Citicar: the orphan car from the last oil crisis
Tuesday-November 13, 2007
Every town, even yours, harbors strange and wonderful automotive secrets.
My town is Dayton, Ohio, and a few weeks ago, I spotted a truly rare orphan at a local football game. This bug-eyed, wedge-shaped electric car looked like it could fit into the cargo area of my PT Cruiser. (Maybe I would have to fold the back seats down. Maybe.)
When I got home, I started surfing on the net. It didn't take long to discover that this little vehicle with bumpers that looked like they had been retro bolted on was a Comutacar, which started life in 1974 as the Sebring Vanguard Citicar.
The Citicar was a product of the last oil crisis in the '70s. It seems that every time there's a spike in oil, someone dreams up a car the size of a Hot Wheel and makes enough of them to qualify as an orphan. Then there's the inevitable streak of bad luck that shuts down production. Some enthusiast buys the company and builds more.
So it was for the Citcar/Comutacar. It's difficult for me to determine exactly how many were produced. One web site says about 3,500. Others say 2,500. There was a book about the whole Citicar/Comutacar saga called The Lost Cord. Although it's out of print now, I'd love to find a copy.
Either way, I think I'm falling in love with these little in-town cars. The car I spotted features an outlet on the driver's side pillar. All you need is an extension cord to plug the car into your garage outlet.
Now I need to do a podcast with the owner of the Comutacar I saw recently here in Dayton. His license plate is FUELESS. Maybe I could entice him with a fresh pack of AA batteries.
My town is Dayton, Ohio, and a few weeks ago, I spotted a truly rare orphan at a local football game. This bug-eyed, wedge-shaped electric car looked like it could fit into the cargo area of my PT Cruiser. (Maybe I would have to fold the back seats down. Maybe.)
When I got home, I started surfing on the net. It didn't take long to discover that this little vehicle with bumpers that looked like they had been retro bolted on was a Comutacar, which started life in 1974 as the Sebring Vanguard Citicar.
The Citicar was a product of the last oil crisis in the '70s. It seems that every time there's a spike in oil, someone dreams up a car the size of a Hot Wheel and makes enough of them to qualify as an orphan. Then there's the inevitable streak of bad luck that shuts down production. Some enthusiast buys the company and builds more.
So it was for the Citcar/Comutacar. It's difficult for me to determine exactly how many were produced. One web site says about 3,500. Others say 2,500. There was a book about the whole Citicar/Comutacar saga called The Lost Cord. Although it's out of print now, I'd love to find a copy.
Either way, I think I'm falling in love with these little in-town cars. The car I spotted features an outlet on the driver's side pillar. All you need is an extension cord to plug the car into your garage outlet.
Now I need to do a podcast with the owner of the Comutacar I saw recently here in Dayton. His license plate is FUELESS. Maybe I could entice him with a fresh pack of AA batteries.