Carbon Motors hopes to put the Police in diesels
Click above for more renderings of the Carbon Motors E7
As it stands today, the vast majority of police cars are powered by large gasoline-fed V8 engines up front, which drives the rear wheels through an automatic transmission. The steel body sits atop a heavy steel frame to which a decidedly old-tech set of suspension bits, including a live rear axle, are affixed. Very old-school, so to speak. There are some, though, looking to change all of this. Carbon Motors plans to unveil a prototype police vehicle that's made specifically for the job, as opposed to a converted Ford Crown Vic or something like it.
An aluminum space-frame would provide the basic structure for the Carbon Motors car, while composite body panels make up the exterior skin. The company "will be pushing the clean-diesel agenda very hard, with its 40 percent fuel economy improvement," according to William Santana Li, CEO of Carbon Motors Corp. For its performance driving abilities, rear-wheel drive would be kept. The company hopes to sell between 10,000 and 80,000 units annually.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
imoore 9:12AM (9/30/2008)
This is news? I remember when the website for this car went up in Spring of 2007. Still nothing. I have to look at this just like the Southern Motor Company 356 retro Pickup and the Studebaker Motor Company--just mirages. I'll believe it when I see them.
Postings like this should occur only on April Fool's day.
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Torrent 11:12AM (9/30/2008)
looks like a Saab 9-3
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