Odd and Interesting Vehicles: 1974 Vanguard-Sebring CitiCar

Think the GM EV-1 was the first battery-electric vehicle available in the U.S? Not even close. Electric vehicles were common early in the 20th century. In 1975, the Vanguard-Sebring CitiCar was first offered, and by most accounts, it was an awful little car with few safety features.

The motors in the first models of the CitiCar only produced 3.5 horsepower, which is about the same as a lawnmower. Though it had decent range (for the time) of about 40 miles, you wouldn’t want to take it on the highway, due to its sub-40-mph top speed. Later models of the car were upgraded to six horsepower and a top speed of 45 mph.