Friday, June 24, 2011

Royal Wedding: Lexus LS 600h L is transformed into Landaulet

When Prince Albert of Monaco will marry Mademoiselle Charlene Wittstock, the couple will be chauffeured in a unique Lexus LS 600h L Landaulet. The has been transformed in a luxury saloon with a full hybrid drive by the Belgian bodywork specialists Carat Duchatelet for the royal wedding.

The transformation of the sedan into a convertible in the traditional style Landauer was undertaken in close cooperation with Lexus in Brussels. The technicians worked more than 2,000 hours of special preparation. The process began with work-intensive calculations, simulations and 3-D representations.

To ensure the stability of the body structure after removing the rear half of the roof, the engineers designed components made of Kevlar and carbon compounds in the honeycomb structure. These materials were at very high temperatures in a special oven connected with the stable metal bodywork.

The vehicle was completely disassembled it. About 20 000 mechanical parts, electronic components and the entire interior was removed and reinstalled after the trial. Prior to the completion of the vehicle was eventually repainted. Prince Albert's wedding limousine wearing a midnight blue as a topcoat that was applied in six layers and between the various coating processes wet sanded by hand.

The biggest challenge in rebuilding that was one-piece transparent roof over the rear seats. It should do without reinforcements and braces. In the manufacture of the removable roof section Lexus has worked closely with a renowned supplier to the aviation industry, whose true metier, the production of windshields and helicopter cockpits for military jets.

The transparent roof is made of one piece of polycarbonate, is eight millimeters thin and weighs 26 kilograms. It is attached by means of two spacers on the body of the Lexus, the prince and his bride offers an unobstructed view to the outside and visitors to the wedding as a clear view of the couple.

Prior to the production of the roof part, a template made of carbon fiber honeycomb structure was manufactured in order to ensure that the roof will fit perfectly to the body. This manufacturing tolerances have been met by less than one millimeter. Alone with the final assembly and quality control of the finished wedding landaulets ten technicians and Lexus engineers were employing more than two weeks.

The Lexus LS 600h L Landaulet is powered by a V8 gasoline engine and a 165 kW / 224 hp electric motor. Overall system performance is one of 327 kW / 445 hp. The average fuel consumption to EU standard is 9.3 liters per 100 kilometers. The CO2 emissions are 219 grams per kilometer of similarly.

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