Solved - NEH 3433: Fairchild Experimental Safety Vehicle

[Carnut]

Identify this car correctly for 1 point:

ANYONE FOUND GIVING ANSWERS OBTAINED BY USING GOOGLE SEARCH BY IMAGE MAY BE BANNED FOR AN INDETERMINATE PERIOD!

[oko94]

1971 Fairchild ESV

[Carnut]

1971 Fairchild ESV

It is, yes.
How do you know all these obscure cars then?  It's never been seen on AP before so I assume it was not known here and is pretty obscure to find so easily.

Solving that one makes you an Expert now - well done, though it does mean you can't take part in the Rookie puzzles any more, which I'm sure I don't need to remind you.

So it's safe for me to post Rookie puzzles again without wasting hours finding ones I think are hard that are solved within a few minutes!

And it means you can now post your own puzzles, which we are looking forward to since you obviously have an in-depth knowledge of the really obscure!

Front view:

[oko94]

When I was a kid, one of my favorite books was "Naissance d'une auto", about the development of the Renault 18 (yes, I was a weird kid). The car in itself is fairly bland but the book was very well made, as it covered every single step of the development of a new car, from the first meetings to the start of the production. It also included a big chapter about safety that was describing the state of the art at the time of the Renault 18's inception, so this is where I got to know the american ESVs from the seventies. Moreover, I recently read a post on an automotive blog about ESVs so that was fresh in my memory.

In this very case, what seems obscure to you is common to me, as I have been knowing the Fairchild ESV since I'm 7 or 8. But, believe me, even though I have collected hundreds of books and magazines in the last three decades, I am truly amazed to find on this site literally thousands of cars I have never, ever seen or even heard of. I feel really humble compared to the real pros here, whose knowledge of the most obscure contraption made in a derelict shed lost in the middle of nowhere is truly mind boggling.