A Song, a Car, and Changin' the World

Always well known for his anti-establishment activist ways, it seems like rock 'n' roll legend Neil Young is at it again. Looks like ole Neil has decided to convert his once-upon-a-time gas guzzlin' '59 Lincoln Continental to an alt fuel vehicle.

According to a recent CNN.com article, Mr. Young has contracted with Johnathan Goodwin, Witchita, Kansas "mechanical whiz kid" of Pimp My Ride fame, to do the work. Originally, plans were to replace the gasoline engine with a biodiesel fueled powerplant, but then Neil decided to go the a-little-more-bold electric route and use the Lincoln as an example to bring electric cars more mainstream. He told the Witchita Eagle, "Johnathan and this car are going to make history, we're going to change the world; we're going to create a car that will allow us to stop giving our wealth to other countries for petroleum."

The CNN.com report further quotes Young after a shake-down run of the big ole newly electrified Continental, "She was awesome, her acceleration was incredible, she moved with hardly a sound; it was so quiet we could hear the wind through the tags of other cars." And Mr. Goodwin adds, "The technology to make a practical and affordable electric car has been around for a long time, there are all sorts of ways of doing it and all sorts of ways to work out how to make it work on a national scale."

Seems to us--along with song writing and performing--Neil Young has found another niche. As he tells CNN.com, "You know, I thought long ago you could change the world by writing songs, but you can't change the world by writing songs. Oh, you can inspire a few people, get some of them to change their thinking about something. But you can't change the world by writing songs. But we could change it with this car."

Way to go, Neil. "Keep on Rockin' in the Free World," we like your style.