Automobile and Racing Car Applications

A bonnet fabricated from cfrp can reduce the weight from 18 to 7.25 kg and utilize the stiffness of carbon fiber. Similarly, GM s Corvette used carbon fiber, producing a hood weighing only 9.3 kg and saving 4.8 kg from the standard fiberglass SMC. Adam [97] has detailed the use of cfrp in automotive applications. 

In 1980, John Barnard at McLaren International created the world s first carbon fiber chassis Grand Prix winner, the McLaren MP4. 

Concept cars such as the Ford Prodigy HEV and the aXcess Australia have used cfrp in their construction and there is no doubt that such innovative designs will help advance the use of composite materials in the automotive industry. 

The Daimler Chrysler Concept vehicle, Crossfire, uses a one-piece carbon fiber body on an A1 frame and the Daimler Chrysler s Willys2, akin to a jeep, also has a one-piece carbon fiber body on an A1 frame, with a removable carbon fiber hardtop. 

The Lamborghini Murcielago utilizes cfrp for the body and the Porsche Carrera GT uses cfrp for the body and structural elements. 

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