Things that don't suck: The ugly duckling

The world's ugliest and most unreliable car of all time, the Aurora, has been restored - 50 years after the only one ever manufactured hit the pavement.

This is a fascinating story - a priest from New York, Father Alfred Juliano, had this crazy idea, to make the world's safest car. To fund his idea, Father Juliano asked his congregation for help. $30,000 later, he had his prototype. He was flying high.

Unfortunately, the 19-foot long Aurora broke down 15 times on the way to its launch party, so no one wanted to buy one.

The Aurora had some revolutionary ideas, such as seatbelts, a roll cage, side-impact bars, and a collapsible steering column...and it had some duds. Most people focussed on the duds. My favorites were:

1. Front-end air scoop, intended to reduce injuries to any pedestrians who get in the way (sounds like a great idea for cops who want to clear Boston Common of heroin addicts)
   


2. Front seats rotated 180 degrees so that the occupants could turn around and brace themselves if they saw a collision coming (also useful for Dads who want to make good on their typically idle threats "Don't make me come back there!")
   
   
3. Foam padding, that surrounded the car (great for when you're getting out of a tight spot after parallel parking - just give the guy behind you a good nudge, and off you go!)
   

The Aurora was ditched, and left behind an auto body shop in Connecticut, and there it sat for decades. Back in 1993, a classic auto enthusiast named Andy Saunders read about it, contacted the owner, and had it shipped to him in England, where he spent 12 years restoring it.

http://www.rexfeatures.com/features/516925/