Monday, December 22, 2008

Transformer Man

Somehow Neil Young manages more than seems humanly possible. As if his outpouring of new music and the releases of his archive material isn't enough, he embarks on one of the coolest projects I've read about recently. Neil drove his 1959 Lincoln across the country to a guy named Jonathan Goodwin, who is transforming the behemoth from a 9 mpg guzzler to something that will ultimately get 80-100 mpg. The technology is intriguing to say the least. Basically, the ethanol fuel in a small engine powers a generator that charges the huge pack of batteries in the trunk, which runs the car's electric motor. The goal is for the ethanol to be used like we now use oil in our cars, creating something close to a vehicle that barely requires refueling. Neil drove to Wichita on Route 66, filmed the trip, and before his winter tour was hanging out in the guy's garage helping out and writing the occasional song. Oh, and when they achieve 100mpg Neil plans to race it cross-country for a $10 million prize. How cool is this guy?! It makes you wonder how much the auto industry (and big oil) is holding back on alternate fuel technology.

LincVolt




The 1959 Lincoln, by the way, is amazing automobile. The Lincoln is a prime example of the excess of the jet age, when cars had fins and chrome to make them look like rockets. The '59 Cadillac Eldorado is considered the epitome of the style, but the Lincoln, with its crazy front and rear grilles, is pretty sweet.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Pete Smith said...

Interesting story : )

11:38 PM  

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