For the 1939-1949 World's Fair in New York, Pontiac had a special surprise in store. Working in collaboration with chemical company Rohm & Haas, who had just developed a new product called "Plexiglas", they created an entire body shell for a 1939 Pontiac Deluxe Six. It was soon dubbed the "Ghost Car."
When the car was first featured at General Motors' "Highways and Horizons" pavilion, it was a massive hit. Most people wouldn't have seen Plexiglas before, so a transparent material with that many curves was almost unheard of. Here you could look through the body of the car to see all its internal workings exposed. For aesthetic purposes all structural metal was given a copper wash, while the hardware and even the dashboard were covered in chrome. All the rubber elements in the car were made in white, including the tires.
The final price for the car? In the days when a new Pontiac was just about $700, this beauty cost $25000 to build. When this car was auctioned by RM Auctions in 2011, it went for just a little more than its original price. The one-of-a-kind car sold for $308,000.
