the natural gas powered Magnolia Special

Built to recapture the grace and romance of 1930s European roadsters — internal combustion and all — yet it emits 40 percent less CO2 than an equally powerful gas-burning automobile. And it does this using technology as old as internal combustion itself.

By having driven this coast to coast, New York to San Fran (in the time honored tradition), it has proved that the infrastructure already exists to operate cars on natural gas, instead of gasoline

In fact, the car uses an engine based on Jaguar’s fabled 4.2-liter inline-six, the same one that powered the original E-Type.

“The Jaguar six only won Le Mans like what, five times?” Nesbitt says of the engine. “The 4.2 is such a great torque motor and CNG is really a torque fuel, so it’s a great pairing.”

Nesbitt says the octane rating equivalent for natural gas is 130, so the engine required specially forged high-compression 12.5:1 pistons and high-lift, short-duration camshafts.

http://vid.carbuzz.com/this-classic-vehicle-is-actually-one-of-the-most-futuristic-on-the-road/?utm_source=189
http://www.wired.com/2011/09/magnolia-special/