Say you have an extensive background in racing. Say you also manage a high-end auto dealership. Say someone brings in a slightly damaged Elise for body repairs. Do you: (A) repair the car and toss the damaged pieces, (B) repair the car and sell the damaged pieces to an auto recycler, (C) repair the car and keep the damaged pieces, carefully working them into a piece of art that you and your kids will enjoy for years to come?
Yeah, us too. Although I would have a hard time giving this to my monsters sweet, sweet children and not keeping it for myself.
Here is the story from NASIOC on how Dave Shindle created this masterpiece:
A coworker had his Elise side-swiped by a 18wheeler. Insurance agreed to repair it which we did at my shop. Insurance replaced both front and rear clamshells (fiberglass bonnet and rear section) however the rear clamshell only had minor damage. Rather than throwing it in trash, I did some custom auto recycling and made into a toybox for my kid.
Took some precise hacking, painted the inside glossy black, and then had to figure out the lighting. The lights from the Lotus were used in the repair of my coworker’s car and are expensive new. Thought about using cheaper trailer lights and using a trailer battery for power and let him learn how to hook it up when he wanted it lit. Finally decided on installing track lighting inside it and using just trailer lenses so that we could just plug into the wall outlet. Used plain white lenses for the center lights so we can light the room/floor when he plays and the outer red lights are on different circuit as night light.
Thanks to tenbeers for the tip!
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