Often derided as “a poor man’s carbon fibre”, fiberglass was critical in the development of the modern sports car. CDN takes a look back to the beginnings of the composites era
In America, leisure boats and sports cars exist, in their modern form, because of one material: fiberglass. An overstatement? Perhaps, but not by much. Bear with us as we recall a little history.
Fiberglass is one of those materials that evolved rather than invented at fixed point in time, like the light bulb or telephone. In the 1930s, glass fibers were increasingly spun into thinner and stronger threads by intense mechanical processes. Large corporations like Owen-Illinois and Corning Glass were looking to somehow weave these fibers into a cloth like cotton or wool, and then looking for a product to create from it.
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As the all-electric Renault 5 E-Tech breaks cover at the 2024 Geneva Show today, we can share details from our private visit to Renault’s Technocentre design studio in early February, with head of design Gilles Vidal in charge of the show-and-tell
Car Design News looks at some of the design stories that may have gone under the radar over the last week, including news from BYD, Karma, Kia, Lancia, Nissan, Peugeot and more
EV carmaker Xpeng is getting into the flying car game with its new brand Xpeng AeroHT, revealing not one but two different vehicles slated for production
