It’s not every day that we see a vintage electric vehicle for sale, but we certainly see more of them thanks to the cyber-auction portal that is eBay. That’s where we found this interesting duo, a 1974 Zagato Zele paired with a 1980 Sebring-Vanguard CitiCar, up for grabs.
Arguably, the highlight is the Zele. The dumpy looking, plastic-bodied EV was built in Zagato’s Milan works between 1974 and 1976, borrowing suspension and chassis parts from Fiat’s 500 and 124. Power came from six 6-volt batteries wired to a DC motor. Records show that a total of around 500 examples were manufactured in that two-year time frame.
Small quantities were imported into the U.S. as the “Elcar,” but according to the seller, this Zele was one of five brought stateside by an admiral in the U.S. Navy. After returning home from Italy, the cars were supposedly stationed at the Naval Academy for several years, before their controls fried and were scrapped. This example was saved and rebuilt with all-new batteries, motors and controls, and is currently fully-operable.
(Click through to read more on these high-voltage historics)
The wedge-shaped 1980 Comuta is more common, yet still carries an interesting history. The Sebring-Vangard company of Sebring, Florida, launched their blocky CitiCar EV in 1974. After building 2600 copies, the company folded in 1976, but the operation changed hands when it was sold to a New Jersey businessman who redesigned some components (new 8 hp motor, outlandish bumpers) and re-launched the CitiCar as the Comuta in 1978. 2000 examples were built until 1981, when the owner turned his attention to manufacturing electric wheelchairs.
This particular example has 9,000 miles on its odometer and is in good structural shape, but currently lacks batteries.
Sadly, the twin GE Elek-Trak yard tractors shown with the cars aren’t included, but if, for whatever reason, you’re interested in preserving EV history, these two cars are an interesting place to start.
Someone just put that Zagato Zele on eBay,
Would be kind of cool if someone restored it to look like this:
http://www.paulwalton.co.uk/17Zele.jpg
Also putting a more high-performance electronics system in it. 45mph and 40mile range would be *thumbs up*.
http://www.motorbase.com/uploads/2005/06/15/fs_elcar_2.bmp
http://www.lanciaflavia.it/archivio_carrozzieri/inc_file/zagato/arczag74.jpg
coupe more pics.
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