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Jun 18, 2008 05:20 PM
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Detroit, 5:14 PM
Tue Feb 9
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Looks like the Ferrari-versus-Lamborghini Hell Project score is now Enzo 1, Ferrucio 1, according to the results of Monday's Choose Your Eternity Poll. We'll see about reprising the epic battle of the kings of finicky and costly Italian machinery soon enough, but today we're going to tell the oil companies we've had enough of their crazy prices and look at Electric Car Hell. And we don't mean glorified golf carts or even plug-in hybrids- we mean rear-wheel-drive American cars with great big electric motors and racks of lead-acid batteries, from the era of the Second Energy Crisis! Thanks, and a PCH Tipster T-shirt to ShastaMcNasty for the tips!
We're going to make the assumption that you'll be obtaining your electrons courtesy of sources other than petroleum products here, because otherwise the mean ol' oil companies will still have you by the short hairs. Nukes, solar cells, dams, whatever- they'll all work when it comes to topping off the cells in your Electric 1980 AMC Hornet wagon, which is still available for less than four grand at the time of this writing. Guess how many miles it has on the clock. No, really- take a guess. Fifty-one original miles! Yes, here we have what the seller says was "a joint venture between Solorgen and AMC to produce electric automobiles," so it's a low-mileage prototype Malaise Electric AMC. It probably hasn't run since Jimmy Carter was president- that is, if it has ever run- there are no batteries, and you can be assured that the brakes and wiring will need endless some attention before it can be driven. On the plus side, the interior is in great original shape, apart from some sun damage. We're a little puzzled by what appears to be an alternator attached to the electric motor in the photos- isn't there a more efficient way to get 12 volts for accessories when you have a car full of freakin' batteries?
A super-original Electric Hornet would be pretty cool, but what if you want to make an insane electric drag racer and show Plasma Boy a thing or two, maybe humiliate some Tesla owners? You'll need a car with a plethora of hot-rod suspension and rear-end parts available, and you'd be hard-pressed to find anything that can match the Ford Fox platform on that score. Naturally, you'll want a wagon, so check out this super-cheap 1981 Electric Ford Fairmont wagon, which was converted to electric power by none other than NASA! Well, actually its history is a bit murky, with the seller's statement "need batteries and my Dad never received the title had it shipped from California was going to order the title and get batteries but then hospital killed my Dad we need the money with Bush the oilman, 2X cheater and Chaney the crook in office" not doing much to clarify things; there is no title, there are no batteries, and nobody knows the specs on the motor. That won't matter much for you prospective electric wagon racers, because you'll need to upgrade to a powerplant waaaay bigger than what's installed now.
Send an email to Murilee Martin, the author of this post, at murilee@jalopnik.com.
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