This shape is hard to forget, like seeing me on the beach. Once this form is burned into your brain it’s there forever. We’ve seen around eight B&Z Electra-King EVs here on Barn Finds over the last decade or so, and Michelle just showed us a nice one a month ago. Or, a functioning one, I don’t know if I’ve seen a really nice one. That being said, the seller has this project 1971 B&Z Electra-King posted here on craigslist in the Korea Town area of Los Angeles, California and they’re asking $2,500. Here is the original listing, and thanks to Rocco B. for the tip!
From the early 1960s until around 1980, B&Z offered the Electra-King (sometimes seen without the hyphen) for almost two decades, which is incredible for an oddball EV in this era. Most of us know the CitiCar and Comuta-Car, and other unusual early microcar EVs, but the B&Z Electra-King stands out. Well, I guess they all stand out now that I say that out loud. I’m not sure what the black spray paint is for or from there, maybe a random tagging incident, but you can see the missing headlights and missing single wiper arm over the driver’s side of the windshield.
The seller is light on photos, which isn’t surprising for a craigslist ad, so we don’t get to see the full 24 photos allowed with CL, like one with the trunk open, one showing both doors open, one showing where the missing batteries would be, under the bench seat, etc. There was also a much rarer four-wheel version of the Electa-King, that’s the one I want. These unusual cars were made in Long Beach, California, the perfect spot for a low-MPH battery-powered vehicle. I was there not that long ago for the Grand Prix and it would have been cool to be riding around in an Electa-King with a wing on the back of it.
This is the only interior photo and it shows a relatively complete but dirty, discombobulated, and somewhat scary dashboard wiring PhD exercise for the next owner. Six 12-volt batteries would have been under the seat cushions but there are no batteries, and it’ll most likely never see lead-acid batteries again. The seller mentions maybe putting a lawn mower engine in it and now that I think about it, I have an 11-hp Honda engine that might be perfect if a person didn’t want to mess with batteries again. The original top speed would have been around 18 mph and that’s probably fast enough for what was likely a somewhat tippy vehicle, even with six big batteries under the seat and only one front wheel. At $2,500 this one may linger for quite a while. How would you bring this one back to life?
Good amusing write-up, Scotty.
Hey, at least this thing has more style than a Reliant Robin.
Not sure if you could fit an LS in it….
Yamaha golf cartfuel injection gas engine or a 48 volt electric setup would be perfect. You can get up to 19.5 mph without having to license it. The guys where I work converted a 1970 Harley 3-wheeler from electric to gas. I ended up doing the body work on it. It’s quite the showpiece.
Oh boy, here we go again.
“EV’s!? Pffft. Grrrr. Grrrrr. Grumble. Grumble.”
Notice the headroom! You could easily wear your dunce cap, as you tooled into town, winking at the ladies.
Neat little car but it needs a trip to see it’s ancestors. About a pound of C-4 would do for fuel.
If you’re handy, and I don’t mean like Red Green, this could be your ride. Or, a least project. In Michigan you can register a low speed vehicle (LSV) for roads posted 35 mph or less. Not every insurance carrier will cover them but they are legal in certain areas. Good luck to the seller and the buyer.
“Put it in H”
Oh oh, did one of you snag this beast? The seller removed the listing.