What's likely the most unusual car at the National Museum of Transportation in St Louis is likely one of the most unusual anywhere, and likely the most expensive custom-built car ever.
Andy DiDia was a 1950s clothing designer who turned his talents to designing his own dream car, but unlike most people who do that, DiDia hired craftsmen to actually build it and make it run. The project took from 1953 to 1960 and cost the equivalent of about $700,000.
After it was finished, DiDia sold it to his friend, the singer Bobby Darin, for about a million dollars in today's money. Darin drove it to the Academy Awards and drove it around for nearly ten years before donating it to the museum.
Some of the touches DiDia planned were pure fantasy: a squared-off steering wheel, big dashboard levers for simple functions. Others were ahead of their time, including headlights and taillights that swivel as the car turns. Some design elements probably wouldn't be allowed on the road now, including the fairly hostile-looking torpedo bumpers.
But one way or the other, it's unlike anything you'll ever be able to call "spotted on the road!"
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