Anyone ever skin a car like a aircraft?

Has anyone ever skinned a car like an aircraft. Meaning polished aluminum and lots of rivets. If anyone out there has pics or similar type stuff please post some pics. Thanks!

 

An aussie fella Rod Hadfield, painted a car to look like that, with the panel lines and rivets all painted on, it looked pretty good, it's called Final Objective and has a Rolls Royce V12 from a P51, road regoed.

It's currently in the states, if you were going to do it, it'd probably be better to use countersunk rivets, also aircraft aluminium is an alloy and a lot stiffer/harder than pure ally.

Outback

 

It's not a car but it's put's together they way your talking about.

Built between 1941 and 1944 in a plant in Virginia, by the same plant that was pumping out bombers and fighter planes, the air corp built a few of these Tear Drop trailers for various service. Moblie Radio Units, Crash recovery, or supply transport.

It is built from the same aluminium as the planes, and uses Air craft rivits to hold the skin to a all aluminium frame. As for the rivits they are Howard Hughs design.

 

Rogue built a rpu that alot of aluminum and "rivets"...... Real bad ass!!

 

Wasn't the Blastolene Special done like that?

 

Yes, I do believe it was done like that.

 

Sorta.

 

Crappy photos, but some Bugatti cars used rivets to hold the sheet metal.

 

That would be really interesting to see.

39

 

The red and white truck is a Divco Bread Truck,
completely different body from the more common milk trucks.

Aluminum bodied roadsters are not too hard to find,
but most don't have exposed rivits.
http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?action=openalbum&albumid=9990137985738

http://www.blastolene.com

 

How about the Spyker? Not a Hot Rod but it is cool. Built in the Netherlands.

 

My modified will be skinned in .040" aluminum but fastened the the "birdcage" tubular chassis with 1/4-turn Dzus buttons instead of rivets.

 

Man those Bugatti engineers were mad as march hares.Those are a couple of pretty cool cars.

T.OUT

 

I was thinking the same thing, lots of Art Deco influence...

 

The external rivet bodies on those Bugattis were originally inteded to use MAGNESIUM bodies. (They seemed to have had some difficulty in welding the magnesium with oxy-acetylene torches...) In the end, aluminum was used, although the riveting technique of joing body panels together was retained.

Check out this guy's Daytona Cobra Coupe:

http://members.aol.com/COUPECHUCK/index.htm



Rogue's RPU really did have one of the nicest, most original looks.

I also like aluminum sheet with countersunk brass rivets. It looks really cool...

--Matt

 

At that time welding aluminium was a real black art and only the Germans had the ability. As war approached aluminium welding became a process with military value and the Germans refused to let anyone else find out how to do it. The Citroen 2CV was originally planned to be made in welded ally but the Germans would not release the technology. Initially Citroen tried to do it themselves but could not - their electrical welding produced highly noxious gases and they lost some workers. Eventually the moved over to steel and the project continued on that basis when it was restarted after the war. A great shame as rust is about the only thing that stops a 2CV running for ever.

How about a rivetted brass body? Here's the "Golden Ford" a Model T racer run at Brooklands in the 20's. The coachwork was recreated byt the legendary Rod Jolly.


Check out this website for details of the restoration.

http://www.channel4.com/science/microsites/S/salvage_squad/machines/model_t/

 

Lotus super seven,
Dutton B type,
Cosworth,
Still a couple of classy sports cars do it today, mainley 7 look alikes.
With big trucks there's Peterbilt, Freightliner, Kenworth.
It's cool,
It's flexible,
It's quite easy to maintain.
Just keep a riviter handy, they tend to pop out with age and vibration.
Classic look.
I'm into it.
Go for it!

 

Initially Citroen tried to do it themselves but could not - their electrical welding produced highly noxious gases and they lost some workers. Eventually the moved over to steel and the project continued on that basis when it was restarted after the war. A great shame as rust is about the only thing that stops a 2CV running for ever.

At least we have something to thank the Germans and rust for!

 

I won't take that from a man who drives an Austin Cambridge and an Austin "Peanut" - LOL

 

Man, those are some cool cars! The blue one reminds me of ...something I can't quite place!?

 

In the last 2 issues of Street Rodder(!), they have started a series of articles on the history of hot rodding. In the latest edition, there is a pic of a streamliner that is all riveted steel. I don't recall who built it, but it was fast and really cool. It later was recovered with aluminum to save wait. Anyone have that issue to get the builders name?

 

I remember a few years back on here about Rogues RPU - the rivets he used were surplus I believe and a lot of the folks on here "had to have some" because they made that ride look so sweet. If I remember correctly those were hammered rivets and not pull style. You might do a search for Rogues RPU and see what you get.

Awesome concept and will turn out really cool looking if the spacing is right on

 

Early Pegaso race cars, they didn't have the technology to weld them.

Isn't roof on low drag E-types riveted?

 

If I remember right weren't Rogue's actually bolts? For some reason I remember them being bolts from a gym locker company or something like that. ( I could be waaay off)

 

How about some even older aircraft construction technology like this Hispano-Suiza skinned in rivited tulip wood by the Nieuport Aviation Company in 1924.

 

I would really like to see this continue. I've been really thinking about building something with this "look". Makes for a super mechanical look. Having the tools, time, and patience to create something from scratch directly off a wooden buck like on that Cobra page is bad ass, but also out of reach for a lot of us. I think just adding the rivets is a cool idea. Sort of cheating, but cool looking none the less. I would really like to see more pictures. Even if someone just did an interior like this, that might be cool. Been thinking about that also.

 

Those aren't rivets. Those are nails!

 

There is alot of canvas in that from what I remember. Main part o the top and sides.

 

Being an aircraft mechanic by trade, I'm reallly tempted to skin my 28 Tudor and polish it like a P-51. Use a yoke from an airplane to steer, rudder pedals and so on. Maybe it's little Chitty Chitty bang Bang or too OCC.