Oak Ridge Shows Off A Shelby Cobra Built With A 3-D Printer

Scientists from Oak Ridge National Lab are at the Detroit Auto Show this week showing off a sleek Shelby Cobra that they built with a 3-D printer.

Lonnie Love, who leads ORNL’s manufacturing systems research group, says he doesn’t expect cars to be mass produced this way in his lifetime. But it might be how car companies start building models, which is currently done with clay.

“You can go out and print a working prototype in weeks, in days,” Love says in a promotional video.

The Shelby Cobra was designed and built in six weeks. It took just 24 hours to print the parts. Of the 1,400-pound vehicle, 500 pounds were made with a 3-D printer.