[kach22i]

1st Experimental Safety Vehicle Built in Branford, Connecticut in 1957
http://www.neautomuseum.org/blog/1st-experimental-safety-vehicle-built-in-branford-connecticut-in-1957/

Branford, Conn. – Dubbed by quite a few writers as one of the ugliest cars ever built, the 1957 Aurora prototype was designed by Father Alfred Juliano, a Catholic priest, in Branford. Not necessarily the product of divine intervention, Juliano’s purpose was to create the world’s safest automobile. With money contributed by his Connecticut congregation, Fr. Juliano wanted to build the car and make it available to American automakers to put into production. As it turns out, the gods were not with him and the project went bankrupt after creating just a single prototype.

On the safety side, the car had a built-in roll cage, seat belts, a padded instrument panel, a collapsible steering wheel, and side-impact bars. Even the spare tire was housed under the front end of the vehicle to help absorb impacts. The front end had a “cow catcher” sort of design, filled with foam, to scoop up pedestrians instead of running them over. Perhaps most innovative was that the seats were designed to swivel 180 degrees and face backwards should a collision be imminent.

However, restoration was completed in early 2005, and the car was unveiled to a newly re-astounded public at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and is now on display in the Beaulieu Motor Museum, Hampshire, England.

2007
Making the World Safe for Velocity
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/23/automobiles/collectibles/23SAFE.html

The odd bubble-shaped windshield had no wipers because, Father Juliano said, it was so aerodynamic that raindrops blew away.