For the 1939 World’s Fair, Pontiac built a Deluxe Six bodied in Plexiglas. Dubbed the “Ghost Car,” it was the first transparent car in North America and it showed the car’s futuristic inner workings.
GM collaborated with Rohm & Haas, the chemical company that had recently invented Plexiglas, to create transparent acrylic sheets modeled after a Pontiac four-door Touring Sedan. It reportedly cost $25,000 to build, which was an astronomical figure in those days.
After the World’s Fair, the Ghost Car toured the nation’s dealerships. It later went on display at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. Although GM did create a second Plexiglas Pontiac, the 1939-40 Deluxe Six is the only one known to survive.
Today, the car is in a remarkable state of preservation, which is truly a testament to the longevity of Plexiglas. The car rides on its original U.S. Royal all-white tires and sports the correct white rubber running boards. The odometer currently reads just 86 miles. The only recent mechanical work has been replacement of the fuel lines.
Thanks to its incredible condition, and its unique role in automotive history, this Ghost Car fetched $308,000 last week at RM Auctions’ St. John’s auction in Michigan.
“I think you’ll see several museums fighting over this car to get something you can’t see anywhere else,” said Joe Bortz, of the Bortz Auto Collection, and the premier expert on American dream cars. “You can boil all collecting down to one thing: I have it and you don’t. What museums are looking for is the one and only — and this is it.”
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