This would only be plausible for either specialized cars or custom cars. Cars built with space frames would be candidates. Very few production cars are built with space frames. Their design requires almost over engineering and the chassis would not be transferable to other designs. An example would be the Ford GT.

Besides that, I don't think using plastics is really a new technology. The idea is like using a piece of paper. It's flat in shape. Make your hand into an L shape, then fold the piece of paper so that it would touch on your index finger and thumb. It forms an arc. Remove the paper from your hand and it returns to the flat shape. That is the idea with the plastics. Depending on where and how it is mounted on the space frame gives it the shape.

I can't imagine that plastics wouldn't be able to be painted in certain styles so long as primers are used.

As far as damage, traditional materials still get damaged from scratching or being impacted.

My idea is similar to Saturns use of plastics so that their panels are dent resistant. The difference is that their plastics are molded and still require specialized tooling to make. With my idea, all you need is to design and engineer it, then hand build that car by mounting the flat panels in certain manners. Saturns plastics also carry a lot of weight with them. I'm looking to use thinner and lighter plastics that don't necessarily have much structure to them.

I would be using the concepts of how a space frame is designed. As single pieces of pipe their structure is weak. Connect them with certain shapes and all of a sudden you have a very strong structure. When the plastic panels are mounted and arc'd into certain positions they will hold their shape at high speeds and be resistant to dents.

Also, consider if a panel is struck and goes from concave to convex, or vice versa, I imagine it would be easier to simply push/pull the panel back into shape. The plastic would be more elastic than metal, and easier to return to the original shape.

What do you all think?