The second post in my car exterior-themed series is this: a Porsche covered in gold leaf. A gold-plated car would be cool, but gold leafing is an old world craft I enjoy practicing and reading about.

Gold leaf is only a few microns thick, so a little goes a long way. One booklet of 100 sheets of 3.5″ x 3.5″ gold leaf (23 carat) currently costs about $50, and a pack of 20 books is around $600. Assuming it takes 100 sheets to coat one fender, and assuming one fender equals approximately 10% of the surface area of the car, it may have taken no more than $1000 to finish this car surface with gold leaf.

Of course the edges are visible, as with any flat surface gilding.