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These days there is a lot of talk about alternatives to petroleum for running the cars we all know and love and it isn’t just new cars that are going off of the oil standard. Everything from musclecars to vintage classics to custom one-off rides, like the Magnolia Special, are exploring ways to enjoy motoring without burning oil. It’s the next level of hot rodding, and when going green looks as good as the Magnolia Special, it’s hard to turn a blind eye.
eGarage filmed this gorgeous video of the Magnolia Special, both the film and car being praiseworthy works of art. This is definitely one special car, though it didn’t come together over night.
The Magnolia Special was conceived in 2008 by J.T Nesbitt, and construction began in 2009, starting with a bare, completely unique chassis. He built the whole thing by hand, matching vintage styling with old-school construction methods. The inline-six cylinder engine was placed so as to achieve near-perfect weight balance, and because natural gas has an octane rating of 130, the compression ratio is 12.5:1, while still putting out less emissions than petrol. America is also sitting on enough natural gas to power the nation for another hundred years, so the Magnolia Special gets some extra green points with Made In America street cred.
The transmission is a manual five-speed, and the Magnolia Special has four-wheel disc brakes all around, along with a solid rear axle with four-link suspension. Combined with that torquey inline-six, the Magnolia Special sounds like one fun ride to drive. Proving this isn’t simply some show car, the Nesbitt drove the Magnolia Special from Los Angeles to New York City in 89 hours – talk about the ultimate road trip!. This is truly a functional work of art.
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