Variety is the spice of life, and here at Barn Finds we certainly do provide a wide variety of different vehicles. Barn Finder Ikey H seems to have a keen eye for the unusual and interesting vehicles, and he spotted this particular one for us to look at. Thank you so much for that Ikey. This 1982 Unique Mobility Electrek was a ground-breaking vehicle when new, and you can add a truly interesting vehicle to your garage for $10,000. The Electrek is located in Ft Lupton, Colorado, and is listed for sale here on Craigslist.

The styling of the Electrek is certainly distinctive. I guess that there was no point in producing an innovative vehicle if it just blended into the background, so the designers did their best to ensure that this didn’t happen. The car features a steel frame which is adorned with a fiberglass and polycarbonate body. This one looks like it is in good condition but would benefit from a good clean and polish. The side window styling is the most controversial aspect of the design, and it does make the car look like it’s sagging in the middle. Apart from that, the styling isn’t too bad, and probably even seemed a bit futuristic when the vehicle was new.

This is as close as we get to a photo of the interior, and it reinforces my belief that the vehicle needs a good clean. The interior design is a 2+2, but while the front bucket seats are relatively large and comfortable, the rear seats are quite small and are best used by children. That large box section just below the gear shifter is actually a tunnel that runs through the vehicle from the firewall at the front through to what would be the trunk lid. This housed the original lead/acid batteries in a slide-out tray, which was actually quite a clever way of providing the optimum weight distribution within the vehicle.

This is the rear end of the tunnel that I was referring to. Unfortunately, there are no photos of the engine, but the design makes interesting reading. When new, the vehicle was powered by a bank of 16 x 6-volt lead/acid batteries, feeding a 32hp General Electric motor. Power was then fed to the front wheels via a 4-speed manual transmission. While I haven’t been able to confirm it, information that I have been able to locate seems to indicate that the transmission and suspension were actually sourced from a VW Rabbit diesel. One aspect that made this car so ground-breaking when new was the fact that it was one of the first commercially available electric vehicles to feature regenerative braking. The Electrek was capable of a top speed of 75mph and had a charge range of around 100 miles when driven at 30mph. This particular car has undergone some upgrades, and now is powered by Lithium batteries, with an Orion battery management system. The Electrek can be charged from a normal mains power outlet, and it appears that these upgrades have improved the performance and range of the vehicle. The Lithium batteries would also provide a significant weight advantage over the original lead/acid units.

The owner says that this little Electrek is 1-of-75 vehicles built by UQM Technologies, but this number may be inflated, as I have seen various estimates of between 50 and 60 vehicles. Production certainly proceeded to the stage where the vehicle underwent formal crash testing, and video of this shows that the vehicle stood up very well in this area. This particular example appears to be in overall good condition, and really seems to only need a decent clean and detail for it to look its best. It isn’t a highway cruiser by any stretch of the imagination, but as a suburban runabout, it is probably an ideal vehicle. This Electrek is just waiting for someone to see how well it functions in that environment, and to see how many people become fascinated by it wherever they go.