Car Body Made from Fabric

[RexRod]

I stumbled across this today and thought it was cool.

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/06/bmw-builds-a-ca.html

Farther down the page is a video as well. Sorry if it has been posted before.

David

[aircap]

The link is new, but the concept is not. There have been a few cloth covered cars down thru time. Some were full bodied, some only partial.
Model T speedsters with streamlined tails made from cloth were common.

Other materials were experimented with from time to time, as I understand, one of Mickey Thompsons early dragsters had a body of papier mache.

[manta22]

Sure, it can be done-- but just because you can it doesn't mean you should

Early airplanes were fabric- covered wooden structures; later they were fabric- covered steel tube structures but the all- metal airplane quickly eclipsed the fabric- covered designs. Fabric forms an aerodynamic covering but does not contribute to the strength or stiffness.

I've even seen a couple of car bodies made from wood. They were beautifully made-- like an early Chris Craft-- but aside from showing the craftsmanship of the builder they were impractical.

[RichFox]

Even the DC-6 had a fabric covered rudder as I remember. That's not all that long ago.