One of the cool things about window shopping through China’s largest online mall is that you find some weirdly cheap yet impressive-looking things. And that’s exactly what we’ve got in store for this week’s Awesomely Weird Alibaba Electric Vehicle of the Week column. If you’re a fan of vintage automotive culture, well then prepare to be horrified at this Chinese knock-off of a car. But if you just like looking at cool stuff on wheels, then do I have something fun to show you!
I’m not exactly sure what this vehicle is attempting to recreate. It’s called a “Super cool sports car style vintage car Electric cars with customizable colors”, but I think it’s based on something with mid-century Morgan vibes.
With four seats and an extra helping of suave, this ride is just about as well turned out as anything we’ve ever featured in this column before.
And for the low, low price of just $6,980, it could be yours. Well, plus probably 2-3x that in add-on fees, shipping, and import charges. Then there’s that pesky issue of it not being street legal just about anywhere outside of China (and I’m not even convinced it’s legal for on-road use there either). So perhaps this is another one to simply enjoy from afar.
Driving it probably won’t be as fun as looking at it anyway, on account of a paltry 4 kW (5.3 hp) electric motor. This definitely looks like the kind of car you’d ride in a parade though, not to your local supermarket, so perhaps the powertrain is appropriate.
The vendor claims it can hit a top speed of “50+ km/h”, which is anything north of 31 mph. I guess the sky is the limit. If you believe and your heart is pure, there’s no telling how fast you can go in this thing.
Honestly though, the real claim to fame here isn’t the performance. It’s the interior. Just look at the attention to detail. I doubt that’s real leather but the upholstery looks amazing. The switches and dials transport you back in time, and even the metal louvers on the bodywork add to the vintage feel. From a distance, you might even be fooled into thinking this is legit.
In fact, I think there’s a decent chance this isn’t the car you’d get, and that these are just images of a real Morgan or replica that have been stolen and repurposed – that’s how slick this thing looks.
If you lived in a 55+ community and everyone else was getting around on golf carts, you’d be the bees knees rolling up in this ride. There’d be a line of ladies from the shuffleboard courts all the way to the bingo hall, each thanking god they just got that new hip put in. You know, so they could climb down into the passenger seat, of course.
Assuming this is the actual car this factory makes, and not a few stolen images they use before shipping you a version that looks like it melted on the way over, then I have to say props to the factory. And if its the latter, then, well that’s just about par for the course.
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