The GM EV1: Electricity for the Masses?

 Photo by Rick Rowen (RightBrainPhotography of Flickr)

Gas is expensive, as anyone who's driven recently can attest. The idea of a vehicle that doesn't use gas is a good one, and has been tried for many years. Many of the first vehicles on the road were electrically powered, but ultimately, gas powered designs won the battle. Electrics made a comeback beginning in the 1970s, first as aftermarket conversions and vehicles built by small start-up companies.

By the 1990s, the technology had reached a point that a major automaker was willing to try its hand in the electric car business. Following positive reception of their 1990 Impact concept car, fifty hand built Impact vehicles were leased to consumers in 1994 for a period of one to two weeks.

Following the positive reception to the Impact, the California Air Resources Board set requirements for emission free vehicles that the seven largest car makers in the US would have to follow to sell cars in California. 2% of cars would have to be emission free by 1998, 5% by 2001, and 10% by 2003.

Although the mandate was later rescinded, GM developed the Impact into the EV1 and released it to great grandeur on December 5, 1996. The EV1 featured a lead acid battery system producing 137 horsepower.

The cars were lease-only: GM specifically disallowed purchase of the cars, which were valued at $34,000. The cars' success was further hampered by General Motors only allowing certain people to become lessees of the EV1. Hundreds of people wanted to become EV1 lessees, but GM wouldn't let them. Only 288 were sold the first year.

After 660 examples had been built, GM released a second generation EV1 in December 1999, featuring a new nickel-metal-hydride battery system that was more reliable and cost-effective. 457 of these were leased over the next eight months.

This is a story with a sad ending. On February 7, 2002, two years after the end of EV1 production, GM notified lessees that EV1s would be removed from the road. Despite numerous efforts to keep the cars on the road, GM did not extend leases and forcibly repossessed the cars. They even had police guard transport of the cars to their crush sites. Almost every EV1 was crushed; a few were donated to colleges with their powertrains deactivated, one was donated to Epcot, and one was donated to the Smithsonian. None are operational today.

Luckily, GM got their head out of their butt with the Volt, which is sold directly to consumers.

Odd Cars Compilation Movie

The EDSEL

Ask someone what car comes to mind when you say "flop", and Ford's ill-fated Edsel is one of the most likely answers they'll give you. The last Edsel rolled off the assembly line nearly 55 years ago, but the memory of the Edsel - and its dramatic failure - are remembered today, as are many of its unusual design features.

The Edsel launched on September 4, 1957, and even had a TV show broadcast October 13 of that year on CBS to drum up interest. The show, which replaced The Ed Sullivan Show (for the uninitiated, one of the most popular 1950s television shows) for the night, was highly rated and helped to launch Bing Crosby's television career.

The car launched well, but sales quickly went south. The build quality was poor, as illustrated by a door handle actually breaking off in Rosemary Clooney's hand on the Edsel Show. By March 1958, 16% of Edsel owners had complained of shoddy workmanship. There was no "Edsel" plant - cars were built by Ford and Mercury plants, who often found it burdensome to switch tooling to produce the occasional Edsel that rolled down the line.

People didn't know where the Edsel fit into Ford's lineup. At the time, Ford had a stairstep structure - Ford - Mercury - Lincoln - differentiated by price and feature content. Edsels were priced closely with Mercury, making the Edsel redundant in Ford's lineup. Exacerbating this problem was the fact that there was a recession in progress upon the car's introduction, and sales of the "medium priced cars" - the Mercury's price range - were down as consumers favored lower cost options.

Finally, the Edsel was an oddity, in more ways than one. The 410 cubic inch V8 lacked distinct combustion chambers, which was a new idea at the time. The "Teletouch" transmission used buttons located on the steering wheel as opposed to a gear shift, so drivers found it difficult to get used to. The transmission was also known for suffering mechanical problems. The styling, headed by the controversial vertical grille (derisively referred to as a "toilet seat", "horse collar", or various other, less G-rated names) was poorly received from the get go.

Only 68,045 units were sold in 1958, the Edsel's debut year. This number declined to 47,396 for 1959.

The Edsel's discontinuation was announced on November 19, 1959, and production ended later that month with only 2,846 cars being built.

See the Audio Review here: https://soundcloud.com/carsthatareunusual/edsel-12-05-14

The Subaru 360

A little known fact is that Subaru is a division of Fuji Heavy Industries, a Japanese multinational transportation company. In 1958, Subaru began production on their first widely popular car, the 360, so named for the 356 cc engine. Japan was becoming crowded in the wake of rapid industrialization after WWII, so in 1955 the Japanese government created a new car class, "kei jidosha" (colloquially known as "kei car") which set limits on width and engine displacement. The engine displacement limit for a kei car at that time was 360 cc.

While the economical design was perfect for a Japan just becoming motorized, it didn't go over well when Malcolm Bricklin brought it stateside in 1968. By this time, the design was ten years old, and it would have been outclassed even had it been introduced in the USA at the same time as its Japanese introduction. 

It weighed 993 pounds; safety standards of the time only applied to vehicles weighing over 1,000 pounds. The little car made no pretense of following many of the safety standards. It was lucky even to have seat belts. The fuel economy was found to be approximately equal to the Volkswagen Beetle, then  the USA's number one selling imported car. The price, at $1,297, was cheap, but only a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Beetle. 

In the end, only 10,000 were sold in the USA before the car was discontinued in 1971. Though it was a flop, later Subarus sold much better. Today's Subarus have won many awards and the company is very successful.

Listen to the Audio Review at https://soundcloud.com/carsthatareunusual/subaru-podcast-11-05-14

The Saturn

In the 1980s, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, and other foreign makers found success with small, fuel efficient cars. GM, finding itself short on small cars, introduced two new brands dedicated solely to the compacts. The first, Geo, founded in 1988, sold cars from Japanese companies, license built by GM. The second, Saturn, founded in 1990, used a dedicated design called the "Z-body", a 1.9 liter engine custom developed for the car, and a space frame design with plastic body panels. The division of GM had considerable autonomy, and emphasized quality - it was billed as "a different kind of car company."

While Geo didn't survive the 1990s, the Saturn - offered in sedan, coupe, and wagon guises - was very successful in the 1990s.

Sterling 825: Not Quite Sterling

On the day after Christmas 1979, British Leyland, then the megalith that owned nearly all British car production, entered into an alliance with Honda. It had a potential to benefit them, as British Leyland quality of the time was shoddy, and the company was losing money.

Fast forward to 1986. Honda has launched a luxury division, known as Acura. Their premier offering was the Legend, a large luxury sedan. Austin Rover, one of British Leyland's successors, also built their version, which was called the 825. The Sterling 825 shared a platform with the Legend, but was tuned for a "sportier" feel.

The Sterling's sales were initially strong, but wore off quickly after the vehicles demonstrated poor reliability. While the basic engine and running gear design was sound - they had been developed by Honda - problems with trim, electronics, and rust sent the vehicles to the bottom of the J.D. Power rankings. The Legend went to the top of the same rankings.

The Sterling was also sold in Europe as the Rover 800, where it found more success and was made until 1999. Quality on the 800s improved over time, with later models suffering from much fewer problems as early models.

In the US, the Sterling was discontinued in August 1991. The Acura Legend evolved into the RL, and then the RLX. Nearly 30 years after its forefather's introduction, the RLX is sold new to this day.

Mazda Rotary Engine Pickup

A Rotary Engine Pickup, photo taken by Wikipedia user "detectandpreserve".

In the 1970s, Mazda had a thing for rotary engines. While in more recent years rotary engines have been confined to RX sports cars or discontinued altogether, Mazda once offered a full lineup of rotary powered vehicles. Compacts, wagons, midsize sedans, sports sedans, sports cars, and even luxury cars got Wankel rotaries dropped into their engine compartments. In the US, many of these models had "RX" in their name, such as the RX-2, RX-3, RX-4 and RX-5. 

Like most Japanese manufacturers, Mazda built a little truck, known as the B-Series. In 1974, the second generation B-Series was in production, having launched in 1965. The Rotary Engine Pickup was a version of this truck built with a 1.3 liter, two rotor engine, the 13B, which also powered many other rotary Mazdas of the time. Oddly for Mazda, it was only sold in the United States and Canada Road and Track was impressed by the truck, praising its "smooth, quiet power" and "nice" interior. Unfortunately, only 3,000 units were sold, and the truck was discontinued in 1977 when the B-Series was redesigned. Today, the trucks are highly sought after by enthusiasts.

A piston engined version of the truck was available as the B1600, and Ford also sold a version as the Courier.

1990-1996 GM Minivans: "Dustbuster Look"

A 1994-1996 Pontiac Trans Sport SE.

In late 1983, Chrysler launched the first minivan, and it found runaway success. It had the same fuel economy as a station wagon and was priced competitively, but was a new design with improved ergonomics and versatility. Competitors rushed to introduce their minivan designs; GM, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, and Mitsubishi had all thrown their hats into the ring by 1986, yet the Chrysler remained the most car-based, the van that stuck closest to the formula we now know as "minivans."

GM's initial offering, introduced in 1984, was the Chevy Astro and GMC Safari, which were effectively full-size vans shrunken to a more compact size, and they found a niche as a half-step between minivans and full size vans. 

In 1986, GM showed off a concept van called the "Pontiac Trans Sport", which featured a full glass canopy, seats with built in stereo speakers, a built in personal computer that could access traffic information, and a built in Nintendo NES video game system. Targeted for production in 1987, the radically styled van was never released in its concept form. 

The real Pontiac Trans Sport, launched in December 1989, maintained the radical styling. The design earned the nickname "Dustbuster".There were more unusual features in the van; the frame was a galvanized steel space frame design with dent resistant body panels, much like the later Saturn. The "modular" seats were removable and weighed only 35 pounds each. The van also featured one of the largest dashboards in a vehicle, and some drivers complained that the distance between the eyes and the windshield was too long. Other versions of the van were also launched: the Chevy Lumina APV was the value priced version, and the Oldsmobile Silhouette the premium version.

Sales were mediocre, and in 1994, the van was facelifted. Finally, in 1997, the vans were totally redesigned into a much more conventional style.

Summer Post Announcement

This blog was created for a class at Volunteer State Community College, therefore, after the semester is over, the class is over and I do not have to post any more odd cars. That said, I have enjoyed making this blog, so posts will continue over the summer.

THE SMART CAR!!!!

Microcars - cars barely big enough to fit a couple passengers - have been widely popular in the past, but regulations and changing tastes ultimately killed them in the US by the 1970s, and even once microcar-heavy countries around the world are slowly moving into vehicles with a bit more metal. Of course, there are neighborhood electric vehicles, go karts, and the like, but we're talking about fully street legal transportation, a vehicle you could drive from California to New York if you wanted to. The smallest fully street legal car offered in the US market - and one of the smallest in the Western world - is the Smart.
The unlikely source of the Smart is Mercedes Benz and Swatch, a watch manufacturer. Smart originally stood for Swatch Mercedes ART. The concept was developed by Swatch executives beginning in the late 1980s. Volkswagen backed the concept in the beginning, but the company was ultimately founded in 1994 as a joint venture between Swatch and Daimler Benz (now Daimler AG), makers of Mercedes Benz. The first Smart car was built in October 1998.
The original Smart has been in production for 16 years now, having been renamed the fortwo in 2004, redesigned in 2006, and introduced to the US in early 2008.

Volvo OV 4: A Volvo Convertible IN SWEDEN

Sweden's first sizable car maker was Volvo, born in 1927 and still going strong. Like most car companies, they didn't find success from the outset: their first model, the OV 4, was a flop, for reasons that seem painfully obvious from a 2014 perspective. Volvo is from Gothenburg, Sweden, where the average high in the summer is 19-20 Celsius (66-68 Fahrenheit) and winters that hover around freezing.  Not exactly a climate where a convertible would be your first choice. Only 275 were ever made, including 70 pickup versions.

Volvo followed up the OV 4 with the PV 4 in late 1928. The PV 4 was identical to the OV 4, but it had a roof. The OV 4 was discontinued in 1929. 

The PV 4 was more successful, and spawned a line of "PV" series cars that lasted until 1965 and made Volvo a household name.

The Suzuki X-90: Good Things are sometimes U-G-L-Y

Let's get this out of the way first: The Suzuki X-90, made from 1995-1997, has been widely criticized for being UGLY. Even the ads asked "What are you staring at?" The X-90 had an 86 inch wheelbase (3 inches shorter than a Miata of the time) and a targa top. It was, in a nutshell, not quite an SUV, not quite a convertible. And it was microscopic.

Owners generally like their X-90s, as a "fun" vehicle or second or third car. It has formidable off road prowess, especially for a vehicle packing just 95 horsepower, and is generally reliable. Think of it as an ugly Jeep.

The Chrysler TC by Maserati

Maserati. The word evokes thoughts of cruising down a winding road along the French Riviera at sunset on a warm summer evening, the wind in your hair and not a care in the world. Impeccable Italian craftsmanship, the latest in luxury features, and smooth, punchy power are in the svelte car.

Chrysler. Perhaps you think of Middle America, a typical car. Of course, you may think of their recent quality issues, but this is 1989 we are talking about, so you probably think of a typical car, albeit one with a safety advantage due to their early introduction of air bags.

The Maserati TC didn't have air bags at its late 1989 launch - even a Dodge Omni (made by Chrysler) of the time had a driver air bag. Of course, with the air bag requirement not taking effect until 1998, most cars didn't have even a driver air bag until about 1992. Chrysler prided itself on being earlier, with all 1990 (and many 1989) vehicles it built in the US having a driver air bag. One problem: the TC was built in Italy. Later TCs got an air bag, but by this time, most of the TCs that would ever be built had already been built bagless.

But that's just the beginning of the TC's problems. The TC was built in three different locations - stamping took place in Torino, and it was assembled in Sparone and then Milan. Two of the engines - four cylinders - were developed jointly with Chrysler and Maserati. The third, a more powerful V6, came from Mitsubishi. Mitsu-flipping-bishi.

Let's not forget about the Chrysler LeBaron GTC, which offered the same features and more color choices at little more than half the price of the TC. Of course, one may argue that the Maserati build quality was probably better, but the Maserati of the late 1980s - early 1990s was not in its finest hour. The company was nearly bankrupt. Their volume model of the time was the Biturbo, a model which was known for being unreliable. And decidedly un-sexy.

The GTC had far better build quality. And an air bag. And was available at all Chrysler dealers, not just 300 select dealers.

Seems like a simple choice, and it was: only 7,300 units were sold at $33,000 - $37,000 each.

The New Proton Perdana - It's an 8th Generation Honda Accord

Top photo: my dearly departed 2008 Honda Accord.

Bottom photo by Paul Tan.

Top photo: my dearly departed 2008 Honda Accord.

Bottom photo, once again, is by Paul Tan.

They don't come more rehashed than this - but in this case, the base platform is a good thing. If you live in Malaysia, you know about Proton, which is their largest domestic car maker. Malaysia is a car-making country - led by two companies, Proton and Perodua - and their products are pretty good nowadays. Sadly, they don't sell in the US, although they do export to Europe, Australia, and most Asian countries. 

Proton, known for their collaboration with Mitsubishi, found a different partner for the new Perdana, launched in December 2013 for Malaysian government and to be launched to the Malaysian domestic market by 2015. Proton and Honda entered a deal to share engines, platforms, and various other car odds and ends, and the first fruit has been the new Perdana, which replaces the old Mitsubishi-based Perdana made from 1995 to 2010. It is a badge engineered 2008-2012 Honda Accord... complete with the same interior, exterior, and even airbag markings. Only some details differ. 

Proton has had some safety issues in the past, but has made cars more recently that are much safer. The Perdana, based on such a stellar design, should be just as safe.

May 10, 2014: See the podcast audio version on Sound Cloud.

The Alfa Romeo Arna - Alfa + Nissan =

Alfa Romeo has announced its return to the US in 2015, after a 20 year absence. The carmaker is well known for its attractive Italian styling, and the quality is good.

Back in the late 1970s and 1980s, one of the things that hampered Alfa Romeo was dodgy reliability, and they were losing market share. On October 9, 1980, Alfa Romeo and Nissan signed a deal to form a joint venture called ARNA - Alfa Romeo Nissan Autoveicoli - and develop a small family car to turn around Alfa Romeo's sagging fortunes. Nissan had just what Alfa needed: reliable vehicles. And Alfa had the sexy design. A reliable, sexy vehicle? Why hasn't this partnership lasted? Hmm... I wonder why.

This was the Alfa Romeo Arna. Right from the start, you can tell it's a royal screwup. From the outside, it's just a Nissan - a decidedly ho-hum looking vehicle at the time - with Alfa badges haphazardly slapped on it. It also suffered from the rather poor engineering quality of a typical 1980s Alfa Romeo. Imagine a 1980s Nissan, without the Nissan reliability. It was the worst of both worlds, and a worthless car. Somehow, 53,000 were sold, though very few remain - by 2000, just 340 remained in the UK, a major market. That indicates a 5-10% survival rate just 13-17 years after the cars were produced. It was an unreliable car, and one no one cared to keep in good shape.

Luckily, this piece of trash never made it out of Europe, and in 1987, it was canned and replaced by the Alfa Romeo 33, a much better car. The 33 was made between 1983 and 1995 (having run concurrently with the Arna during its first few years) and sold over a million units. And it looked like this:

The Mercedes Benz CLS - The World's First Ever.... 4 Door Coupe

Coupe. Coupes have two doors - or so you would think. Mercedes Benz makes coupes that they call coupes - the SL500 and SLK are two examples. Since 2005, coupe has taken on a broader meaning. Mercedes Benz, the inventor of the automobile, has come out with a 4 door coupe called the CLS. 
Built on a 2002-2009 E-Class frame stretched by six inches, the CLS slots between the E class and S class in the sedan 4 door lineup, and the E Coupe and CL Coupe in the coupe lineup. and will set you back at least $72,100 in 2014.

In the US, V8 power comes as standard with even the base CLS550 providing a scorching 402 horsepower that can haul this beast to 60 mph in just 5.1 seconds. AMG models - starting under $100,000 in 2014 - get you 550 or 577 horsepower and 3.6-3.7 second 0-60 times.

It comes with all the typical luxury accouterments a Mercedes Benz of this caliber would give you, as well as the engineering prowess that is the hallmark of this German luxury car company.

The TOYOTA Cavalier - A Chevy Cavalier sold as a... Toyota

A 1998 Toyota Cavalier

Remember GEO? Odds are, if you're born before the mid 1990s, you at least have some vague knowledge of what GEO was, but let's recap for those who forgot and those under 20: In 1988, General Motors, the grand behemoth of car manufacturing, decided to bolster their small car offerings in a world increasingly concerned about fuel efficiency. GEO license built cars from Suzuki, Isuzu and Toyota; one could buy the original version under its own brand, or the GEO version license built under joint ventures with the original companies. 

The GEO Prizm was one of these models, and was originally the Toyota Corolla. Due to trade and export restrictions and as a "payback" for the Prizm, GM built Chevy Cavaliers at their Lordstown, Ohio assembly plant and badged them as Toyotas for sale in the Japanese market. 

The Aurora - A Safety Car built by a Catholic Priest

The Aurora on display in the late 1950s.

 The story of the Aurora begins kind of oddly: a Catholic priest, Father Alfred A. Juliano, decided to build a car which pushed the art of car safety. This was 1957, a time when padded dashboards were extra cost options, seat belt wearers were as rare as Superman #1 comics, and Unsafe at Any Speed was still eight years away.

Looking at it from a 2014 perspective, some the safety features wouldn't work very well, but many have survived in cars to this day. There were seat belts - which wouldn't be required for another seven years. A collapsible steering column, which was still ten years from becoming commonplace. A roll cage. And a padded dashboard. Pretty standard stuff, but ahead of its time.

While none of the Aurora's safety features could be considered idiotic by a 1957 standard, 2014 is a much harsher judge of car safety. The Aurora had a button that the driver could push to swivel the seats rearward in the event of an impending crash, a windshield that bulged out to prevent impact, and a scoop like structure on the front end (clearly seen in the picture) that would reduce harm to pedestrians if one was hit. The latter two features were largely responsible for the Aurora being labeled one of the ugliest cars ever made.

The Aurora was built on the salvaged chassis of a 1953 Buick, with the body structure being made of fiberglass and wood. The production version was to offer a choice of Chrysler, Cadillac, or Lincoln engines and be priced at $12,000 ($100,908 in today's dollars). On its way to its first press conference in 1957, it broke down 15 times, with most of those times being related to the fuel system, which had been sitting still for four years. It arrived hours late, and there were no advance orders.

For that matter, there were no orders whatsoever.

Only one was made.

Zagato Elcar: Furiously Junky

In 1975, Consumer Reports compared the CitiCar and the Zagato Elcar. The CitiCar was found to have major handling problems, inadequate safety, and short battery life. At $2,946 ($12,856 in today's dollars) it was expensive.

Blue Book Value on a 2008 Honda Accord as of April 3, 2014 is $27.22 cheaper than a CitiCar (adjusted for inflation), and a whopping $2,335.76 cheaper than the Elcar.

Believe it or not, there was a worse option than the CitiCar. The Zagato Elcar was Italian built, but even the CitiCar outclassed it. At $3,475 ($15,164.76 in today's dollars) it was more expensive than many real cars of its time - cars that had to meet safety standards. It was built by Zagato, a famous design studio, in Milan, Italy and imported to the US by Elcar Corporation.

The Elcar offered three motors - 1000 watt, 1500 watt, and 2000 watt. (For comparison, a microwave is usually 1100-1200 watts). The suspension was notoriously shoddy and collapsed during a braking test from 30 mph. That same Consumer Reports test also saw the car spend over half of the testing period (74 days) under repair.

The Elcar claimed to be cheap to operate, but it was costly to repair and far more expensive to buy than a conventional gas compact car of the time. 

The Bricklin SV-1: Kinda Like A Delorean

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A Bricklin SV-1 in Florida.

Malcolm Bricklin is a name you should know in the automotive industry. He brought Subaru to America in 1968, which after a rocky start, makes some of the best reviewed, safest, and just generally good cars on the road. He left Subaru to start his own car company in the mid 1970s, closed it, imported Fiats for a while, brought Yugoslavian cars to the US, and more recently tried to bring Chinese vehicles from the company Chery over here. He specialized in bringing car companies over here while they still built crap, but if Subaru's any indication, the man is capable of success.

He didn't "bring over" the Bricklin. After selling his stake in Subaru, which had begun to leave its crap phase, Mr. Bricklin decided he wanted to build his own car, which was built from 1974-1976.

The SV-1 - which stood for "safety vehicle" - looked great on paper. The car was made of dent resistant fiberglass-acrylic body panels, the same principle as a 1990s Saturn. The acrylic skin held one of five colors, reportedly those most visible on the road - Safety White, Safety Red, Safety Orange, Safety Suntan, or Safety Green- and was molded to the fiberglass. There was no paint - if the color faded, a simple wax job would restore it to its showroom look. Unfortunately, in practice, it was crap - temperature changes did weird things to the car's body. Gullwing doors, like a modern Lamborghini, were also used. These could crap out as well, with the system strange and complex to 1970s mechanics and the doors prone to failure. This could trap occupants inside - not exactly befitting of a "safety vehicle"!

The vehicles were powered by a Ford V8 making 175 horsepower; some of the early 1974 models had an AMC V8 making 220 horsepower. It was considered a challenger to the Corvette at this time - my 2011 Honda Accord V6 makes 271 horsepower, so that's how far we've come - but some of the reviews of the time pointed out that the build quality could tend toward the crappy side.

Ah, what the crap, here's some 1970s pictures of the Bricklin factory.

The Isetta: The Most Unsafe Car Ever Built

The Isetta was a tiny "bubble car" with seating for two released in 1953 by an Italian company called Iso, which was later responsible for a range of high performance cars. There was also a VELAM Isetta, built under license in France, and a Romi-Isetta, built under license in Brazil. The most common Isetta, and the one this article talks about most, is the BMW version. BMW's Isetta was re-engineered over the Iso model, with none of the parts between an Iso/VELAM/Romi Isetta and a BMW Isetta being interchangeable. The BMW Isetta featured a 300 cc one cylinder motorcycle engine that could get it up to a terrifying 53 mph / 85 kph.

Perhaps the oddest feature of the Isetta is the idiotic positioning of the door. The front door held the steering wheel and dashboard of the car and was the entire front end of the car. In the event of a crash, occupants were to exit through the canvas sunroof.

In 2010, BMW showed a concept microcar called the i-Setta, a successor in spirit to the original Isetta, but without the boneheaded front door design. If it's like most modern BMWs, it will be safe.

You've come a long way, BMW.

The Nissan Cross Cabriolet: Is it an SUV or a Convertible?

Let's say you want the practicality of an SUV. There are plenty of choices in today's market; nearly every manufacturer puts at least one out, and most manufacturers have a range. Crossover SUVs - built on a car frame - are particularly popular nowadays. SUVs are good for carrying cargo or passengers.

Let's say you want the fun of a convertible. There are a number of choices in today's market, and most manufacturers put out one or two models. Convertibles give you fun in the sun, but the rear seats are often cramped.

There is a way to have most of the functionality of a midsize SUV with the fun and the sun of a convertible. The concept has been tried before with the horrible Suzuki X90 of 1996-1997, but the Nissan Murano Cross Cabriolet that came out in 2011 was the first good vehicle to prove the concept.

It's a premium variant of the Murano, only available with all options and coming in at $41,995 base price for a new 2014. A navigation system is $2,000 extra. It's powered by a 265 horsepower V6 shared with the standard Murano model. It is a soft top, though.

The Citroen DS: Odd, Revolutionary

A 1969 Citroen DS, USA spec.

The Citroen DS, designed by Italian sculptor Flaminio Bertoni, was groundbreaking in 1955. It was a luxury car with features never before seen on any car, such as hydropneumatic suspension, front power disc brakes, power steering and a clutchless manual transmission. With over 1.5 million units sold, the car was a roaring commercial success in Europe, and was produced until 1975. It looked very unusual at introduction, and was still ahead of its time when it was discontinued.

The DS was sold from 1956 - 1972 in America, but it lacked many of the luxury features expected on a car of its price, and the body stayed the same for the 16 years it was on sale. It was also slow, with a fuel efficient four cylinder engine, at a time when gas in America was cheap and V8 power was expected. With only 32,000 units sold, it was a commercial failure in America.

The DS name was a pun off of the word "Deesse" (Goddess) in French.

The car had a sophisticated hydraulic system, making use of hydraulics in ways that even cars today don't. Normal vehicles use hydraulics for brakes and power steering; the DS used hydraulics for the transmission and suspension as well. The hydraulic suspension provided a silky smooth ride and eliminated the need for a jack.

The Citicar and Comuta-Car: 1970s Electric Experiments

A Citicar. 

The 1973 gas crisis ushered in the so called "Automotive Dark Ages". There were good vehicles during the Automotive Dark Ages, but more than a normal proportion of vehicles during the 1973-1984 period were slow, poorly made, or inadvisable. The Citicar was a glorified golf cart that Sebring-Vanguard thought people would embrace due to high gas prices.
The Citicar was made by a company called Sebring-Vanguard from 1974 - 1977, with about 2,300 units produced. The vehicle had full electric propulsion from batteries with a 40 mile range and a 25-38 mph top speed. There was 3-6 horsepower (depending on variant) with a weight of 1,300 pounds. Performance was leisurely and there was no additional power for added features. No radio, no air conditioner, no power anything - just a steering wheel, gas and brake pedals, and a few gauges. There was seating for two on a park bench-style seat. The brakes failed during a Consumer Reports test in 1975.

Variants included the SV-36 (produced prior to December 1974), with a 2.5 horsepower 6 battery motor, the SV-48 (December 1974 - 1976), with a 3.5 horsepower 6 battery motor, and the "Transitional Citicar" (1976 - 1977) with a 6 horsepower 8 battery motor.

See here for a detailed explanation.

1980 Comuta-Car dash.

After the Citicar was discontinued in 1977, another company, Commuter Vehicles, Inc, bought the rights to produce the Citicar. They made an updated version from 1979 - 1982, known as the Comuta-Car. It had the same 6 horsepower motor as the "Transitional Citicar" - that made up half of the car's weight - but a few changes were made from the Transitional Citicar. The vehicle had huge energy absorbing bumpers, but it wasn't safe, even by 1980 standards. The body style was also slightly changed.

The Comuta-Van was a 12 horsepower "van" version made from 1977 - 1979.

There's even a Yahoo group for Citicar/Comuta-Car/Comuta-Van owners.

The Amphicar: A car and a boat!

The interior of an Amphicar, from one of my 2005 pictures.

LBJ on a car-boat on April 10, 1965. 

A car that can swim. One off concept, right? Weird Soviet car made for only six months? No. The Amphicar was made for four years (1961-1965), and titled for 3 more. It was made by Quandt Group, a German company. Nearly 4,000 are still on the road/water, and there's even an owner's club. Only available as a soft top convertible, it was a decent quality vehicle for the 1960s, and watertight if well maintained. It had a top speed of 7 mph on the water. The 43 hp engine - from a Triumph Herald 1200 - provided decent if lackluster performance on land, but performance was sufficient to be street legal, with a top speed of over 70 mph. Some owners upgrade their 43 hp engines to 75 hp engines from later Herald models, giving it improved performance. It is one of the most successful amphibious vehicles ever made.

Its tail fins were higher than any other vehicle ever produced, even higher than the 1959 Cadillac!

The Velorex: More Eastern Bloc WTH

The Velorex - photo by Pavol Freso.

The Velorex was a Czechoslovakian car, but the body was made of vinyl (called "Igelit") stretched over steel tubing. Same construction as a tent. Made by its own company, founded from scratch by two brothers, the Velorex was made from the mid 1950s to 1971. Early models were called Oskar, but the Velorex name was introduced just a few years into production. Production was limited - only 15,300 were made. It was a cross between a motorcycle and a car, and was designed for the disabled. The price was attractive - for the price of a typical car, you could buy about four Velorexes.

Variants included the Oskar 54 (mid 1950s), Velorex Oskar (c. 1956-late 1950s), Velorex 16/250 (late 1950s to 1960s), Velorex 16/175 (1963-1971), and Velorex 16/350 (1963-1971). The 16/350, the most powerful variant, had a production of 12,000 units that made up 78 percent of Velorex production. 

It had three wheels - two front, one rear. It featured motorcycle engines with 9 to 16 horsepower, depending on the variant.

The Velorex required only a motorcycle driver's license prior to 2000, making it an attractive option for those who wanted an enclosed car but lacked the wherewithal to get a full driver license. The cars were reliable; in 1996, 62.5% ever made were still on the road, at 25 to 40 years old.

The Acura ZDX: A Luxurious, Reliable, Safe Oddball

Many unusual cars are hard to live with. They have styling that cuts into occupant space, uncomfortable seats, overpowered or underpowered engines... stepping out of the norm in all the wrong ways. They may be unreliable, seeming one step removed from their first prototype, or just simply worn out from age. And most of them, being very old, are unsafe. Forget airbags; many old unusual cars lack even a seat belt.

The Acura ZDX is a unique case - the unusual case of an unusual car that is easy to live with. It launched in December 2009, around my 17th birthday, so I remember when it launched and can give you a unique perspective on it. I haven't ridden in one yet, but my days are likely numbered until I do.

Acura is a luxury vehicle brand, but being owned by Honda, they are liable to release one of a kind cars. The Acura ZDX was somewhat similar to the BMW X6, but was built off of an MDX SUV platform as opposed to a car platform. It had an odd look, sort of like a coupe-station wagon-SUV hybrid, yet it had four doors.

Behind its odd, one of a kind looks, it was a traditional early 2010s luxury SUV. It had all of the features you would expect in a luxury SUV. It got good reviews, but was marked down for its utility - the low roof limited space to load cargo. Being a Honda, it was very reliable and very safe.

The ZAZ Zaporozhets subcompact: A Soviet Car with Several WTH Features

When was the last time you rode in a car with a hole in the floorboard? Probably never, but it's entirely possible, say, if it was a very old car with a rusted out floorboard. Perhaps the hole even had an ad-hoc covering over it. There was a car with a hole in the floorboard right from the factory...

Vladimir Putin with his ZAZ-968. Photo by www.kremlin.ru

The ZAZ interior. One of my 2005 pictures.

The ZAZ Zaporozhets subcompact was produced from 1966 to 1994, in numerous variants. (An earlier variant was produced from 1960-1969, but this article is on the second generation models) You won't see a Zaporozhets simply called by its name. These models were produced as the ZAZ-966 (1966-1972), ZAZ-968 (1971-1978), ZAZ-968A (1973-1980), and ZAZ-968M (1979-1994), each version updated and modernized over the last. This is the first point of unusuality. Normally, when a car is redesigned, it is totally replaced, not produced concurrently with an older version. (Some other vehicles have used this practice, but the majority haven't)

The Zaporozhets also came with "trim lines", but they were not trim lines in the usual sense. The trim lines had unusual names (B, B2, A, and others for the 968) and were designed for people with missing limbs. There were variants for people missing one foot, both feet, and arms. These were sold to the disabled with permission from the Soviet government, many to veterans with war related injury. An additional variant had a less powerful engine than the base variant. 

And then there was the fishing hole. On the passenger side floorboard, there was a hole drilled with a cover over it. The idea was to park on a frozen lake or body of water, dig a hole in the ice, and fish while in your car. This was the only vehicle ever produced with a hole intentionally put on the bottom of the car. 

Fishing hole not included. 

About This Blog

This blog covers cars that are unusual.

The Mazda Roadpacer: A Big Luxury Car with a Little Rotary Engine

 Photo by Japanese Wikipedia user Taisyo.
I say "Mazda", you say "zoom zoom". Mazda makes a broad line of small and midsized cars and SUVs, with an emphasis on sport and driving dynamics. Perhaps their best known vehicles are their series of rotary engined sports cars. The rotary engine has been wholly confined to the RX series sports cars since about 1980, but in the 1970s Mazda slapped a rotary engine in pretty much anything that they made.

During this time, Mazda also built a luxury car, as expensive as a contemporary Cadillac Fleetwood. The Mazda Roadpacer wasn't particularly big by today's standard - my 2011 Honda Accord V6 has about the same weight - but it was huge by Mazda standards, and being sold only in 1970s Japan, it was a very large vehicle for the time and place. The Roadpacer wasn't even built by Mazda - it was a re-badged Holden Premier, a full size Australian sedan. Mazda took the Premier and fitted a 130 horsepower rotary engine and equipped the car to the gills, including automatically locking doors, a speed warning system that activated at 56 mph, an in-car Dictaphone system, and a stereo that could be controlled from front and back seats.

Produced from 1975 to 1977, only 800 cars were sold, and most were sold to Japanese government officials. Most of these 800 were crushed in later years, making the Roadpacer extremely rare. The car's failure can be attributed to various factors: the price ($10,000 at the time) and fuel consumption (9 mpg, about like a Hummer H2) in the wake of the first gas crisis. The vehicle was also slow, saddled with slow acceleration to a top speed of a tepid 103 mph.

Why would Mazda sell a slow, gas guzzling, Australian built luxury car? Competition. Japanese luxury cars only reached the USA in the late 1980s, but have been sold in Japan for as long as cars have been sold there. Toyota, Nissan, Mitsubishi, and even Isuzu had luxury models out by 1975.