Filed under: MPG, Transportation Alternatives, On Two Wheels
Well let's start with the technical stuff before we laugh about the styling.... I'm sorry, I can't wait. It looks like the 2008 Car of the Year for GayWheels.com. Did you ever see the Ambiguously Gay Duo? They put their car into production! Okay, that'll do me for the moment. The American Roadster is powered by a compressed natural gas (CNG) engine that achieves 70 mpg. That's all I've got - no horsepower or performance figures, but at least we know at first glance it's rear-drive. Burning CNG, which, if you can get your hands on it, is significantly cheaper than gas, at 70 mpg sounds pretty sweet.
But look at it. If you thought the '59 Firebird II concept was phallic, you were wrong. Well, you were right, but this thing has got it beat. And they're actually planning in producing it - in mass quantities. In their current factory, they can only expect to be able to build 100/month, but at their new 200,000 sq. ft. factory they're acquiring, they expect to construct 240,000/month! I'm sorry, I just don't think they can sell that many. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the forward thinking and battering-ram style to getting a product to market, but did it have to look like a... like that?
More color commentary after the jump.
Gallery: American Roadster
[Source: Eco-Fueler]
According to John S. Greene, the creator, on the Eco-Fueler website, taking away a wheel classifies it as a motorcycle, thus dodging "billions of dollars" in federal safety testing, like the Zap! Xebra. This, apparently accomplishes Greene's dream:
Create a company that is "Made in the United States of America," that produces a "vehicle" unfettered by regulation, and that runs on fuel that is produced in the United States of America.
Unfettered by regulation? Umm, I think that raises a flag, there. Aren't those pesky little regulations there to protect the general obese American public? They cost a lot because they're important. True, safety is lower on my priority list than style and sport, but if there's no research being put into keeping the fabulous occupants safe in the vehicle, chances are much better that I would be caught dead in it, no matter how much I may not want to. Actually, I would like to drive this for a laugh, but how much do you not want to be the guy in the back seat, who I can only assume straddles the driver? Yes, the price is meant to be under $20,000, but the price you pay extends far beyond that.
The roadster is supposedly planned to run on hydrogen at some point as well, but that will definitely be more expensive, if it ever sees the light of day. As it stands now, it can strut proudly for 450 miles on a tank of compressed gas, but no matter how far you drive, you're still displaying your manhood in a quite embarrassing way.
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