Case Studies

This Pontiac Ghost – only one of two known surviving models in the world – fetched $308,000 at auction in Michigan on 30 July. Built for the 1939 New York World’s Fair, the Ghost boasts an unusual Plexiglas body. Decades later, motoring voyeurs no doubt still get a kick from the no-holds-barred reveal of the see-through sedan’s innards. In an era where automotive plastics tended to self-destruct within a few years, the Ghost’s startling preservation is almost entirely owed to its durable Plexiglas, fabricated by the company that first brought the material to market in 1933, Rohm & Haas.