History
Electric Car.
The oldest electric sports car in the world was purchased in 1957 by General Electric in Pennsylvania from a used car dealer. G.E. took the car into their research and development workshop and removed the engine and gas tank and fitted an electric motor to the original gearbox and 14 batteries were mounted around the inside of the cabin and in the luggage compartment. The head of research and development, Mr. Hal Olson, test drove the car with the aim to impress the American Postal Services and display their new found technologies of the time. The Postal Services were not all that impressed with the car as it had very little room left over for carrying parcels. So, Hal Olson continued to drive the vehicle until 1974 on a daily basis with log books to study its performance. It would travel a distance of 40 miles per charge and a top speed of 55 mph. The car has travelled a total of 59448 miles.
In recent years the car has been sort after by many collectors throughout the world, including the Porsche museum in Stuttgart, Germany.
Modifications
Full Electric drive, which the car will remain this way after the restoration, even though we have rebuilt the 1953 1500cc engine as well.
updates at;
www.gregnewtonrestorations.com
