We know you you’re thinking and yes, this amazing machine could be yours and the owner would even trade you some junky muscle car for it! Got a Chevelle or maybe a Charger that you just can’t get rid of? Fear not, the owner of this 1979 CitiVan electric contraption will gladly trade you. It doesn’t have to be running but he’ll consider all offers and why wouldn’t he? We bet there will be people from all over the country throwing their stuff at him to own one of the rare examples of the 1979 CitiVan. According to our research, only 11 of these were ever made. The smaller models were mass produced into the thousands so the dozen of these went out into the world to people who were clearly suffering from mental illness or a complete detachment to reality.
We were tipped off to this creation be Ian Tocher. You know Ian from his work in magazines like Drag Illustrated we have no idea how he found this CitiVan but he sure did and sent it right along to us. Believe it or not, the company that made this baby, Citicar was in business making electric vehicles for several years in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Like the electric Bradley GT we showed you earlier this week, they were low volume but successful enough to sustain for a few years. The CitiVan was a longer wheelbase version of the company’s mainstay CitiCar model. Yes, this is actually the “big” one. Range was about 40 miles and top speed was a death defying 35-mph. It goes without saying that if you hit something going 35mph in this vehicle, they’d be cleaning you up with a squeegee.
The seller says that the vehicles will not drive currently but when power is put to it the lights come on and it shows signs of life. The electric drive motor may be toast and you could make a real hot rod out of this one by ditching the little 3.5-hp model it came with and stepping up to a 5hp deal or something. If anything make it fast enough to pull wheelies (without someone hanging off the back golf-cart style).
Ian raised the best point of this whole thing with the question, “Where did he find a replacement door?!” Note that one of the side doors is bright yellow. There is some yellow showing under the paint in places so it could be possible that all the paint came off the door but we’d rather believe that this guy actually walked into a junkyard and hit the lottery by finding a new door to hang on his CitiVan.
What do you think? Have something worthy to trade? Maybe a 427 Corvette or lightweight Galaxie or something? Life life on the edge at 35mph in this CitiVan….you know you want to!
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS AND THEN HIT THE LINK FOR THE CL AD –
The door is off of a smaller CitiCar. There is one rotting in the woods near Chapin that I pass pretty often. It looks about as rough as this CitiVan, but with more moss.
How about he give me $1500 and I’ll think about taking it off his hands?
This car is in north GA. There was a guy in Valdosta in the mid to late 80’s that had one of these . I wonder if it’s the same car.
Solar powered? It says solar powered on the sides. I don’t see solar panels on the roof unless that is what the black mess on the roof is. Is it right hand drive or did the pic just get flipped? It needs a motorcycle engine put in it.
Could not give this to me as a gift. Well maybe……Would be fun to shoot up with my AK.
I have a couple Muscle Cars I would trade for this beauty. 1 is an AMT and the other is MPC Not sure I would trade a JO-HAN for it though