Even EVs Come To The End of the Road Eventually

By John Voelcker

1,344 views Apr 27, 2009

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Electrica 007 in junkyard, by Mike Bumbeck, Clunkbucket

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We spend a lot of time in front of the feedreader here at the global command center of Green Car Reports. A lot.

But on weekends we tend to tinker. And our heart leaps every time our mechanic pal Arthur calls and says, "Hey, you wanna go visit that junkyard that has hundreds of old cars?" (See picture below and, no, we're not telling you where it is.)

That means one of our favorite sites is Clunkbucket, which covers cars at the ends of their lives. Some rare, some arcane, some just poignant.

So without (much) further comment, we're running Clunkbucket's photo of a Jet Electrica 007, nee 1980 Plymouth Horizon TC3 coupe.

As Clunkbucket editor Mike Bumbeck explains, Jet Industries of Austin, Texas, converted not only Horizons but also first-series Ford Escorts and even Subaru 600 vans to electric operation. They were just one of dozens of converters, all gone now, that sprang up after the 1973 and 1979 oil price shocks.

Back then, that meant 6-Volt 12-Volt lead-acid batteries, rather than the nickel-metal-hydride cells used in today's hybrids, or the lithium-ion ones that will appear in the 2011 Chevrolet Volt. And after last year's $4/gallon gasoline, this time it's the car companies who'll be selling you electric cars--soon.

Every car comes to the end of the road. Even early conversions. Requiem In Pace, Electrica 007.

Early 1950s Morris Minor Tourer and other cars in mystery junkyard, by Arthur

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