Thanks to the Make blog, we learn of the Mirror Finish DeLorean. (DeLorean CC here.) It has been done before, it took forty hours per panel, and up to four hours per square inch. Worth it? I think so, but that’s awfully easy for me to sit here and say. I am glad it was done, very glad.
Yeah, that’s cool! Really cool!
I wonder if the “chrome” wrap that the Russians keep sticking on Audis and such would work for the front and rear facias.
I believe that most cars that get the mirror-shine treatment are aluminum-bodied. They polish them the same way as this DeLorean, but I bet it doesn’t take nearly as long! However, Alsa Paints makes a paint that actually looks like chrome however.
When I was in the USMC in Quantico, VA in ’89, a USMC Captain drove one of these things. I never got to ride in it, but it was certainly more interesting to look at in person than in photos. This polished example almost hurts my eyes.
I wonder if they used cocaine as the final polishing medium?
Laughed out loud! Think some student ever characterized it as an engineering material?
Very nice. Makes me think of The Bean over in Millennium Park (Chicago) on wheels.
Very shiney but its not all stainless the front facia is somrthing else might have been better to paint it
Yes, the nose and tail are some sort of plastic onto which it would be difficult to apply a true chrome finish (vacuum deposition systems are one way to do it).
In my younger, single days, I spent an entire evening polishing the stainless trim on my 1971 LTD’s brake pedal (the wide, rectangular one with the circle in the middle that said ‘disc brakes’ or something like that) with a Dremel tool and some metal polish. No way would I try to do an entire stainless car, no matter how big of a buffer I had!
Ever try polishing stainless trim on vintage cars? Same deal . . .
Yes, the nose and tail are some sort of plastic onto which it would be difficult to apply a true chrome finish (vacuum deposition systems are one way to do it).
Google search “Alsa Mirrachrome”. Apparently House of Kolor also has a chrome paint called Kosmic Krome that’s pretty believable too. I saw a custom ’61 T-bird that was painted with the HOK stuff and it looked pretty sharp.
BTW, Alsa Mirrachrome is $375 per quart. Yikes!
I know they’ve polished up a few Audis, but they had to use a different material for the bumpers. I’m thinking along the lines of the “new” Camaro and 911 that got the wrap.
Fantastic! Suddenly I have an insatiable urge to see what the latest aluminium Jag XJ woul look like polished…
All things considered, I think I’d rather have one painted than polished. Is there any way to do a semi-transparent finish, retaining the brushed texture of the stainless but overlaid with color? Can you color anodize stainless steel?
I’ve always fantasized about having a car that was chromed all over. I’d “dazzle” my friends, for sure!
The DeLorean? Yes – I like them, too, except I just could not own a car where you hope the A/C never goes out for lack of any effective ventilation. Translation: The windows don’t open except for a tiny vent in each door! There. I’ve said it, but it’s true.
Still…
Maybe this is the DeLorean for you then? The polished reflective body should help to keep it cooler. 🙂
You’ve just found the car that you’re going to be issued when you die and go to hell.
I would hate to be the first guy to put a door ding on that car.
You sound like an old biker buddy of mine who ran a custom/body shop (painted one Triumph for me), and had a small used car lot on the property. He had a customer who wanted a DeLorean. Found him one, bought it, drove it home (gingerly) and then parked it inside the shop until the customer came and picked it up. Was too terrified to actually drive it for himself before delivering it, because he was worried he’d pick up a dent somewhere along the way.
I’m sure the car is real, but it doesn’t look real. It looks TOO perfect, like a CGI model with a reflective surface treatment. I like it.
This was actually done by my friend Jake Weaver who was the owner of Akamai Detailing on Oahu. He is also the one who took this picture. I don’t remember how long it took him, but I think somewhere around three days. There was a problem with the hood warping from the heat of polishing it, which he told the owner might happen, so my buddy ended up replacing it for him.