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Aptera Spiritual Ancestors
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Aptera Spiritual Ancestors
updated 1 month, 3 weeks ago
54 Members
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77
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I got a reputation in My Small Neighborhood in Panama City, Florida, as able to fix nearly anything with an engine. in My Last Summer of High School (1968), A Florida Senator (with a Son My Best Friend and Teammate on My Football team) had His Sons Push to My Home, a 1967? Lotus Elan, not running. Said: “if You get it Running, You can use it till we get back from Europe Trip” – I had it running that night, and drove it all Summer. What a Blast that car was! Have never driven anything that handled better. Plus, it was a Crumpet magnet! Everybody wanted a Blast along the Beaches in that Convertible!
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We have a Smart EQ forfour while we wait for our Aptera. We chose forfour rather than fortwo so we have capacity for camping kit. Scotland has enough charging infrastructure for us to go almost everywhere with its ~75mile range. The Aptera 400 mile three-wheel drive with off-road option we have on order will be a huge leap forward.
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I’ve had many , many cars, of which the Pontiac Fiero was one, and presently own a 2022 Hyundai Ioniq hybrid.
I’m surprised you didn’t list the Crosley as a spiritual ancestor. At about 1500 pounds it was designed for simplicity and efficiency, of a sort, for the day and age.
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My first car was a 1952 MG TD. The cover of the owner’s manual had the car’s theme: “Safety Fast” (“Fast” was relative for that little four-cylinder engine)
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In the 80s, we owned a Honda CRX Si. It was two-seat, lightweight, and with the 1.5L PGM-FI engine, a blast to drive. I consider my pre-ordered Aptera its spiritual successor. Looking forward to it!
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I am the original owner of a 2011 Nissan Leaf. It is on its second set of batteries though and that set is getting a little weak, so I hope it will squeak by until Aptera delivery time. I loved the car but hated the range limitation especially with weak batteries. 40 miles is pretty much my top range now. It’s interesting that I used to try to get my wife to drive it, but she still preferred her ICE car. Now that gas is so expensive, she is voluntarily using it first.
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I have owned a 1969 Lotus Elan. I dearly loved this car. Wish I still had it.
And a 2011 Nissan Leaf. The range was barely adequate, but it got me hooked on EVs.
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Electric Vehicles:
1981 HMV Freeway, 2012 Nissan Leaf, 2013 Tesla MS, 2017 Chevy Volt
Two Seat Sports cars:
1966 Fiat 850 Spyder, 1979 Fiat X1/9, !990 Miata
3 Wheel Vehicles:
1957 Messerschmitt KR200, 1959 Heinkel Kabine, 1980 HMV Freeway, 1981 electric HMV Freeway (see above)
Still have the Heinkel, the 1980 Freeway (I.C.E), the Tesla and the Volt. The Aptera will replace the Volt.
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I think You forgot one:
The 3 wheeled Campagna T-rex.
Two seater & Tadpole design (2 wheels up front, one in the back) like the aptera.This one was mine. Had it for 4 years. No problems with potholes or traction or visibility. The only 2 problems:
1. No doors so my left arm would get wet in a rain storm haha
2. it was so unique looking that it created its own traffic jams on the highway. Anyone in an Aptera is going to have this problem.
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David, you are exactly correct. I drove a Lotus Elan for a few years in the ’80s. EVERYWHERE I went people wanted to know what it was and who made it. The routine was fun for a while. It was a good primer for driving an Aptera
The world outside our front door is not prepared for the coming of the Aptera. My neighbors have no earthly idea what is going to meet them in traffic in a few years. I can see it now.
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New reservation holder here, but I’ve been interested in efficient, practical vehicles for decades. Thank goodness Aptera is checking more of my boxes than any other single vehicle ever has.
I’ve owned these distant cousins:
2000-2004 VW Golf TDI (drag coefficient 0.31) ran on biofuel as much as practical (had 2, loved these cars when not giving me problems)
2012 Prius V (0.29) Nice long flat load floor in back, made a great efficient camper with the back seats removed and a simple platform. Driver’s space slightly too small for me at 5’10”, same with my GF’s 2021 RAV4 Hybrid.
2016 Volt (0.28) Great practical, efficient, and fun enough to drive car, kudos to GM for actually producing it even if they never realized its potential. My extended family has 4 of these, and 2 Teslas. Mine will be sold just before delivery of the Aptera.
Always wanted something more fun to drive on twisty mountain roads, like a Miata. I’m ready for the Aptera, please bring it!
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My “German Gene” urges me to add another car to your “Aerodynamics Gene” LOL
The third generation Audi 100 was launched in September 1982. It had an aerodynamic look achieving a drag coefficient of 0.30 for its smoothest base model resulting in better fuel economy. That 0.30 was revolutionary at the time (40 years ago).
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I’ve owned about 28 Fiero’s. (Seriously). Most were ones that I picked up and parted out. About 5 were daily drivers over the years. I still own an 85 SE with a Ferrari 308B body kit and an 87GT with a 95-Camaro engine in it.
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<div>Here’s a Soviet precursor, the 1950 GAZ M-20 Pobeda.
</div><div>Aptera’s Australopithecus.
</div>
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Here is an interesting one. “The Reactor” is a hand built piece of awesome history from the 60s by Gene Winfield (no not Roddenberry). Another awesome trek connection for great 3 wheelers.
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@ Ray Holan, If I may add..there’s a few more, under the Three Wheel Gene family tree branch (besides the Polaris Slingshot & Morgan 3 Wheeler):
1) Campagna T REX
2) Volkswagen GX3
3) Marotti
4) Elio P5*
5) Peugeot Egochine
6) MEV Trike
7) XR3
8) Higgins-Aube Energya
https://www.topspeed.com/cars/top-10-three-wheeled-vehicles-we-would-love-to-drive-ar188205.amp.html
*Among the 8 listed, the Elio P5 looks like the 2nd cousin of the Aptera. 😂
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Wasn’t able to upload a picture, but there’s one on the internet of Walter Baker (for the Baker Electric car) in his Baker Torpedo Kid at the starting line in 1903. WAY ahead of his time with aerodynamics and electric performance; probably hit 80 mph, possibly 100 mph but crashed before he could back it up.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFoNWEK84RU The Aptera might be a UFO, but the ideas aren’t out of this world. The Volkswagen XL1 has the same slipstream style, doors, split windows, carbon fiber everything, camera mirrors, but not a real production car (not at the levels Aptera is hoping for, at least), not electric, not the same absolute devotion to the aerodynamics, or giant trunk, or headroom.
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In Kingman, AZ is the Route 66 EV Museum https://www.hevf.org with a Corban Sparrow. Here is a link to an Autoweek article: https://tinyurl.com/2p86n479
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This sure looks like a proto-Aptera… (also nice footage)
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Add this to the Three Wheel Gene..the Tri Magnum.
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I remember the OMCC Pulse very well. I worked at the factory. I couldn’t afford one at the time, but did get to drive them occasionally.
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How about the 1942 L’Oeuf Électrique?
It is at 3:03 in this YT video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsQet7yDkhU
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I’m mostly stunned and amazed that he could put that project together in 1942 occupied Paris.
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I’d guess that the bulk of the work was done prior to the war
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Well, there was a lot of ingenuity in occupied Paris. With the lack of gasoline and diesel, many converted their vehicles to run on a gaseous fuel derived from wood or coal (if it was available); others used them for steam engine fuel.
However, yes he designed the car in 1938, but didn’t build it until 1942. Here is a Wikipedia article on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%27Œuf_électrique
When I went there it came up in French but you can select either an English or German version where it says “2 languages”
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This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by
Dennis Swaney. Reason: Added Wikipedia article
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This reply was modified 9 months, 3 weeks ago by
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I’m surprised that it managed to survive the war considering the destruction and scant resources available; it could have easily been scrapped to support the war effort. Really neat vehicle and interesting history!
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Interesting comment about the three-wheeler having a large market:
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Here is my own Aptera spiritual ancestor. It is a solar powered Ford Escape PHEV. I added a 4 kWh LiPhos battery and mounted a hinged 140 watt solar panel to charge it. It could drive 10 miles all electric after charging on a sunny day (at 45 mph or less).
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Whoa, cool!
Just to clarify, that’s a first gen Escape hybrid (non-plugin) model that you converted, and not a production PHEV model (which Ford sells now) that you just added a solar panel to, right?
And did you actually install a charge port (per the PHEV moniker) or did it only charge via the solar?
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Jeff,
Yes, it is a second generation 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid that came with a 1 kWh battery. I added a 4 kWh, 48 V LiPhos battery (the Enginer system) and a plug in port and converter to charge it using 110 volt AC, making it a PHEV. The 140 Watt solar panel also charges the added battery via a voltage converter which converts the variable 12 to 30 volt DC output of the panel to 48 volts to charge the batteries making it a solar/plug-in hybrid electric vehicle or SPHEV.
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