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Morgan Hydrogen Fuel-Cell LifeCar from Concept To Shiny Reality
Posted by Gizmodo US Edition at 3:18 AM on March 5, 2008
The guys over at Jalopnik had a chance to get up close and personal with the Morgan LifeCar hydrogen fuel-cell prototype at the Geneva Motorshow, and boy does it look like an awesome chunk of eco-sport goodness. You can see in the gallery just how close the real deal matches the design sketches.
Morgan is putting together the LifeCar to demonstrate that eco-friendly vehicles can still be fun to drive and desirable. To this end, that sleek art-deco chassis is designed to be ultra light, with sound eco-credentials without sacrificing performance. It even incorporates features like regenerative braking to claw back wasted energy, which helps shrink down the engine and fuel system and still retain a 200-mile range. Combine the performance and eco-friendliness with luxury details like hand-stitched leather and a wooden-rimmed steering wheel, and suddenly going green doesn't sound so Prius-y. Let's just hope we can save enough for the presumably enormous price. [Jalopnik]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
pagercam
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
Fugly
pagercam
Cobolman2
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
Given it's a concept care, I'd bet on the "Video camera in back, screen on the dash" trick.
Cobolman2
CColdsmoke
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
@wikkit: Same way New Yorkers see what's behind them even though they have a rear windshield and side mirrors: drive by feel.
CColdsmoke
PeterPotamus
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
@wikkit: It's all part of the marketing - "Who cares what's behind you"
PeterPotamus
wikkit
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
I'm down with the crazy retro styling, but how are you meant to see behind you when it lacks bot rear-view mirrors and a rear windshield?
wikkit
NZRUSS
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
That is - by - far - the coolest car I have ever seen.
My dream car right there.
You listening 'guiding angel'/god/etc...?
NZRUSS
Step666
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
@discounteggroll: I could happily have lived my life without knowing that...
I personally preferred the previous iteration of the Aero 8, the one with the front that looked as though it had been wrapped round a lamppost.
Ok, the front of the car was a little odd but the windows etc seemed a lot more practical and, best of all, unlike this version, it had a high-performance engine that sounded like a Spitfire.
Step666
wikkit
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
@discounteggroll:
I sincerely hope that my you never feel the need to do that to my car.
wikkit
discounteggroll
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
it makes me want to just rub me genitals all over it for some reason
discounteggroll
keyser
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
i think joe camel was on this engineering team...
keyser
pevans34
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
hahaha oh man, nice cruella deville looking hubcaps.
thats a cool concept ride, but these things never pan out because they always end up costing so much money
pevans34
geschmidtt
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
This is essentially the same body that is on the Morgan Aero, which comes nicely equipped with powerful petrol engine. If they could make that thing economic, then there would be much to celebrate.
geschmidtt
ripfire4
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
With a few tweaks, this can look like the Batmobile. Cool!
ripfire4
Spasticteapot
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
I think it's excellent. While the wheels look a bit odd, I'm willing to bet they're quite aerodynamic. Despite the 1920's styling, Morgans are remarkably aerodynamic.
Spasticteapot
comp_wiz101
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
The hubcaps were probably chosen for aerodynamics... smooth sided wheels let the air slip past easier than something that is concave or spoked.
comp_wiz101
Grifter
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
Gorgeous but impractical IMO. But when you got it, flaunt it.
Grifter
ANoel
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
I like.
Veyron-ish.
[www.vicky.in]
Faguely old-timey like a Deusenberg.
[www.supercars.net]
ANoel
Kaiser-Machead
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
I love the design, but wtf is up with those hubcaps? It looks so villain-getaway-car-y. They should've at least gone with concave billet wheels, with maybe superfluous rivets on the edge or something. Or, better yet, whatever wheels there are in the first concept rendering.
Kaiser-Machead
Noobs-R-Us
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
I wish all these idots stop showing us and actually deliver. Don't show us, give US!
Noobs-R-Us
littleSavage
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
It's Batman's "go out for dinner" mobile.
littleSavage
dontforget
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
that came out bad... the car is nice
dontforget
dontforget
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
those wheel/hubcap things are disgusting.
that thing looks like it should be chase 101 dogs
dontforget
nutbastard
Posted 5:06 AM 5/3/08
Sexy.
nutbastard
nutbastard
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
@BrokenFERN:
Ace and Gary rock...
nutbastard
BrokenFERN
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
This looks like the car from the SNL skit "The ambiguously Gay Duo".
BrokenFERN
CliftonSantiago
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
I like the over all look of the car but those wheels are horrible
CliftonSantiago
flyboy
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
this'll post twice - they used wood befor ..[www.morgan-motor.co.uk]
and @Hunty - you haven't had any for a while if you see willies looking at this car.
flyboy
flyboy
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
the chassis were made out of wood historically.
goes well with hydrogen?
don't see any willy in the design either - you can' t have had any recently Hunty
flyboy
flyboy
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
where is the wood Morgan?
flyboy
Curves
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
But can I burn rubber in it?
(I see no penis here either.)
Curves
Barry99705
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
Steering wheel is on the wrong side. :)
Barry99705
Lupison
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
Can you play Monopoly with this car?
Lupison
nutbastard
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
@workingonyourinvoice:
I see non-obects in penises rarely - what does THAT mean??
nutbastard
workingonyourinvoice
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
@Hunty: Do you see penises in non-penis objects often?
workingonyourinvoice
Hunty
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
I like it Prius-y. This looks like a limp penis. :(
Hunty
ParadoxControl
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
dooo want!
ParadoxControl
sansovino
Posted 6:16 AM 5/3/08
@wikkit: In the words of Gerry Todd, "Video. Glorious video."
sansovino
ANoel
Posted 7:24 AM 5/3/08
@nutbastard:
Perhaps he meant pricks not "penises", as in the old joke...
Q: What's the difference between a cactus and a Corvette?
A: Cactii have their pricks on the outside...
ANoel
le_on
Posted 7:24 AM 5/3/08
Morgans were originally poorly made Brit-mobiles that made an MG look like a Lamborghini. This thing is a piece of retro-shite that highlights a lack of forward thinking and reliance on cliched styling cues. Not as bad as the BMW 328 concept a year or two ago, but pretty close. Poor surfaces, unresolved and out of context, terrible proportions.
Not to mention the crappy photoshop renderings, one which is superimposed over a Veyron (desert shot) which is blasphemous in itself.
Hydrogen? Yeah whatever, go greenwash something that at least looks cool.
le_on
silvarga
Posted 7:24 AM 5/3/08
"Holy Moose-Knuckle, Batman!"
silvarga