From the “Oh, that sucks!” book comes this story. A businessman in London parked his Jaguar near 20 Fenchurch Street one day, and went about his his daily. When he returned to his car, a photographer was taking pictures and asked if he knew the owner of the car that had wrinkled in the sun. Not exactly the best way to end the day.
20 Fenchurch Street is London’s newest skyscraper, designed by the same man who created the Vdara hotel in Las Vegas. The building’s shape, combined with the glass panelings on the outside, has the ability to focus sunlight like a concave mirror. When this happens, a ray of light that can reach temperatures as high as 243 degrees Fahrenheit beams down onto a section of parking spaces, right where a particular black Jag owned by Martin Lindsay was parked.
Several body panels had heat-warped, the rear-view mirror melted and sunk in, and even the Jaguar badge had melted. The contractors that are in charge of finishing the building had left a note on the car (“Your car’s bucked, would you please call us?”) and have agreed to take care of the £946 damage bill.
Story courtesy of BBC, thanks to Scott Brown for tipping us off!
The guy looks like a disgruntled Simon Pegg.
The real questions should be ;
A) Did the building shape and surfaces cause this ?
or
B) Was the damage due to the poor quality of materials and workmanship on the Jaguar ?
My guess having seen the quality , fit and finish of todays Elmers Glue & Tin stuck together with a hope and a prayer Jaguars is ..
B !
are there any cars you actually like?
This occurred last September, and it was the building acting like the mirror version of a magnifying glass. The fix proposed was a simple solar tinting of some kind to the window’s to prevent the concentration of light/heat. Never heard a word after that so I figured that fix must of worked.
or its about to happen again when that particular day in September rolls around…
Touche’!
Same thing happened when they built Los Angeles’ Disney Music Hall. Stainless steel surfaces with compound curves and 300 days of sunlight a year. There were areas of sidewalk edging up to 180*, ridiculous glare shining into windows of apartment building across the street.
I think they tried sanding the surface, then came up with some kind of coating to dull the reflections and absorb light.
Wynn built the second tower in las vegas. The sun reflected from one building to the other until it burned everything on the pool deck. Dont remember the temp anymore but it was hot enough that they closed the pool deck until they got a window film on.
Cause Vegas pool decks aren’t HOT enough, lol.
(just got home yesterday from cooking at the Monte Carlo’s pool)