New Project: 1976 Citicar

[GasSavers_Ryland]

I got a great deal on it, under the condition that I get it road worthy and give a ride to the guy I got it from, the plastic body is cracked with a few pieces missing like front and rear windows, batteries are missing, and electronics are all origonal, when it was new it was lisenced as a normal car, not a NEV, allowed to travle on all those roads other cars can go on, top stock speed is around 40mph, range of 40 miles, seats two, aluminum tube frame with plastic body.

Link to more photos.

[GasSavers_Erik]

Very unique.

So what size tires does it have? 12 inch? That looks like a trailer rim on the rear.

Maybe a glass shop could cut the windshield out of a flat piece of safety glass.

What do you guess the total weight is? How many batteries does it take? Standard car batteries? Could you take a pic of the electric motor?

[GasSavers_Ryland]

I'm a little confused as to the total weight, the internet says 1,450 pounds or so, but the battery pack is suposed to be 8 6 volt batteries that weigh around 62lb's each so about 500lb's for batteries, and without batteries in it the front end weighs in at 260lb's, and I can't imagine the rear axle weighing 700lb's because it's all aluminum tube frame and ABS plastic body.
yes, those are 12" wheels with 4.8 tires, altho I would like some 145R12" like older geo metros have, and yes, it is a trailer wheel, it is what it was desined to use.
I spoke to a glass shop and safty glass cut to size is going to cost about $90.
I'll be takig more photos soon, as I plan to start testing stuff, brakes and motor are first on my list.

[GasSavers_Erik]

1,450 does seem heavy. Maybe that is the gross weight rating- including passengers and cargo.

6 volt batteries- hmm, to save money, I wonder if you could use 8 12 volt batteries and wire some in series and some in parallel to get up to the required voltage.

[101mpg]

That should be a sweet ride when you're done. Maybe swapping in a new motor, possibly better batteries (LiIon or some such) and things to get a top speed a little higher? Luckily it's licensed as a full car even if you don't ever get freeway speeds.

DEFINITELY keep us updated with new pics and things. Not everyone can find one of these!

[GasSavers_DaX]

I hope you go through with it - I really think these cars are neat!

[GasSavers_Bruce]

Looks like a neat project if you have the time. The nice thing is that you're grandfathered into a light weight since it doesn't need to meet modern safety standards.

The thing could definitely benefit from some aero mods as long as you're doing body work anyway; you should be able to improve the top speed that way. Skirts, internal mirrors, a lip spoiler or boattail, recessed headlights, moon covers, perhaps an air dam would all help.

Coroplast is a lot cheaper than batteries.

[Philip1]

exide orbitals are a great battery if you go to a higher voltage system. 96volts should get you a bit better top speed too. I have a good friend who builds EV's. He uses orbitals in his drag car 50 mi range and sub 12 second 1/4 mile to boot.

[GasSavers_Ryland]

I'm a little warry on how the plastic weld epoxy is going to work out, so I'm thinking about putting the body in a safe place, and trying some other ideas.
Talked to a friend who makes custum made tents and other fabric things, he sugested cotton canvis with varnis, I was thinking doped airplane fabric (anyone have a good source?) they could both be streached around the frame, glued or sewen on, air plane fabric shrinks with heat, cotten shrinks with water or varnish, the advantige of both of those is that they are light and cheap-ish, the disadvantage is that they are hard to mount lights in, would have to make fender arches, and they are going to sound like a drum head.

was also thinking about coroplast or 1/8" plywood, or aluminum plate, coroplast being the lightest, plywood being easy to work with, and aluminum being stiff enough that it would make the frame more ridgid, and because they are all self suporting they could simply be glued in place, and have sound dampening pads stuck to them.

[GasSavers_DaX]

A riveted aluminum body would be SUPER sweet - you could even polish it and be a baller.

Aircraft Spruce is the one stop shop for all things Aviation. You can certainly get some fabric there.