GM’s “Urban” Gasoline & Electric Cars From 1973
Could these have been the Chevy Volt’s great, great, grandparents? Found these in the national archives. I can’t find much other info on them online. If you have any details, please leave them in the comments. Thanks!
Here’s the caption from the archives:
EXHIBIT AT THE FIRST SYMPOSIUM ON LOW POLLUTION POWER SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT HELD AT THE MARRIOTT MOTOR INN, ANN ARBOR VEHICLES AND HARDWARE WERE ASSEMBLED AT THE EPA ANN ARBOR LABORATORY. PART OF THE EXHIBIT WAS HELD IN THE MOTEL PARKING LOT SEEN HERE ARE SYMPOSIUM PARTICIPANTS WITH GENERAL MOTORS GASOLINE POWERED VEHICLE (FOREGROUND) AND, IN BACKGROUND, THE EPA/WILLIAMS TURBINE CAR , 10/1973
That turbine car mentioned above must have been a decendent of Chrysler’s Turbine, which was never sold to the public.
Here’s the Electric version. Is it just me, or does this thing look like a 1970’s hair dryer on wheels?:
There are a bunch more photos after the break, along with a look at a steam-powered bus.
According to the caption on this photo, that bus in the background is the mythical Lear Steam Bus.
This view is from inside the cockpit of the electric car.
The red car in the background here is identified as “THE EBS ELECTRIC SUNDANCER.” Looks kinda like an AMC Gremlin to me.
May 24th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
The American aerospace industry has already shown the world how to build cars for the 21st century. Detroit has seen the photos but not the light. You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make him drink! In this case Detroit is acting more like a jackass! Now that everyone else knows, someone should write the news on their hands so they can’t miss it! The new cars will be made of carbon fiber, not steel, they will have depleted uranium batteries, plugins, constant rpm bio-diesel serial charging generators and they will bounce off of one-another and even take flight to disperse impact energy, they will be egg shaped with long aerodynamic tails and run on three wheels, People will sit one behind another so the cars can be very narrow and can easily pass one another in a single lane, preventing gridlock and traffic jams.
When a board of directors answering to oil baron stockholders design a car you get the Volt. When genius engineers are given a free hand and incentive with goals you get the aerospace car,120mpg, seats two, does 90mph commutes well!
May 24th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
Uncle B, you’ve clearly put a lot of thought into this. That sounds like a best case scenario in terms of cars. But will it ever actually happen? I assume we’ll be driving coal-powered cars before we get egg-shaped eco boxes.
May 25th, 2008 at 4:08 am
Big car companies sure go out of their way to make non-internal combustion cars look uncomfortable and stupid, don’t they?
May 25th, 2008 at 11:43 am
I used to drive an AMC Hornet just like the one in the background of the top picture. My father was an engineer for Chyrsler in the 50’s and 60’s. And he always told me stories of the revolutionary new things they were designing for cars. Most of the ones that actually came to market (the transverse transaxel) took about 15 or 20 years.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:35 pm
The egg shaped car that runs on 3 wheels that Uncle B mentioned can be seen at this site:
http://www.aptera.com
Funny looking thing, but supposed to drive great and have some good safety features.
There’s also hydrogen vehicles, and one person tinkered with a steam engine and made it much more efficient.
Like the truth, the technology is out there.
May 27th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
Unlce B, you are correct in the attitudes of the Big 3. I live in Detroit, and they have allways been bull headed in their ways. They live in their own little bubble here in Detroit, with out knowing what’s going on outside. Their slow movement into any type of alternative fueled cars is current evidence. I just wish the state’s economic health wasnt tied so deeply to the performance of those companies.
June 7th, 2008 at 10:20 am
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July 22nd, 2008 at 5:08 pm
A street-legal golf cart capable of 45 mph and a 50 mile range would suit me just fine. GM’s Urban commuter looks good to me. Where do I stand in line for one?
August 19th, 2008 at 8:53 am
I wonder how well this car would do a drift? hmm
May 31st, 2009 at 4:52 am
Я бы еще кое-чего добавил, но по сути сказано все.
June 23rd, 2009 at 11:15 pm
Да уж, автор этого блога действительно очень добрый и отзывчивый человек. Спасибо
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July 12th, 2010 at 6:06 am
Cars in photos look very classic comparing to current cars. But it’s very cool! I want to know the driving performance of this. Thanks!