Click above for more shots of the smart Crossblade on eBay

Mercedes shocked the motoring press when it announced back in the early 2000's that it would actually launch a production version of its crazy smart Crossblade. Equipped with the same turbocharged three cylinder engine as the regular smart fortwo was offered with, what really distinguished the Crossblade from a run-of-the-mill smart was what it was missing. Gone was the roof and normal doors, along with most of the windshield. What was left intact were the Tridion cell and the rest of the smart's safety features.

The smart Crossblade never made it across to the United States, but there are apparently a few of them over here anyway, one of which has just appeared on eBay. According to the current owner, the car was titled in Cali, though it now resides in Idaho. Unfortunately, the far-left state has now decided to nullify that original title, as the car doesn't fit their definition of an automobile. We wonder if they have the same problem with the Jeep Wrangler. In any case, the asking price is a bit steep, though the new owner would likely never see another Crossblade on the road. Thanks for the tip, Cary!


[Source: eBay Motors]

Click above for more shots of this Porsche 911 EV conversion

Sometimes, we find various electric vehicle conversions on eBay to share with our readers. In many cases, the cars are in pretty sorry condition and the work which was done is highly suspect. In the case of this 1973 Porsche 911, though, everything done to the vehicle has been well documented in an online diary. There are also over forty pictures of the completed vehicle including every single dent and paint scratch. Most impressive. The EV conversion was officially started in late '93 and officially finished in late '96. Three years went into the removal of the engine and its related bits along with the addition of a DC electric motor along with 96 volts of lead-acid batteries. A bit later, the voltage was increased to 120, which yielded almost ten miles of range. Yeah... that's bad.

The good news, if it could be called that, is that the brakes were and are dragging, which is not helping performance at all. With a little work and some new batteries, this Porsche EV could be back on the road and getting somebody to work. Take a look at all the pics in our gallery, read the entire diary here and see the car's dedicated website here. Thanks for the tip, Dustin!


[Source: eBay Motors]

Click on the image for more shots of the Electrek electric car

Good old eBay strikes again with another unusual but very interesting electric vehicle up for auction. Before seeing this auction, we were not really familiar with the Unique Mobility Electrek electric vehicle at all. As usual, the internet proves our friend, as a test of the vehicle was done by the DOE way back in the early eighties, and it's been made available online. So, we know that the Electrek uses a Soleq controller, a specially modified General Electric shunt wound 32-hp electric motor, and 16 6-V Globe-Union batteries. Those lead-acid batteries have been removed from the vehicle, as they are rather old and needed to be replaced. A fiberglass body, which may not be the prettiest design in the world, lies atop a custom-designed chassis with a central battery-tunnel running the length of the vehicle. Top speed is claimed to be seventy-five miles per hour and the range, when new, varied between seventy-five and one-hundred miles per charge (at 30 mph or so).


[Source: eBay Motors]

Click on the image for more shots

Here we have an electric car which is not an electric car. When the current owner got the car, is was stripped of its motor, batteries and other assorted bits. For that reason, in went a Ford 2.8 liter V6, meaning that the vehicle you see here is a Detroit Electric in name only. The vehicle has gone through a complete overhaul, with a new custom chassis underpinning the aluminum body. While it's not uncommon to see a previously gasoline-powered vehicle converted to electric, we collectively shed a tear that this particular piece of motoring history is no longer powered by electrons. It's a bit ironic that the seller points out the good gas mileage of the small V6 engine. Thanks for the tip, Dad!


[Source: eBay Motors]