Click above for more shots of the Renaissance Tropica EV

Back in the mid-nineties, a small company known as the Renaissance Car Company built a two-seat electric vehicle known as the Tropica. Unfortunately, as is so often the case the company wasn't able to stay afloat and production of the car stopped after just twenty-two vehicles were made. Therefore, the Tropica is little more than an interesting footnote in the bigger picture of alternative vehicles. Still, it is a cool machine and they don't show up for sale very often. So, when we spotted this one on eBay Motors, we thought it was worth showing our readers. You may recognize the Tropica from the T.V. show Nash Bridges, where Yasmine Bleath's character drove one.

Twin DC electric motors run on seventy-two volts each, with twelve deep cycle six-volt batteries coming from the factory. According to the current owner, all the batteries in this particular example were replaced earlier this year. Additionally, the rollbar was removed and the interior received a minor refurbishing. Top speed is about sixty-five miles per hour and the range, when new, was somewhere between sixty and eighty miles.


[Source: eBay Motors]