WIRED Staff
Transportation

Slideshow: Nice Ride: The Hydrogen Gremlin

Long before President Bush ever put "hydrogen" and "economy" together in a sentence, a group of UCLA students were revving the engine on their hydrogen-powered Gremlin. By Amit Asaravala.
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Students at the University of California at Los Angeles test their hydrogen-powered Gremlin in 1972. The car's exhaust consists only of steam, a fact that convinced judges at the Urban Vehicle Design Competition, held in August 1972, to award the team the prize for lowest emissions.Courtesy of UCLA

See related story: Nice Ride: The Hydrogen Gremlin

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The success of UCLA's hydrogen Gremlin and the fallout from the 1973 energy crisis helped UCLA professors William Van Vorst and Al Ullman convince the U.S. Postal Service to fund the development of a mail delivery truck powered by liquid hydrogen. According to Van Vorst, the curtain in the truck's back window was supplied by a student researcher's girlfriend after she complained about being able to see the hydrogen tanks stored in the back.

Courtesy of UCLA
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Dozens of auto-parts manufacturers donated parts for UCLA's hydrogen car project.

Courtesy of Frank Lynch