Got more money than you reasonably know how to spend? Well then, you could either chuck some OVERSTEER’s way or you could blow a chunk of it buying your very own, one-of-a-kind prototype bespoke police car. Seriously.
The Carbon Motors E7 looked to be well on track to become a production reality and, as such, would become the world’s first purpose-built police car. Unfortunately the US Department of Energy rejected Carbon Motors request for a US$310 million loan and the whole thing quickly went tits-up.
The E7 appeared at exactly the same time that Ford cancelled the long-serving default police car – the mighty Crown Victoria – and with its BMW twin-turbo six-cylinder diesel engine seemed to be both a powerful and economical alternative. Plus, it looked like something out of a Robocop movie and THAT alone is enough to make it awesome…
It was not to be, however, and Carbon Motors fell over a few months back, leaving a single working prototype E7 to be sold off in an effort to recoup some money for people burnt in Carbon’s collapse. BMW is one of the ‘interested’ parties and Carbon Motors is said to have listed US$21.7 million in liabilities in its Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing.
Apparently the E7 is an impressive, fully-functioning piece of kit and it will go up for auction on January 23rd. Jay Leno is said to be interested, so you had better be prepared to write a fairly decent sized cheque if you really want it.
Go on, you know you do. Hell, we want it and we are really poor…
