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Kadafi’s electric Fiat 500 is rebel prize

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An expensive, super custom electric version of the Fiat 500 has become a prize in the civil war in Libya.

Nick Squires, a reporter in Rome for the British newspaper the Telegraph, writes that such a Fiat built especially for Moammar Kadafi “was part of the booty seized by anti-Kadafi rebels this week when they overran the Libyan leader’s huge Bab al-Azizia compound.

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Squires said the vehicle cost about $150,000 and was customized in Italy and “bears some of the bizarre hallmarks of the Kadafi personality cult.’

For example, in place of the Fiat logo on the hood, Kadafi had a black map of Africa with Libya highlighted in green. Elsewhere, the interior features an image of a tribal leader known as ‘The Lion of the Desert’ who fought Italian troops during in the 1920s and ‘30s, he said.

Americans will be able to buy an electric version of the Fiat sometime next year. Chrysler Group, which is merging with Fiat and sells the gas version in the U.S. now, hasn’t released many details about the vehicle or any pricing data.

But the company isn’t expected to offer a “George Washington” version commemorating long past battles against the British or special options to put your state and a highlighted home city on the hood in place of the Fiat logo.

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-- Jerry Hirsch


Twitter.com/LATimesJerry

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