It’s a car you can’t really drive, but RM Auctions expects that a 1939 Pontiac with a Plexiglas body will go for anywhere between 5,000 to 5,000 at the St. John’s auction that’s being held as part of the Concours d’Elegance of America in Plymouth, MI this July. The Pontiac was built for the 1939-1940 New York World’s Fair and appeared as part of General Motors’ “Futurama” exhibit that showcased how the immediate pre-World War II imagination pictured 1960.

See-through cars were not part of the prediction, but a tough new transparent material that could be molded into such a complex shape was certainly something worth showing off. The Pontiac’s body was created by Rohm & Haas, inventor of Plexiglas, to show off its revolutionary new material, and this particular car is the only one of two such vehicles that’s known to survive.

This Poncho is unrestored, so there’s some visible damage that’s been accumulated over the years, but this impressive artifact is the first full-size automobile rendered see-through and therefore deserves a place of prominence in someone’s collection… or living room. Either way, it will be a conversation piece.

Transparent 1939 Pontiac hitting the auction block in July originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 11 Jun 2011 10:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In the midst of governmental turmoil surrounding the national debt, the Senate has reached out to car guys, designating July 8, 2011 as the second annual Collector Car Appreciation Day. That day, any father-son team that has ever turned a wrench will be invited to take a few hours to celebrate all things automotive, whether at a car show, at the race track or just in the comfort of their own garage.

Last year, the Senate designated July 9 as the first-ever nationally-recognized celebration of cars. The event is designed to not only celebrate collector cars and car hobbyists, but to recognize the importance of the motorsports and car restoration industries as valuable providers of jobs across the country.

The United States Senate passed Senate Resolution 154 last Thursday after the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) and its offshoots, the Automotive Restoration Market Organization and the Hot Rod Industry Alliance, asked Senators Jon Tester (D, MT) and Richard Burr (R, NC) to sponsor it. Senators Tester and Burr sit on the Congressional Automotive Performance and Motorsports Caucus, a non-partisan group of congressmen and senators who help represent the interests of motorsports in Washington.

What do you think of Collector Car Appreciation Day? Is it necessary to recognize the car hobby as a vibrant and valuable economic resource, or is it a frivolous waste of valuable time? Let us know in the poll below! Hop the jump for the full SEMA press release.

View Poll

Photos copyright (C)2011 Frank Filipponio / AOL

[Source: Specialty Equipment Market Association]

Continue reading Senate designates July 8 Collector Car Appreciation Day

Senate designates July 8 Collector Car Appreciation Day originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 19 Apr 2011 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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