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$18.50. Occasionally, the auto shop would replace ball joints or
straighten a frame; for the latter, the charge was $800 to $900.
Petitioner testified that frame jobs were rare, occurring only
two or three times during the years he owned the auto shop.
Petitioner began his construction of the J car by using the
frame of a 1965 Triumph Spitfire on which he built a fiberglass
body. Petitioner built the fiberglass body of the car by hand,
rather than from a mold. He did not hire anyone to design and
construct a mold first because he believed that the cost would be
prohibitive and that, since he could not draw, he would be unable
to convey to such a person what he had in mind as to the body
design. According to petitioner, once he was satisfied with the
body, he then had someone else prepare a drawing of the car.
Petitioner did not produce this drawing at the trial, and the
record does not disclose the degree of accuracy or detail with
which the drawing was prepared. Petitioner indicated that he
sent this drawing to Virginia Polytechnic Institute for an
assessment of the car's aerodynamic qualities. Petitioner said
he was satisfied with the results of the assessment3 and left his
design as it was at that time.
3 Petitioner testified that Virginia Polytechnic Institute
found the design to be "97 percent aerodynamically correct."
Petitioner presented no documentation of these results and did
not explain what, if anything, such results meant in relation to
the ultimate manufacture or operation of the J car. Presumably
the aerodynamics of the body would affect its mileage per gallon
of fuel.
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