The story of Iowa State’s smashed-up solar car is not over.

Team PrISUm members are patching up the solar car for display at the Iowa State Fair next month.

“We’re restoring it a little so we can display it at the state fair,” Jeff Osborne, co-director for Team PrISUm, said. “Mathison’s (Auto Body & Paint) has volunteered to put it on their straightening machine, and Ames Lab has volunteered to reweld the frame.”

“The PrISUm has had a lot of support in kind,” Osborne said. “Boeing sponsored material for the shell, the batteries were donated from Delphi Batteries, Michael’s Cyclery donated labor. We had a lot of local support,” he said. Hy-Vee and McDonald’s also helped out in providing food along the way.

Team PrISUm is now considering taking part in another race next year, Osborne said. “We are considering going to Australia for the World Solar Challenge,” he said. The race is scheduled to take place in October, 1996. The team has also been invited to join another race in Japan next summer, he said.

Osborne said that the whole project was a good experience for all. “We learned a lot about the use of solar energy and we had a really good time,” he said. “We are a very close team.”

Driver Maury Anderson said that the SunRayce made people “take a step back and see that it is actually possible” to rely on solar power instead of fossil fuels. He said that electrically powered cars may appear in the future, with solar recharging stations replacing gas stations.

Osborne, who has worked with the team for four years, said he first got involved in the race because he found “the idea of a car running on the power of a hair dryer intriguing.”

The PrISUm Cynergy, ISU’s latest solar-powered car, crashed into the guard rail of a bridge 30 miles away from the SunRayce finish line in Golden, Colo. on June 29, when one of its tires blew.

The car was towed across the finish line by one of its accompanying vehicles, placing 19th among 38 competing cars from universities around North America.

Anderson sustained a broken leg and was sent to the hospital after the crash.