1953 Alfa Romeo BAT 5 (56k warning)
 

Took these pics back in '09 at a car museum in Vegas and completly forgot to post them.

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3995/p1030658o.jpg

http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/960/p1030656l.jpg

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/8879/p1030657q.jpg

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/7356/p1030660e.jpg

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/8326/p1030702k.jpg

http://img707.imageshack.us/img707/9563/p1030661z.jpg

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/1395/p1030662l.jpg

Beautiful car for the day. I wonder what the turning radius was since there appears to be no articulation for the front fender skirts.

I just wanted to post something interesting. I normally get 37.3 MPG out of my Cruz Eco. On the way home last night I tried some of the techniques used to get better mileage and guess what? Over 40 miles, having to stop completely 4 times, over rolling terrain and about a 10 mph crosswind, I averaged 48.3 MPG! I was amazed at what little change in driving technique did for mileage!

That is a fun collection to browse. I was also appauled that there had been such effort to produce a beautiful AND aerodynamic body and yet it is relatively unknown, at least in the US. Emotional styling is what drives car sales to a large degree. Something must have missed the mark in the day. Was it too small? Too streamlined? Not powerful enough? Maybe it was a big deal in Europe, but was a novelty in the US?

Practically speaking, I suspect that those side wings hindered visibility when changing lanes somewhat.

I'd love to have a kit car replica with a Smart diesel drivetrain though.