Right around June, 1996, I changed companies from GM (Advanced Concept Center -- Styling) to Hyundai (Service Engineering within a Sales & Distribution Company).
Big change...
GM closed the facility I worked in so it was either move to Detroit, or quit.
I'd already spent almost three years living and working in Detroit for Ford & GM and knew exactly what moving to Detroit would mean.
I don't remember the first Boxter having the lower bumper openings like this picture... Maybe it did?
While at GM, we worked on a concept electric vehicle conceptually using Lithium-ion batteries. From when I worked on the concept electric car, it took about 15 to 20 years for the batteries to show up on production cars...
Great photo...
Very cool the way the front and rear compartments open.
The ball shifter with the gated plate is classic Ferrari.
The car did 0 to 60 in 3.7 seconds in 1996...
The F40 was almost 10 years old by 1996...
The styling on the 288 GTO is pretty amazing...
Before I started working at the GM Advanced Concept Center California, they had done a project that was the progenitor of the EV1. It was a concept project done in conjunction with Aerovironment.
GM & Aerovironment had a contract to do several concept projects.
This was one of them (another one ended up as a show vehicle that went around the auto show circuit but didn't go anywhere and a third project, which I worked on, was never shown to the public).
The concept car was shown to the public and garnered some positive reactions. GM decided to actually put it in production.
When they were nearly ready to launch the car, they brought a pre-production car to where I worked and everyone got a chance to drive it for about a mile each.
I remember how impressive it was to drive.
The instant torque of the electric powertrain...
It used lead-acid batteries so the range was very poor, especially if you were aggressive with the driving.
When GM launched the car, it was only available as a lease and no one was allowed to purchase it. When GM decided to end the project and production, then also decided to not support it in terms of service. So, all the cars were supposed to be returned to GM.
Some people didn't want to give it back so GM had to chase down and repossess some of them, against the person's will...
A friend from GM ended up being the project manager of the EV1 during the time when the cars were being phased out.
She said that nearly all the cars were going to be crushed.
Such a waste & shame.
One time, I got to see the body-in-white of the EV1 and it was amazing. A masterpiece of engineering, body stampings and construction. The BIW was beautiful.
It was good enough to display as a mechanical sculpture.
I think it was made out of aluminum for weight reasons.
It would have made a good basis for a sleeper hot rod...
The car was charged using an inductive paddle that you pushed into a slot in the nose of the car. No actual electrical contacts.
Very advanced, simple to use and safe.
While at Toyota, I worked on the RAV4 EV and investigated an issue of melting/damage to the EV charging plug/connector.
The root cause turned out to be a quality issue with the connector of the EVSE (charger) & not the vehicle.
The EVSE manufacturer ended up doing a safety recall, if I remember correctly...
With the EV1 design, that could not happen.
The later Honda Insight hybrid, reminds me of the EV1...
Not a fan of the styling on this car, but the hatchback/wagon version I really like... Most people at the time thought the hatchback was ugly.
They used to be so boxy. But then again, they were all body-on-frame back then...
I really don't remember this badge engineered product. Rarely saw them back then and never see them now...
This is basically a spiffed up Land Cruiser & is the best vehicle in this group...
I would take the Volvo, but in the wagon body...
The BMW is jumping...
The Volvo is smoking it's tires...
A Subaru ad with a Porsche 911 comparison...
