body - roadworthy?

The transparent body, it is written in Internet forums, is not in itself prohibited. However, it is likely to be difficult or even impossible to obtain approval for the transparent vehicle parts. After all, they must be fit for traffic and have to pass appropriate tests. It is therefore questionable whether a vehicle with a transparent body would pass the Euro NCAP test (crash test). Then already transparent rims usually cannot overcome this hurdle. Only with smaller parts such as a bonnet with a viewing window are you slowly but surely able to achieve approval for the road. Complete cars with transparent bodies are so far only suitable for car shows or car shows. Furthermore, it is questionable whether a vehicle with a transparent body would even be accepted by buyers. If other road users can see what is happening in the transparent vehicle at all times, this can be extremely disadvantageous for the driver and vehicle occupants. Furthermore, the term “privacy” is practically inapplicable to such a vehicle.

Or cameras replace the transparent cover?

Japanese scientists also had the idea of ​​a completely transparent vehicle. However, not with transparent body parts, but with cameras that permanently film the surroundings of the car. They projected the filmed in real time onto the interior parts of the body and the seats of the car. But the Japanese also know that cars made entirely of glass are not roadworthy. The variant with the cameras can also be accomplished with significantly less technological effort. The scientists at Keio University use the cameras to show the entire outside world inside the car. At the same time, the car remains opaque from the outside. But that sounds easier than it is. Finally, the images have to be transmitted and played back in real time. However, they must also correspond to the driver's perspective. A construction was therefore made that essentially consists of a projector behind the driver's seat. He shines the pictures on a special mirror and this brings the pictures to the appropriate places. A practical test was then made with a Toyota Prius. Really nothing has been heard of the idea from the developers Susumu Tachi and MasahikoInami since then.

the idea comes from the 1930s

The 1940 Pontiac DeLuxe Six proves that the idea existed before. In 1939, to be precise, a US car was built there for the world exhibition in New York and the General Motors Highways and Horizons Pavilion of the Futurama exhibition using a transparent material that was new at the time. The bodywork was carried out by the inventor of Plexiglas (Röhm & Haas). The so-called Glass car became the first transparent full-size car in the United States. Instead of sheet metal, everything was simply made of plexiglass. And according to the GM Heritage Center, a second vehicle was even created based on the Torpedo Eight. And today the 1940 Pontiac DeLuxe Six is ​​still in good condition. The proof of the quality of plexiglass compared to the durability and lifespan of plastic parts on current vehicles. But the Pontiac was also not intended for road use. That is why it does not have a Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) or an engine number. Only the built-in water cooler has a part number. The number 3113436 was therefore often in circulation as an identification number of the vehicle.

Transparent body - conclusion

Some vehicles with completely transparent bodies have already been presented at auto shows. The presentations only served to make the inner workings and their technology visible, for example to present autonomous driving systems. The body parts used for this cannot be compared with conventional body parts in terms of processing quality, crash safety & Co. For individual tuners, the challenge is to build a transparent body, which may be interesting but still a long way from being ready for series production in terms of approval. And it is also questionable whether a significant number of people would want such a vehicle at all.

We hope that you the info report on the topic / term transparent body (further designations / keywords: see-through body, transparent car, see-through car, transparent vehicle, see-through vehicle, transparent car, see-through car, glass car, glass vehicle, glass car, glass car, ghost car, ghost vehicle, ghost car) from the field of autotuning. Our goal is that the largest German-language tuning dictionary (Tuning Wikipedia) and to explain tuning terms from A to Z easily and understandably. Almost every day we expand this lexicon and how far we are, you can HERE see. Soon the next one will be Tuning scene concept be illuminated by us. By the way, you will be informed about new topics if you have ours Feed subscribe to.

Below are a few examples from our tuning lexicon:

But of course tuningblog has countless other articles on the subject of cars & car tuning in stock. Do you want to see them all? Just click HERE and look around. We would also like to provide you with news aside from the tuning. In our category Tips, products, information & Co we pick up contributions from car or accessory manufacturers. And also our category Test sites, laws, offenses, information has almost daily new information for you. Here are a few topics from our tuning wiki:

"Tuningblog.eu" - we keep you up to date on the subject of car tuning and car styling with our tuning magazine and we present you the latest tuned vehicles from all over the world every day. It's best to subscribe to ours Feed and will automatically be informed as soon as there is something new about this post, and of course also to all other contributions.