- 122
- United States
If you don't know about the EV-1, it was an electric car GM built in the 90s. Around 800 were leased to customers. At the end of the leases, customers were not permitted to buy out their vehicles. GM sent most of them to the crusher, with around 40 being disabled and loaned to colleges for educational purposes.
This particular EV-1 was sitting in a campus parking lot when somebody decided to throw a brick through the windshield. The college didn't know who to contact about ownership, so the car was sent to a local tow yard.
The tow company did their required due diligence in trying to contact an owner. The VIN lookup turned up nothing, and GM never reached out. After waiting the required period of time, the car was declared legally abandoned and able to be auctioned off.
The final auction price was nearly $120k, and the winner is an enthusiast of Chevrolet's little-known electric S10 pickup truck, which shares a lot of the same parts and is more readily available. So, while the EV-1 is going to need a custom-made windshield, its missing/disabled drivetrain components should be obtainable via junked S10s.
In short, a piece of automotive history thought to be legally extinct is now in the hands of a private owner and will likely be restored to a driveable condition.
