eBay find of the day: 2001 Chrysler Sebring EV conversion
Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Chrysler
For those of you who can’t wait for a factory-built electric vehicle, and can’t swing the cash for a Tesla Roadster, a seller on eBay is offering up a recently converted 2001 Chrysler Sebring. This is the previous-generation Sebring, before the design went from plain to hideous.
As this is written, there are still five day left to bid on this Sebring and the price tag is at $4,276. While this may seem like quite a deal, potential bidders might want to read the whole description before proceeding. The car was converted by ATC of Texas just a few months ago. The current owner has only put 100 miles on the car and blames tough economic times for selling. We can’t help but suspect a bit of buyer’s remorse as well.
The engine compartment and trunk are stuffed with 24 6-volt flooded lead acid batteries. That is enough to yield about 20-30 miles of realistic range. You can apparently push it 45 miles in some circumstances, but that’s not recommended since it shortens the battery life. No trunk space is left and the back end of the car rides pretty low as a result of all that weight. Since it looks like the suspension has not been upgraded to cope with the mass, this thing will probably ride pretty rough. Also, you’ll probably want to charge it outdoors since the batteries give off hydrogen gas as they are being stuffed with electrons. If all of those warnings haven’t already made you turn away, you can check out the auction here. Thanks to Joe for the tip!
[Source: eBay]
eBay find of the day: 2001 Chrysler Sebring EV conversion originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 17:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The Toyota Recalls: Be Careful What You Wish For
So Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda’s finally manned up and is going to testify before Congress this week. Hoping they nail him to the wall? Hoping Toyota gets what it deserves for its bungled handling of the whole unintended acceleration mess?
Just be careful what you wish for.
From an enthusiast’s point of view, the flashes of brilliance at Toyota — the first front-drive Celica with the Lotus-tuned suspension, the twin turbo Supras, the original Lexus LS 400, the first-gen MR2, the Lexus IS-F — have been few and far between. But that hasn’t stopped most of us in this business recommending Toyotas to people who want reliable, no-nonsense transportation. A Toyota has always been something you could confidently recommend to someone’s great aunt in Duluth.
Until now, of course.
The damage inflicted on Toyota’s reputation over the past few months has been enormous, and will take a long time to heal. Is it permanent? Probably not — look how Ford recovered from the Pinto gas-tank and Firestone fiascos and how GM got over the Corvair. What could be permanent, however, is fallout from this week’s hearings in Washington.
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No Topolino for British market (UK)
Fiat’s two-seat, 2 cylinder Topolino may not come to the UK. The budget city-car was intended for developing markets as well as richer Western European countries, but Andrew Humberstone, managing director of Fiat Group UK, admitted there are doubts as to whether the Topolino would succeed in the UK. “The Topolino makes sense globally but is more difficult to position over here. We already have a very good presence in the A-Sector and we have to consider how the market will be affected when the Chinese makers eventually enter the UK. They could start offering much cheaper models, some with Fiat technology, too.”
Fiat has a long history in the Chinese market — most recently the Italian company agreed to a joint venture with leading Chinese manufacturer Guangzhou Auto Group. Construction has already started on the GAC-Fiat factory, which will be able to produce 140,000 cars and 220,000 engines per year.
Fiat is expected to make its new Topolino city car, a 3 metre, two-seater based on the Panda, on Zastava production lines. The car will be positioned below the Panda and the 500 on price and is expected to use Fiat’s new 900cc ‘MultiAir’ engine in 65bhp, normally aspirated form. Read more…
Video: Valentino Balboni drives his self-titled Lamborghini
Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Videos, Lamborghini
Click above to view the video after the jump
We’ve seen Valentino Balboni drive the tires off his namesake and even managed to spend a few hours with the man while stuck in LA’s notoriously hellish traffic. Now, Danish magazine Bil Magasinet gets some quality time with the famed test driver as he flogs his Lamborghini LP550-2 across the frozen countryside.
Balboni’s warm, Italian charm stands in stark contrast to the surrounding snow as he offers up several choice quotes about Lamborghinis past and present, his time with the automaker and the development of the LP550-2, among others. Speaking about the lack of all-wheel drive, Balboni says simply, “You need to control the car, the car doesn’t control you.” And with that he pulls off yet another perfect powerslide and goes about his day. It’s like you’re sitting in the passenger seat yourself. Hit the jump to see what we mean.
Gallery: First Drive: 2010 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni
Autoblog Weekender: Gumbo Edition
The Autoblog Weekender – Click above to find out what you missed
This week’s roundup is like a Jim Jarmusch film or a big pot of gumbo: there’s a little bit of everything in there, and some of it might make you wonder “What happened here?” People who watch UFOs end up catching a Honda CR-Z. The Buick Regal might not come with all-wheel drive but it might come with a nine-speed transmission. And one man buys ten – that’s ten – Aston Martin One-77s. For his family. But as with those Jarmusch films, these things are hard to explain, you just have to experience them yourself. Just one little click to follow the jump will do it…
Continue reading Autoblog Weekender: Gumbo Edition
Autoblog Weekender: Gumbo Edition originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tampa ‘Strippermobile’ grinds to a legal halt… but not for the reason you think [w/video]
Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal
![tampadv Tampa Strippermobile grinds to a legal halt... but not for the reason you think [w/video]](http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2010/02/tampadv.jpg "Tampa Strippermobile grinds to a legal halt... but not for the reason you think [w/video]")
Tampa Strippermobile gets shut down – Click above to watch video after the jump
To advertise the Déjà Vu gentlemen’s club in Tampa, Florida, the establishment’s visionaries installed a pole in the back of a box truck and then fitted plexiglass wall inserts so that outsiders could see in. The result: a rolling strip show… for everyone. Tampa authorities closed the show down last week, but not because of the women doing pole dances at stop lights. It turns out that the mobile display isn’t breaking any laws. No, it was shut down over issues with the truck’s Nevada license plate.
That’s ironic because the truck’s “career” began in Las Vegas, but city officials there – in sin city, of all places – ran it out of town. In Tampa, on the other hand, the strippermobile will be back for more action once the registration kinks are worked out. The truck’s owners have promised to curtail certain types of performances until a certain hour and to only trawl bar areas of town. This agreement has made the city, Déjà Vu, and the First Amendment one big happy family. Follow the jump to see the pole-tacular video.
[Source: WTSP]
Continue reading Tampa ‘Strippermobile’ grinds to a legal halt… but not for the reason you think [w/video]
Red Tires and Rockets: 1928 Opel Motoclub is awesomely insane
Filed under: Classics, Opel, Motorcycle
Back in the early 1900s, Fritz von Opel, grandson of Opel founder Adam Opel, was enamored with rocket propulsion. As the company’s director of testing and the man in charge publicity, Opel had quite an outlet to fulfill his rocket-powered fantasies. Hence, the 1928 Opel Motoclub you see above.
The example showcased so beautifully here doesn’t happen to have rockets attached to it, but a number of Motoclubs apparently did, as seen on the right. The 500cc single-cylinder engine could reportedly push the silver-and-red Opel motorcycle up to about 75 miles per hour, after which a foot pedal lit the rockets, sending the bike to a calculated top speed of 132 mph.
Sadly (or perhaps fortunately?), the German government forbade Opel from conducting a world-record top speed attempt, fearing that such a run on two wheels couldn’t possibly be safe. The good news, though, is that decent examples of the Opel Motoclub can still be found from time to time, minus the six solid-fuel rockets, of course. Sounds like a good DIY weekend project, no?
[Source: Bike EXIF]
Red Tires and Rockets: 1928 Opel Motoclub is awesomely insane originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 10:49:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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