Classic Cars
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Being an antique auto historian and appraiser is the greatest job I've ever had. I get to drive all sorts of cars that I've admired from afar, but never actually had a chance to drive before. I've always gotten a kick out of the little, economical Crosley cars built between 1939 and 1952. Cincinnati industrialist Powel Crosley Jr., made his fortune in radios and appliances. By the late 1930s, he owned both the Crosley Broadcasting Corp. and the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. His ambitious plan was to build a small, inexpensive, and economical car here in the States. In May 1939, the new...
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France To Ban Classic Cars From Capital To Clean The Air
For some, the image of a classic Citroën DS passing along the Champs-Élysées couldn't be much more French if a man in a stripy top and beret walked past swinging a chain of onions. But soon, that image could be shattered as Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe is set to introduce plans...
Antony Ingram -
Classic Mini Voted Greatest British Car Ever
If you were to compile a list of the greatest American cars ever, it's unlikely you'd find many gas sippers near the top. But in Europe, where small cars rule and gas has long been more expensive, some of the continents most iconic cars were also fairly green in their day. That's why readers of...
Antony Ingram -
Electric DeLorean DMC-12: Better Than The Original? (Video)
There's a line of thinking that recommends that you never meet your heroes, as they'll only disappoint you. GET YOUR FREE DAILY NEWSLETTER. SIGN UP! You could argue that the same applies to cars, and the DeLorean DMC-12, stainless star of the silver screen, is often described as one of those...
Antony Ingram -
Chevy Volt? Old News! CleanAir Electric Car Did It 20 Years Ago
What car can be charged up via a plug, then offers an all-electric range of around 40 miles, before a range-extending generator kicks in to supply power and top up the batteries? If you answered "Chevrolet Volt", then you'd be correct--but the Volt certainly isn't the first car to tout these...
Antony Ingram -
Electric Cars Are Not Coming; They're Here (In 1974...)
We've all heard the stories about how electric cars were set to take over at the turn of the last century (before ironically being killed by the electric starter motor), and at least once over the last four decades too. Now they're really here, and the fact that many major manufacturers are now...
Antony Ingram -
If you’re in the market for an electric car, the chances are you’ve resigned yourself to the fact that you’re going to need to spend upwards of $30,000 in order to get a modern, convenient electric car. If that’s too much, you can always go second hand with any number of previous-generation or self-converted electric cars on popular Internet auction sites like eBay. But over the past few months we’ve noticed a steady rise in price of much older electric cars: ones made long before even the famous EV1 was built. We’re of course talking about vintage cars...
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Vintage Electric Car Gets New Life: As Street-Legal Tesla-Beater
Forty years ago, in the midst of fuel crisis after fuel crisis, automakers large and small around the world came up with concept and limited-run electric cars that would, it was hoped, revolutionize city commuting. They didn’t. Powered by several thousand pounds of lead acid batteries, fitted...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Converting A Car To Electric? How About A ’39 Pontiac Silver Streak?
For as long as electric cars have existed, enterprising individuals around the U.S. have sought to convert gasoline cars to electric power. Over the years, we’ve seen everything from classic British sportscars through to SUVs and pickup trucks converted to run on electric power, with...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
eBay Watch: 1980 Comuta-Car--Retro Urban Electric Car
We're big fans of the Renault Twizy electric car. Designed exclusively for urban use, it's a vehicle you'd purchase as much with the heart as you would with the head. Buyers of the Comuta-Car might have bought them with the stomach, as it does look rather like a wedge of cheese, but it's every bit...
Antony Ingram -
Kill (Gas) Bills: Daryl Hannah’s Bio Diesel El Camino Sold At Auction
For years, the great and the good of Hollywood have helped encourage people to ditch gas guzzlers by turning up to red-carpet events and driving around Beverly Hills in an eclectic mix of trendy eco-cars. But when those cars are traded in for the latest, greenest model, or perhaps swapped for...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
What Killed Electric Cars? The Electric Motor, 100 Years Ago
Ever felt a bit cranky in the morning? Chances are, it's not for quite the same reason as it would have been for your great grandfather. Because originally, "cranky" was what people called you if you'd become flustered from trying to hand crank your recalcitrant automobile. But in 1912, that all...
Antony Ingram -
Earlier today, our colleagues over at MotorAuthority told us about a collection of over 100 rare cars going under the hammer in Sweden. Among them, a complete EV-1. Complete with aerodynamic coupe styling, solar-powered cooling fan and a film appearance under its belt, bidding for this futuristic car will be accepted by post or fax between now and Friday, January 20. But before you get too excited, this ruby red sports coupe isn’t an example of the much-missed EV-1 electric car that General Motors made in the 1990s. In fact, this particular EV-1 predates the all-electric two-seater that...
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eBay Watch: 1919 Rauch & Lang Vintage Electric Car
It may not be the first electric car ever built, but the original 1919 Rauch & Lang electric car currently for sale on eBay is truly an object of beauty. With elegant blue and black coachwork, whitewall tires and brass detailing - including a wonderful clock inside the cabin - it really lives...
Antony Ingram -
German Autovision Museum Recreates First Ever Electric Car
125 years ago a man named Karl Benz patented what many consider to be the first motor car. As an engineer he wasn't as adept at marketing it though, which is why his wife, Bertha, stole it and completed the world's first car journey (and you presume, the first recorded Grand Theft Auto). Less well...
Antony Ingram -
Five Classic Cars With Modern-Day Gas Mileage
Ask most people to name a classic or vintage car, and they’ll probably give you a list of V8 powered muscle cars not known for their high gas mileage. But the quest for fuel efficiency isn’t a new concept. In fact, there is a fairly large number of classic cars which when properly...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
GM Performance Parts' E-ROD: A Hot Rod Leans Towards Green
The 1955 Chevy Bel Air built by GM Performance Parts isn't exactly green, but it is a step in the right direction.
Kurt Ernst -
1914 Detroit Electric: Pretty Spry For A Century Old (Video)
For decades, old electric cars--those built from the 1890s to 1930 or so, when the last remnants of the industry died out--were nothing more than oddities. Tall, imposing, mostly resembling closed horse carriages, they were stately but sidelined reminders of an entirely vanished way of propulsion...
John Voelcker -
When I met last month with Volkswagen to ride inside a prototype 2012 Golf Blue e-motion, I was eager to experience this all-electric version of its popular 2011 Golf hatchback. It will go into production as a 2013 model. But I also knew something the VW public relations corps didn't: the location of an electric car that VW had built some 25 years earlier--which they assumed had been lost forever. A Relic From the Past In fact, Volkswagen has experimented with electric cars since the 1970s, when the Volkswagen Golf (Rabbit) platform was first produced. Starting with the Mark I Golf, VW...