Carbon Fiber Used On Vehicles At The NY Auto Show 2009

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Be sure to check out our carbon fiber store, where our specialty is in lifestlyle products.

We took a little road trip over to Manhattan to check out the NY Auto Show to see what kind of vehicles we could find that featured some sort of carbon fiber on or in it.  We surely didn’t catch everything, but we found a surprisingly good amount.  Sit back, relax, and check out the below pics to see what we saw.  You can check out our gallery on Flickr to see the high resolution pictures of everything below.

SLR 722 GT

This $1.4 million racecar features a plethora of carbon fiber.  Most notably we can see the front lip and the large rear spoiler.

Mclaren SLR 722 GT

SLR 722 GT

Stile Bertone Alfa Romeo B.A.T. 11

This BAT concept done by Stile Bertone features carbon fiber wheels with an interesting design:

Alfa Romeo Stile Bertone B.A.T. 11

Carbon fiber wheel on BAT 11

SLR 722

This special edition SLR features a carbon fiber bottom lip.  You’ll notice it’s the same as the GT version above, which wasn’t changed.

SLR 722 carbon fiber lip

Mercedes SL65 AMG

The new Mercedes SL65 AMG is one bad machine.  At about $200,000, a biturbo V12, 604hp and 738 lb-ft tq, it also hauls ass.  On top of that, Mercedes has utilized a ton of carbon fiber in its styling.   Here we can see it being used in the front lip:

2010 SL65 AMG

Here’s a closeup shot:

SL65 AMG carbon fiber front lip

It also features a full carbon fiber rear diffuser, giving the back a really sporty/agressive stance:

SL65 AMG carbon fiber rear diffuser

This model featured a small carbon fiber trunk spoiler that had a dry/matte look which looks amazing:

SL65 AMG carbon fiber spoiler

Even the interior was done in carbon fiber, again utilizing that dry carbon/matte look:

SL65 AMG carbon fiber interior

Nice carbon fiber accents in the door:

SL65 AMG carbon fiber door

BMW M6

The BMW M6 is a great car, with just the touch of a button it opens up an extra 100hp, giving the beast 500 ponies.  It also features carbon fiber all over the interior:

BMW M6 carbon fiber interior

BMW 135i

Even the entry level BMW 135i can feature a ton of carbon fiber.  The model on the floor had the rear spoiler rear diffuser.  The carbon fiber and white paint job really set each other off.  After all said and done, it basically had as much CF as the $200k SL65 AMG!

BMW 135i

BMW 135i carbon fiber interior

BMW 135i carbon fiber door handle

Chrysler 200C Concept

While we couldn’t go in the car, we happened to catch a little CF goodness on the seat in the Chrysler 200C concept.  The chance that it ever makes it to production with carbon?  I wouldn’t bet on it.

Chrysler 200C carbon fiber seat

V10 Audi R8

Audi had their V10 version of their R8, with carbon fiber side panel.  The red/carbon work really well (hell, we love any color and carbon fiber):

Audi R8 V10 carbon fiber side

Chevy Volt

The world is really excited for the upcoming Chevy Volt (as long as their financing issues work out).  It’s going to be the first plug-in hybrid that’s priced so that the average consumer can afford it.  The concept we saw at the show actually had a carbon fiber side skirt:

Chevy Volt carbon fiber sideskirt

Scion xBt

For as small as Scion’s are, who would have ever though they would turn their xB into a pickup truck?  Feast your eyes on this:

Scion Xbt

Check out all that carbon fiber in the back:

Scion xBt carbon fiber trunk

Confederate Motorcycles: Confederate Wraith

This bike from Confederate was just full of carbon fiber:

Confederate Wraith

It will be interesting to come back to this post a couple years down the line and see how much more/less carbon fiber is being used in vehicles.  I’m going to predict that we’ll start to see it more basic cars as the cost of carbon fiber comes down and becomes more mainstream.  If there are any vehicles that you want more information on, just post a comment below and I’d be happy to provide you with some links.

Be sure to check out our carbon fiber store, where our specialty is in lifestlyle products.