I stopped in at the Lane Motor Museum earlier this week; I had forgotten they have an XL1 which was not on display last year. But this time it was out! You can get right up next to it, so I took some pictures from angles most journalists don't think to look at. Here are some of the details.
It was parked next to a Fisker Karma, a car about the size of a Dodge Charger, which made the XL1 look tiny.
The radiator sits up front, with a wide, low inlet for cooling air.
The sides of the front bumper cover come down to form the front edge of the wheel fairings, with the center of the bumper cover cut out.
A single wiper sits below the hood edge.
The front wheel arches follow the curve of the tire all the way down, and are faired behind.
The rear wheel fairings extend almost all the way to the point of the front fairings.
Side view cameras are used instead of mirrors.
The front wheel covers are
not completely solid; the end of each "spoke" is vented.
Significant taper to the rear, especially in the upper body.
Vents at the back are open; the exhaust must vent here too since there is no visible pipe anywhere else.
CHMSL is sculpted into a shallow divot.
These vents are open to the engine below.
There's a paper slot instead of a glovebox with a door, in the name of lightness I suppose.
The A-pillars do not sit flush with the fenders/hood.
The profile taper flattens out slightly at the end of the body.
All in all, it's a pretty remarkable car.
