Silver Audi A8

It's not silver, it's aluminum. The body of the A8 is all aluminum and if you remove the paint and then coat the aluminum itself you get this effect. Similar things have been done as one-off show cars, including at least one Jaguar sedan I've seen in person with a similar all-aluminum body polished and clearcoated.

Here's the info on this one from MTM, the Audi tuner specialists who did the one you have pictured:

http://www.mtm-online.de/en/highlights_audi_a8d3_poliert.html

Maybe it's for the Queen of Naboo.

What other cars are aluminum underneath? Because it would be a neat way to make a crappy car look great. How much does coating it cost?

Silver is heavy, so a car could become twice as heavy. Melting point is also pretty low.

Just an observation, silver tarnishes. That hardly makes it a likely choice for the body of a car.

Still, it's lovely. Probably very prone to scratching though.

RE: tarnishing. One would assume that if a person could afford a silver car, they could afford to have someone polish it.

And to show off what a geek I am, a tube of toothpaste would do the trick - it works wonders on tarnished silver. 😉

riddle me this... where the person taking the photo? shouldent he be reflected in the picture???

At the angle the pic is taken at it would be difficult to get the reflection, I think, especially when you consider that most cameras have zoom, so the photo could be anywhere within forward zoom. .

Silver is rather heavy, but not even twice as heavy as steel.

The melting point of silver (1763F) is quite a bit higher than aluminum (1220F)

Silver does tarnish, but it is the most reflective metal (used for high quality mirrors, aluminum is used for lower). Aluminum also tarnishes anyway (forms an oxide layer that is not as reflective), both would need a top coating.

However, as the first post said, it is probably aluminum. Solid silver would be quite soft.

If anyone ever did want a real silver car, they'd probably plate it over steel (or even better, plate a thin coat of nickel over steel, and an even thinner coat of chrome, which doesn't tarnish and is much more scratch resistant).

But, it can't be totally ruled out. Something similar has been done with gold: http://www.bigtexas.com/dmc/

"...And to show off what a geek I am, a tube of toothpaste would do the trick - it works wonders on tarnished silver."

Toothpaste is much too abrasive to use on valuable silver-- you'd end up with a lot of fine scratches on the surface. Tooth enamel is much harder than silver.

To clean silver, either get some good silver polish, or just use soap and warm water and a soft cloth.

Another household hint from...

Aha, Gary is Martha Stewart!

So, how is house arrest?

(Heh heh, my confirmation word was 'big')

Isn't there something about aluminum foil, hot water and baking soda & salt as well? My silver is mostly cheap-y stuff, but scratches would be an issue on soemthing more valuable, I'd bet.

Splarka sez:
"Aha, Gary is Martha Stewart!

So, how is house arrest?"

My house is still at large, although many people think it SHOULD be arrested.

I received this e-mail as well and immediately called BS. I at first assumed it was the "Chrome Paint" but after reading this thread I had further doubt ....

The myth has been crushed..

read here:
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread.php?s=&postid=1155389

and here:
http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/custom-carshot-rods/tuners/mtms-polished-audi-a8-107713.php

Audi A8 is made of alluminum. they stripped the paint and polished it to a shine.

If it is silver then I am sure that the company who made it also has some way to mitigate tarnishing. A simple laquer would do the trick and could easily be applied as needed to prevent the problem.

The coating is made of aluminum powder in a varnish. There is a product called Mirrachrome that can be airbrushed onto a properly prepped vehicle and make it look all "chrome". I've seen a Mercedes with this paint.

Winona: Yes you can use aluminum foil, hot water and baking soda & salt as well. Actually, I'm not sure about the salt. When I was a teenager, we were conned into buying a "magic" siver cleaner. This consisted of an aluminium plate, with regularly space holes to make it look as if specially manufactured.

It did work, but cost a lot more than aluminium foil would. On the other hand, back then most of us didn't have rolls of aluminium foil if the kitchen, so I'm not sure whether to count it as a hoax.

This is a prince of a eastern countries car he has a large mansion and yes this is a real silver car he had it done personnally for him

I am drooling as we speak. I love cars.

The car is made of real silver. My friend who is the son of the owner of the car is an exchange student in St. Louis. I have seen the car and it is real.

waste of money

This is NOT a car made from silver! MTM polished the Aluminum body, then clearcoated it! I have the same thing done to my NSX! If you don't beleive me, then go to MTM's website. They even have their name on the plates and the wheels!

myself personnally I polished this automobile myself it is 300% jeweler's platinum however my saliva adds how do you say the 'magicians touch'..! MTM creattes several platinum automobile also, I had polished three diesel turbo murcielagos now they are sent to Hong Kong!

Hi. Why not Gold or platinum?. Why an A8 and not a S8?. Why not an Aston, or Bugatti, a hand-made or a better car that i don

This is what $3.00 a gallon can buy, huh? Lucky, arab, sons of *******