Original Ford Probe concept Cd .152!

[fowljesse]

That's true to an extent. The Prius is pretty wierd looking. If they hyped it enough, people would buy... well not that car, exactly, but to make it visually acceptable, they'd probably have to put on .8 Cd. Also, though, it would cost alot to build. The new Mercedes is at about .25, and it's huge.
The EV1 was less than .2 Cd (I don't remember, exactly), and people wanted it, even though they wouldn't sell it! And it was wierd looking (especially for the era).

[theholycow]

The Prius was never as much of a departure from normal-looking as those Probe concepts.

Indeed, the issue isn't that they can't build a production car like that, but rather that they can't sell it.