Surfrider’s CNG Camry Hybrid rolls on 20-inch rims wrapped with Toyo Proxy 4 tires. Ride height has been dropped with an adjustable coil over suspension. The custom front bumper features tweaked grilles, while the rear bumper hides the exhaust system. Dual CNG tanks are mounted under the trunk floor. Toyota tapped Metal Crafters to handle the CNG conversion, with Street Image tackling the cosmetic work.

Steve’s Restorations propane-powered 1956 Ford F-100 pickup drew plenty of attention in SEMA’s Making Green Cool Zone, with an abundance of custom copper work, suicide doors, a slick tilt bed, and dazzling pearl metallic paint. While the 460 cubic inch Ford engine delivers the equivalent of nine miles per gallon or so, it doesn’t use a drop of gasoline. How many big bad hot rods can say that?

With propane prices significantly lower than conventional fuels, propane conversion offers hot rod enthusiasts the opportunity to maintain an investment in existing vehicles and drive trains.

The AMP=D ‘33 garnered plenty of attention. The E Hot Rod wasn’t in the “Making Green Cool Zone” at the back of the second floor of the Las Vegas Convention Center’s South hall … it was front and center in Factory Five’s booth in the middle of Hot Rod Alley. This placement allowed the maximum number of show attendees to get a good long look at what just might be the future of hot rodding.

While the 0-60 time is projected as a mere three seconds and the driving range at 100 miles, the car has yet to be put to the test.

Many thanks to Mike at AMP=D and Jeremy at Factory Five for their help in shooting this segment and to CNN’s iReport for airing the clip.

The Forester Mountain Rescue rolls on custom reversed “near zero” offset Subaru steel wheels wrapped with Yokohama Geolander MTS 30×9.50s. The way is lit by Subaru Baja Sport activity lights in front and Visi Light LED spotlights up on the roof rack.

In the back of the unit, Specialized Vehicles created the custom diamond plate load floor. Custom interior side paneling and storage compartments and a Dee Zee steel compartment separator are all business.

Under the hood, a 2.5 liter DOHC intercooled turbo Subaru Boxer four-banger delvers 224 horsepower and 226 foot pounds of torque. The power finds its way to the wheels with Subaru’s Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive and a 4.11:1 final drive ratio.

Seth Warren kindly gave us an exhaustive tour of Baby, detailing the big red Toyota’s technological and creative innovations , while sharing the gospel on sustainable energy and good old fun. Check out Baby’s current adventures at naturepropelled.com … if you dig through the blog, you can catch a couple of photos of yours truly at work …

Production Note: I shot the Making Green Cool conference with the camera’s internal microphones … there’s echo and ambient noise, but the sound’s not too bad, considering. While the video had to be cut into chunks to deal with YouTube’s ten minute limit, I set up a specific YT player to string the segments together.

While most folks associate the Chevy Camaro with a V-8 engine, the base model has come with a range of lesser engines, starting with the inline six cylinder that was fitted beneath the hood of the ‘67 and ‘68 models. With variations of the straight six running all the way through the ‘79 model year, 1980 saw the introduction of the 3.8 liter V-6.

The third generation base Camaro was fitted with the four-cylinder engine in 1982. It was all about fuel economy in those days, for many folks. I speak first hand when I say that the Iron Duke four-banger had just enough ooomph to get the Camaro up to highway speed, but not much more. I remember that car and engine quite well – as I’ve mentioned before – my wife, for better or for worse, ordered a base model ‘82 Iron Duke Camaro, complete with pie-tin hubcaps. While it might have been good on gas, it was perhaps the most underpowered Camaro of all time. Ah, to be young, broke, and easily mislead by the salesman …

Flash forward more than twenty-five years to the upcoming 2010 Camaro and the base engine configuration situation has gone through a remarkable transformation. A V6 is destined for the spot beneath the hood of the base 2010 Camaro, and it’s a 304 horsepower screamer – a far cry from the lackadaisical straight six and four bangers of days gone by.

Considering the power in the new V6, the gas mileage might just surprise you.

Chevrolet originally estimated that the 3.6-liter V6 engine in the LS and LT models would deliver approximately 27 MPG in highway driving … not too shabby for an engine that produces 304 horsepower and 273 foot pounds of torque. A six-speed manual transmission will be standard, with an electronically-controlled six-speed automatic (with TAPshift paddle shifters) available as an option.

UPDATE 3/17: 2010 V6 Camaros (LS and LT models) have been EPA-rated at 18 MPG city / 29 MPG highway with the six-speed automatic transmission, and 17 city / 29 highway with the six-speed manual. This represents a significant improvement over earlier estimates.

With the aid of a gracious Toyota rep, we crawled all over the CNG Yaris to bring back this video for your viewing pleasure. Highlights include the under mirror door popper buttons, power clam shell, hidden CNG tank, low key CNG dash button control, Rotora brakes, and gargantuan DPE rims clad in Nitto rubber.

The 4WD PML Flightlink F-150 has a range of approximately 100 miles. A 40 kilowatt hour Lithium ion battery, weighing roughly 1000 pounds, is slung between the frame rails. While typical charge time is six-to-eight hours with the 110-volt charger, a fast three-phase charge can be completed in under an hour.

The plans are to turn the test vehicle into a series hybrid by dropping a small engine/generator under the hood, in order to reduce the size of the battery pack and extend range.

PML Flightlink was invited to display the truck in Ford’s SEMA booth as a technology demonstration. While there are no officially-disclosed plans to produce an electric F-150 … we have to think, what is Ford waiting for? By the time that Christmas rolls around, Mini is slated to produce 500 Mini E full electrics destined to prowl American streets. (Although PML Flightlink has famously fitted their motors to a Mini Cooper test unit, their technology is not in the Mini E, from what we’ve heard at this point.)

If Ford fails to produce an electric F-150 soon, they run the risk of the aftermarket seizing the opportunity. With truck prices depressed, an entrepreneurial firm could snap up hundreds of unsold F-150s on the cheap and on the sly. These units could be stripped and retrofitted, with the pulled drive trains resold for operating revenue. Fleet managers looking for a pure electric solution would then have a clear choice.

Fleet sales are the fastest way to make it happen, whether it’s Ford, GM, or Chrysler that first decides to grab the ring. Our electric utilities need to step up to the plate to issue a mandate to the Big Three, by putting out massive RFPs for electric pickup fleets.