Dartmouth Engineer

The 1923 Milburn Model 27L Light Electric car still runs. Photo by Douglas Fraser

Last fall Thayer School became the temporary home of a 1923 Milburn Model 27L Light Electric car. On loan for two years from the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, the car is a reminder that good ideas never grow old. Light and crankless — and therefore easy to operate — the car was revolutionary for its time. And as an electric car, originally powered by 40 Edison-type wet cell batteries, it remains a model of gasoline-free ingenuity. Thayer Overseer Barry MacLean ’60 Th’61, who arranged for the car to be on display in MacLean Engineering Sciences Center, says he hopes the vehicle will be a “stimulus for thinking about alternative energies in the years ahead.”

For more photos, visit our Energy Technologies and Sustainability page on Flickr.