If you have passed the quarantine, and not the coronavirus, you may have had some history with a Renault 12 . One of the iconic models of the past century, known for its resistance. In countries such as Turkey it was produced until the 2000s. More than 30 years after its presentation at the 1969 Paris Salon. There were them in all colors and configurations. Even a rare electric version of EVA (Electric Vehicles Associates), a company founded in 1974 in the US as a result of the oil crisis of 1973. Despite the tsunami of zero-emission novelties of these years, electric cars are not a recent invention.
The EVA Metro were tested by NASA under the ERDA plan , the Spanish acronym for the Electric Vehicle and Hybrid Systems for Roads Program, with which to draw conclusions about the commercial viability of this type of propulsion. Two units were known to exist, one in Canada and one in the US, but a Renault R12 fan found an Eva Metro in the state of Georgia. He bought it and brought it to New York. Two cities almost 14 hours away by road. This is Eduard Palaghita , administrator of the Facebook page R12 USA, the most popular on this model. A true documentary gem with thousands of photos and videos on it.
Palaghita shared the finding with her followers and the news went around the world. For most, it was the first time they had heard of an electric R12 . "Years ago I learned of its existence. I even made an item. I thought it would be great to have one but I never imagined that there would be one available," says the collector, who has two more R12s in his garage. One of them, the Dacia 1300 , the Romanian version and the one that unleashed all this madness for the model, since Palaghita was born in Romania. Although he moved to the US in 1995, he always dreamed of owning his childhood car .
His latest acquisition, the EVA Metro, served to remember the history of this ephemeral brand that emerged in the times of the oil crisis of the 1970s. The US wanted to launch an electrification wave to reduce its dependence on crude. But the adventure of these banners was short-lived. In the case of EVA, until 1982. It didn't just put batteries in the R12. He also did it with other models of the time such as the Ford Escort , Fairmont , Mustang or some pick-ups and vans. This is borne out by a report recovered by Palaghita. "The energy crisis, the economy, the environment ... All this is leading us to predictions that Americans will soon pay more for less. There is an answer to all these questions: electric transport, " read the promotional information from the It teaches, which advertised the Metro as "a luxurious four-door sedan for four occupants."
A quintal of batteries for 100 kilometers
But what was the vehicle like? Originally it had 19 6-volt batteries located in the engine compartment and in the boot. Such rises load weight to 1429 kilos, 500 kilos above a R12 COMBUSTION n . You could get a range between 53 and 98 km s that depended on the speed at which it circulated.
According to EVA, it had an estimated useful life of 45,000 kilometers and could be charged in a household outlet in just six hours. Its electric motor was 13 horsepower and it did 0 to 50 km / h in 12 seconds for the 27 it took to reach 72 km / h . Quite far from the data that electric companies handle today. It had a top speed of 88 km / h.
NASA tested it in 1975 and 1976 within the aforementioned ERDA program. The tests analyzed cruising speeds, acceleration or braking capacity. Two runs were made. The first, with the vehicle shipped from the factory. The second, with 1,500 kilometers on top. In any case they were not satisfactory, as in most of these vehicles. It caused the discarding of many projects.
As for the EVA Metro, "one of them participated in the Jimmy Carter presidential parade in 1977. Seven were sold to the fleet in the province of Manitoba (Canada) in 1975, two were later donated to the university in this region and five were auctioned off between individuals. " This is how Eddie related it on his page in 2017. "You can imagine the shock I suffered when a friend told me that there was one available! I know it is in the right hands. I will return it to glory!"
The car was in Georgia. He had him taken to Maryland, four hours from his home. This route was commissioned by Palaghita himself. The EVA Metro had been parked for a year. The batteries were dead. Until then it had served its previous owner. "He bought it 5,000 miles (8,000 km) in Cleveland. He gave him another 6,000 (9,656). We had an hour's conversation. He is happy to know that he has gone to a good home . I send him photos of all the changes and adaptations that I am doing ". Eddie wants him back on the road as soon as possible, but the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit the US hard, has frustrated his desire.
His initial plan was to change the 6-volt batteries for similar ones , but his friend, another fan of the R12, and who put him on the track of the Metro, urged him to buy more modern lithium batteries to gain efficiency and autonomy. "I want to keep the original engine. We will put the batteries in the trunk so that it has a good weight distribution. The original configuration makes it very heavy and inefficient."
The paint had chipped, but the collector wants to keep the original color. Eddie enthusiastically answers and comments on all the news. In the last email you sent, you tell me that you have reached an agreement with a store in Pennsylvania that specializes in manufacturing electric vehicles. "They will do all the work required to get it back on the road. The next thing to do is take a set of photos from Manhattan."
Finding original parts for the R12 in the US is difficult. Eddie's luck is that his head mechanic worked for Renault until 1987 , when the diamond brand decided to leave the country (now they are imported). "He stored a lot of parts that they couldn't legally sell. Since there aren't many R12 owners in the US, he still had a lot of spare parts, so I bought them all. He takes care of repairing my R12 and Dacia. He even rebuilt an automatic transmission for me. Without your help it would be very difficult to have these vehicles running . "
It would be difficult to assess how many hours and money Palaghita has invested in a hobby turned into an exercise in authentic historical reconstruction. Firstly, yours. A biography that begins in Romania, his birthplace. "When I was little I saw many Dacia 1300s, which were basically adaptations of the Renault 12. It was the most common car on the roads of the country. I remember sitting in a red one of my grandmother, playing with the steering wheel and dreaming that someday I would drive it. In summer we went to the beach and it contained everything we needed for a week of camping. At the age of 12, in 1995, we moved to the USA. I remember shortly after arriving I asked my aunt, who was already in the country , if there was Dacia. She laughed at me. From that moment on, it got into my head to have one. "
The only Dacia 1300 on the mythical Route 66
First he found a Renault 12 L 1974 . "It was a bit different than the one I knew of, as it had four round headlights, large bumpers, and a 1.6 R16 engine. Although overall it looked like the Dacia. It had been in a barn for many years, but I put it to work. I customized it. with Dacia emblems, also on the steering wheel. At the time it broke down and I decided to sell it. " Then came the yellow R12 and performed the same modus operandi . He transformed it to give him the appearance of the Romanian model of his childhood. But Eddie wanted a genuine Dacia 1300. He got it through an exchange with a good friend of his from Bucharest. He gave him the transformed R12 and in exchange received the 1977 Dacia 1300, which he named Mimi .
"I had the vehicle sent to New York. It was a real challenge. Nothing like this has ever been done before. When he arrived in the US port, they did a thorough X-ray inspection at customs. A Romanian car was very suspicious in North America. I paid more for shipping (2,500) than for car (1,000) . But it was worth every penny to fulfill my dream. " He registered it as a classic and put some personalized plates, allowed in this country. He took some photos of him in Times Square, with the New York police. During confinement, he made others in a deserted New York. They look like snapshots of a dystopia. "Even Nadia Comaneci shared them! People in Romania were proud to see their national vehicle in the US. I feel the same way. I smile every time I get behind the wheel."
It is not for less. In August 2019, he undertook a daring journey along the well-known Route 66 , the ancient path traveled by bikers and motorists of all kinds. It stretches from Chicago to Santa Monica (California) for a total of 4,000 kilometers. "The plan was to drive an average of 240 miles a day (386 kilometers) each day to get there in 10 days. The first day went well. The second day started giving me problems." Eddie was not going to resign so easily after all the adventures he had to buy the Dacia 1300.
"The starter gave up. We had to push the car. At the next stop, I checked the hood and it smelled of gas. The fuel pump dumped it as a source. The next day I replaced it and rebuilt the starter." From there there were no more conflicts. Only a lost minute that did not detract from the experience. "I drove longer and we arrived in California as planned! The trip was a success. We made history, as this was the first Dacia to cross America."
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