“Sweet” Sighting: …What IS that?

Found this gem parked outside of the ADESA Auto Auction in Framingham, MA.

It caught my eye from across the parking lot because, I mean, come on.

At first I thought it was the failed abortion of a GM concept (the Monte Carlo taillights) or maybe it was “bring your kid to work day” at the design studio and somebody hit “send” instead of “save” on this beauty.

But closer inspection revealed that this could not possibly have come from anywhere that was anything more advanced than what we in the industry call a “shade-tree” mechanic.

I’d venture a guess that this vehicle was literally constructed under a tree.  And probably in the dark.

Remember that Simpsons episode where Homer works for a car company and builds a one-off called “The Homer”?

I mean, right?

Aside from the taillights the only thing that’s really identifiable are the wheels.  They look a little early-911 to me, but I imagine they’re from something far less prestigious.  What chassis, suspension and driveline setup this wildman is running is anybody’s guess.  As badly as I wanted to meet the creator of this creature it was about 105 degrees outside and sadly I had to prioritize a Dunkin Donuts run.

Okay, as tempting as it is to just shit on this thing with its bumpy hand-fiberglassed body panels, mismatched gauge faces and what I’m pretty sure is hand-rolled paintjob, let’s take a step back and think about what this guy’s done.

He had an idea for his own car design, and he fucking went for it.  Sure it probably didn’t come out as sleek as he had imagined, but if I had attempted this I guarantee it would look ten times worse.  Fiberglass is really hard to work with, and custom-making an interior is no cakewalk either, even if it is rudimentary.

As goofy as it looks we can’t discount what he has accomplished- the body fits (pretty much), and presumably the car works.  I mean, it was wearing license plates and sitting in a day-use parking lot.  So hey, he’s not going to win a Concourse show anytime soon but for all intents and purposes; “Mission Accomplished” and bravo for giving a pretty insane project the old college try.

That said, the idiot who approved this car for an inspection sticker I’d like to have a few words with.