[Stevebsy]

What kind of specs are you looking for in your electric/generating car?

How many miles per trip?
0-60 performance?
Cruising speed?

Etc..

I'm often thinking of doing something similar for a commuting vehicle. Here's my list of specs, based on my trip to work (about 15 miles each way, half freeway, half city streets):

Miles per charge (assuming no onboard generating) 70-100
0-60 performance 8-9 seconds or better
Cruising speed - Needs to be able to do freeway speeds 70-80mph

My thoughts for a donor car would be an old XT or XT6, for these reasons:
1. Good aerodynamics for times of high speed driving
2. Relatively light weight (at least compared to more modern cars)
3. Available in AWD and FWD for different design possibilities
4. Cheap and somewhat plentiful, at least in the non-rusty areas of the US
5. Style suitable to such an interesting idea
6. Fairly good crash safety

Possible ideas:
1. Buy FWD XT 4-cylinder, leave the engine/trans in the front and put electric stuff in the back and have a super hybrid
2. Buy an AWD version, and use electric motor in RWD thru the transmission/driveshaft
3. Buy a FWD version XT6, and use the FWD transmission w/ electric motor. There should be enough room for a small generator (the XT6 has more room in the engine bay)

An Impreza wagon would work too, or a Loyale for most of the same reasons as above...