Geocar: 2006

Journalists who tested the Geocar 2006 prototype in the early 2000s described an experience that was terrifying and liberating.

The rear passenger, meanwhile, had a view of the driver’s headrest and the side windows. Claustrophobic? Yes. Intimate? Also yes.

Between 2005 and 2007, the custom car magazine Lowriders built a famous feature car called the “Geocar.” It was a radical show car built on a Geo Metro platform. The “2006” likely refers to the year the build was completed or featured.

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“The 2006 Geocar: Proof that a Geo Metro can steal the spotlight. Built by Lowriders Magazine, this car traded 50 horsepower for 50 pounds of custom paint, hydraulics, and interior work. It wasn’t fast, but it stood taller than any exotics at the 2006 SEMA show.”

Key facts about the 2006 Geocar:

Today, the GEOCAR 2006 is a ghost. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2008, unable to withstand the financial crisis. According to the FFVE (French Federation of Vintage Vehicles), less than 40 units were ever sold to the public. Perhaps 8 are known to exist in driving condition today. Journalists who tested the Geocar 2006 prototype in

Collectors of "failed EV history" prize the GEOCAR 2006 for its Zebra battery technology—a dead-end that rivals the rotary engine for mechanical weirdness. One survivor in Lyon, France, was sold on eBay in 2021 for €3,200, mostly for its rare battery modules.

To understand the Geocar, you have to look away from Detroit and Tokyo and toward France. The brainchild of designer and entrepreneur Joël Rivat, the Geocar 2006 was produced by a small French firm, Manufacture Automobile de l'Ain (later associated with Rivat’s vision of "ultra-light mobility").

Rivat was not a traditional car executive. He was a pragmatist who looked at the traffic-choked cities of Europe in the 1990s and saw absurdity: four-seat, two-ton metal boxes moving single occupants a few kilometers. His answer was the Véhicule Individuel (Personal Vehicle). The "2006" suffix was a target—his prediction of when the world would finally be ready for a minimalist, electrified urban runabout. The rear passenger, meanwhile, had a view of

Ironically, the Geocar 2006 began life with a tiny internal combustion engine (a 50cc or 100cc diesel, depending on the prototype). But Rivat saw the writing on the wall. By the early 2000s, the prototype had pivoted to electric propulsion, making it one of the first production-ready micro-EVs.

I had the distinct pleasure (misfortune) of driving a 2006 Geocar in Southeast Asia in 2018. The owner called it "The Lawnmower."

Starting it up: The engine vibrates so violently that the rearview mirror droops. You push it back up. It droops again. This is now your relationship with the mirror.

Shifting gears: The shifter is connected to the transmission via what feels like a pool noodle stuck in a bucket of gravel. You don't shift into second; you suggest second gear to the car, and the car decides if it wants to accept.

Steering: The power steering is aspirational. At low speeds, you need the upper body strength of a rock climber. At high speeds (65 mph), the steering goes completely numb, creating a "will of God" driving experience.