Free Republic

Glib, charismatic and larger than life, Carmichael enjoyed her first 15 minutes of fame during the fuel crisis of 1974. At the time, she was billing herself as a maverick who planned to “rule the auto industry like a queen” by selling a low-cost, high-efficiency three-wheeled vehicle—the Dale—described in promotional literature as “the most exciting new car of this century” and “dollar for dollar, the best car ever!” You didn’t have to be a professional fact-checker to realize that this was too good to be true. Sure enough, within a year, Carmichael was indicted after authorities discovered that the Dale...

The folks from Elio Motors dropped by the Philadelphia Business Journal offices in Old City on Monday to show off their new concept car (see attached photo gallery). Small in stature and containing three wheels (two in the front, one in the back), the car costs just $6,800 and gets 87 mpg highway (49 mpg city). Although still in the concept and fundraising stages, Elio’s top brass has been showing off the vehicle across the country – from its headquarters in Shreveport, La. to New York to Detroit. For the first time, they revealed a prototype of the car’s engine,...