A 1960 electric runabout, the only one in NZ, heads to auction this weekend

An electric car built for suburban errands in 1960, half a century before the idea reached the mainstream, goes under the hammer in Auckland this weekend, and it is understood to be the only one in New Zealand.

The Electric Car Company Shopper FG-75 is one of the more unusual lots in Webb’s Collectors’ Cars, Motorcycles and Automobilia auction on Sunday 6 September, with an estimate of $25,000 to $30,000. It runs and drives, with working lights, and retains its manufacturer’s identification plate and California licence plate.

The Electric Car Company opened on Alamitos Street in Long Beach in 1951, founded by a group who had previously sold Autoette three-wheeled electric microcars. It built what the trade called pleasure cars, small battery-powered runabouts for short local trips, in a city that at its peak supported around nine such manufacturers, several within a few blocks of each other.

The FG-75 arrived in 1960 under new company president Byron T. Cline as an answer to a fibreglass rival, with company literature promising the low, sweeping profile of a contemporary full-size American car in miniature. The specification was modest: around 318kg, a 1.5-horsepower 24-volt series-wound DC motor, an advertised top speed of 18mph (29km/h), and a claimed range of 30 to 35 miles (48 to 56km) on a charge. A removable fibreglass top, a windscreen and side curtains were options.

The run was short. Cline sold the business in late 1962 and the Shopper name went with it, though the type stayed popular into the early 1970s with older residents running errands. Their makers never solved the problem that finished them: too slow for the road and too fast for the footpath, with neither drivers nor pedestrians willing to give way. Webb’s reports that between 15 and 50 survive worldwide.

“It was built for a suburban errand in 1960, which is precisely the use case the industry spent the last fifteen years rediscovering,” says Chris Wiseman, Webb’s head of collectors’ cars. “People tend to smile at it first and think about its exciting history and uniqueness second.”

The Shopper shares the catalogue with a hand-built Toylander children’s Land Rover and the crash-damaged rear valance from Colin McRae’s 2002 Rally New Zealand Ford Focus, in a sale led by a Mercedes-Benz 280SL Pagoda. Viewing runs until Sunday at Webb’s, 33a Normanby Road, Mount Eden, with the auction starting at 2.30pm.