Well, I knew it reminded me of something out of cartoon-TV world, and then it hit on me - the Green Hornet. I did a google search to see whether anyone else was saying this, and the Auto Week link came up. And references to the Autoweek comment. So you were the originator of that?
I think the black beauty itself was a modified chrysler, is that correct? Anyway, I don't think it's a coincidence that it has that look - the designers were surely knew what they were doing. They're the designers of the Cruiser, after all, which Mickey Kaus (dismisively) calls a "cartoon car."