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eBay Find of the Day: 1979 Chrysler ETV-1 electric car prototype

Electric cars may be reaching their time in the sun with successes like the Tesla Model S, but the basic concept goes back to practically beginning of motoring. EVs also saw a brief renaissance in the 1970s when automakers were trying find a way around rising fuel prices. This 1979 Chrysler ETV-1 concept for sale on eBay Motors is a great example from that era.
Built in 1979, designers hoped the ETV-1 would preview what an electric car would look like in 1985. The base price was slated to start at $6,400, or the rough equivalent of $20,536, which seems like an optimistic price. General Electric created the ETV-1's powertrain, and Chrysler was in charge of styling. At the time, the Department of Energy called it "the first advanced four-passenger subcompact experimental electric car."
While it seems ancient compared to today's EVs, the ETV-1 featured regenerative braking and a computer-controlled electric motor. Chrysler reported a 100-mile range at 45 miles per hour with two passengers in the car. The range fell to 75 miles with four passengers. Acceleration was not brisk with Chrysler claiming the run to 30 mph in 9 seconds. Power was stored in 18 lead-acid batteries, and a full charge took 10 hours from a home outlet.

Junkyard Gem: 1987 Chrysler LeBaron Coupe

For the 1989 through 1991 model years, Chrysler and Maserati teamed up to create one of the most fascinating machines of the era: the Chrysler TC by Maserati. Built in Milan, the chassis and general body lines of the TC derived from the smooth-looking 1987 Chrysler LeBaron Coupe (just as its Turin/Hamtramck-made Cadillac Allante competitor traced its ancestry to the Eldorado). After writing about a few discarded TCs, I decided that I'd keep my junkyard eye open for an example of its LeBaron Coupe sibling. Here's an '87, customized in proper mid-2000s-style Fast & Furious Mode, found in a self-service yard in northeastern Colorado. The LeBaron name came from a 1930s coachbuilder, ultimately bought by Chrysler, and spent many decades being applied to super-luxe Imperial models. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Chrysler glued LeBaron badges and lots of bling on the Dodge Diplomat; the famous Iacocca-era K-Car LeBarons followed in the 1982 model year. The original K-based LeBaron Coupe seemed boxy and stodgy, so a slicker design went on a modified K chassis for the 1987 through 1995 model years. This car got some serious interior modifications at some point, including aftermarket seats, purple-and-white paint on the dash, and fiberglass door panels. The original door controls now live in diamond-plate panels. The gauge faces have faded in the harsh Colorado sun, but they appear to be custom-made. The engine is long gone from the yellow-wire-loom-decorated compartment, but the emissions sticker on the hood underside indicates that it was the 2.2-liter turbocharged four, rated at 146 horsepower. That was a big number for a 2,731-pound car in 1987. More LeBarons than you might have expected came with manual transmissions around this time, but this one has the three-speed automatic. The big-bore tailpipe got stuffed with dirt at some point during this car's journey here. The hood scoop must have been so good that a junkyard shopper grabbed it. I hope it stood at least a foot tall. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. James Earl Jones did the narration on these heart-pounding advertisements. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Even though the earlier LeBarons were very different cars, we need to get Ricardo Montalban in here. Here's Ricardo after being seduced by the '84 LeBaron convertible.

Ram trucks lead 2021 J.D. Power Initial Quality Study

For the first time ever, Ram leads in J.D. Power's annual Initial Quality Study with a score of 128 PP100, or problems experienced per 100 vehicles in the first 90 days of ownership. Ram was in third place in last year's rankings. Coming in second place is Dodge (139 PP100), a sister division to Ram under the Stellantis umbrella, followed by Lexus (144 PP100), this year's highest-ranked premium automaker, in third. These findings reinforce an overall trend over the last few decades where mass-market brands have outperformed premium brands that tend to introduce bleeding-edge technologies that can confuse owners or fail to work entirely. Genesis (148 PP100) is the only other premium automaker to perform better than average. At the bottom of the official rankings is Chrysler (251 PP100), which seems to make little sense considering most of its technologies are shared with Dodge and many with Ram until you consider that Chrysler only offers two platforms and one of them is the Pacifica/Voyager minivan twins that are unique to the brand. The next worst are Audi (240 PP100) and Volkswagen (213 PP100). Tesla would fall in between VW and Audi with its score of 231PP100, but because the electric car manufacturer doesn't provide access to J.D. Power in every state, it's not officially included. Interestingly, J.D. Power said on a followup call that the problems that Tesla owners report most often are more traditional issues, such as panel fitment, interior noises or paint problems instead of problems with the car's electronics. According to J.D. Power, the industry averaged a score of 162 PP100. That is four points higher than the overall score in 2020, and 20 of 32 brands improved their quality scores over the last year. That's a two percent increase in quality in 2021, which is good but slightly lower than the average rate of improvement over the last decade. On a car-by-car basis, the Nissan Maxima leads the overall field with a score of 85 PP100. Issues with infotainment systems — and in particular problems pairing smartphones with in-car technologies — continue to be the top-reported problems. Headaches connecting Apple CarPlay and Android Auto dominate the complaints. "Owners want wireless connectivity, and the industry has responded," according to Dave Sargent, vice president of automotive quality at J.D. Power. "However, this has created a bigger technical challenge for both automakers and tech companies.