The GM EV1 is a historic vehicle with an incredible story. And in the past year that story has only gotten better. A green EV1 in Georgia showed up at a tow yard’s public auction on October 28, 2025, and that kicked off an incredible process that has taken just over a year, culminating in an event that any EV enthusiast anywhere would have loved to see.
In a nondescript building in Fairfield, OH, GM EV1 VIN 212 sits, fully restored on new wheels and tires, sitting as the ultimate example of GM’s pioneering electric vehicle effort. Fresh paint from Paintucation, a new battery pack, fully cleaned out interior, and an intact windshield. She’s a far cry from the EV1 that Billy Caruso and Jared Pink picked up last year.
V212’s incredible story, graciously shared via Jared Pink’s Questionable Garage Youtube channel, is one for the ages. The car had a garage collapse on it, was so water damaged almost every module inside was corroded and unusable, the unobtainium windshield was broken, the seats and dash smelled of rot and bog… The list goes on. And on the 30th anniversary of the EV1–November 14, 2026–after a little more than a year of hard work, videos, collaboration, and problem-solving, V212 was unveiled to its adoring fans. And it is beautiful.
The Medium Green Metallic shines deep and rich, the headlights are crystal clear, the windshield has the slightest hint of gold from the windshield defrosting foil, and her stance is pure ’90s GM, but significantly lower than any other EV1 you might see thanks to the weight of some brand-new lead-acid batteries.
The interior looks fresh as the day it was built, mainly thanks to Scott and his hard work. It features a couple of aftermarket additions like the cupholders in the center console and parcel shelf storage box. They are gifts from Chris Trexler, who drove his red EV1 across America, as documented on his still-live blog, Charge Across America. Even the floor mats are wrapped in their plastic, unstained by boots or loose french fries.
Going underneath the car it is hard to believe it is thirty years old. As someone from Michigan and openly associated with David Tracy, I am used to a car this age having holes, cracks, and rust from its life on the road. But not V212. The suspension components and brake calipers SHINE, the rubber bushings looks fresh, wires are clean, and panels are newly seam-sealed. The team has taken as much love and care with this restoration and effort as anyone could, and the results speak for themselves – this car is hands-down better than what GM shipped to a dealer in the ’90s.
With much help from GM, V212 is a car once again. Some components had to be replaced, or were easier to replace given GM’s willingness to part out ‘V159,’ a red EV1 they had in their inventory with a VIN ending in 159. The original parts from V212 and were shown off on a table next to V212’s display, while the boxes GM built to hold V159’s parts are scattered throughout the space. The trunk was already damaged when Billy and Jared found the car at the tow yard, and has been replaced with the trunk from V159. The original trunk latch had to be replaced as it looked like it belonged on one of David’s Jeeps.
The original magnesium seat frames were a little too far gone, and the team was reluctant to grind the corrosion off given that magnesium burns real good. The old radio and accelerator pedal were also replaced, having been identified as needing replacing in their first working stint. Both were replaced with V159 parts.
And for those wondering, yes: V212 lives. The 12V systems are live and operational, a far cry from the dead, waterlogged, and corroded systems it once had. The dashboard lights up, the chimes chime, the radio works, the pumps pump… But does it drive?
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You absolutely bet it does!
V212 LIVES. For those that cannot see the embed, you hear the happy doot-doot of an EV1 reverse warning, some tires turning on a hard floor, and then Billy drives V212 out, under the exact same banner that EV1s were driven under thirty years ago. The excitement of the moment had to have been similar as it was back then. People gasped, happy tears were shed. V212 was alive, well, and driving.
From top to bottom, stem to stern, V212 has been gone through, cleaned, painted, shined, redone, refreshed, and restored. It is as good as an EV1 was in 1996, thirty years ago (with apologies to millennials being told 1996 was thirty years ago).
Scratch that, better than an EV1 in 1996.
Billy, Jared, Daren, and so many more put so much work into V212 that it had no choice but to become the best possible example. An old, unloved, abandoned husk of a car… That over the course of 383 days turned into the definitive example.
It took blood, sweat, possibly some tears, but throughout the course of the YouTube videos of the restoration what I saw when V212 was under the proverbial knife was a team of smiles, enthusiasm, and excitement. A team that wanted to put V212 together to the best of their abilities. A team that loved the EV1 and wanted to do best by the car. Not necessarily for the car, but for everyone.
A long time ago Billy said that V212 would be the EV1 For The People. And looking at the smiles, the excitement, the looks on people’s faces when they gathered around the common interest, and yes, love, of this one weird-looking little car from the ’90s, you can see this really is the EV1 for the people.
And it was enjoyed by many people that night, but that’s a story for another time. For now, the night ran late, and as I like to do, I like to be one of the first at an event like this, and one of the last to leave. This afforded me one heck of an opportunity: Billy let me sit in V212, enter the five-digit code to start the car, and see the dash light up.
And then he told me to put it in reverse. Initially, I thought he wanted to let me hear the reverse warning from inside the car. Truly, I would have been more than happy with that.
Then he told me to take my foot of the brake.
V212 moved backwards. I looked over my shoulder, through the glass that was only recently replaced, over the clean parcel shelf and Chris Trexler’s storage box. I was backing up an EV1…
Billy told me to stop and go forward. I clicked the Run Shift Assembly into D, turned the steering wheel, and drove V212 forward.
I’ll admit, it wasn’t very far. My EV1 odometer is measured in feet. But that didn’t matter in the moment and doesn’t matter now. I got to drive not only an EV1, but the best example around, put together by a team that loves this machine and is eager to share it.
From the start the EV1 was a unique car. Put together by a passionate team at GM that wanted to do something that had not been done before. Leased via a Different Kind Of Car Company that loved what they did. Driven by people that were excited and optimistic about their new cars. Campaigned for by the same people that loved their cars enough to not only protest the taking back of their EV1s, but hold a funeral for their beloved machines.
And now, so many years later, the love of the EV1 has brought at least this one example back to life.
When I was a kid the VW Beetle was the star of The Love Bug series, the story of a sentient VW that went on to a grand racing career because its caretakers fell for the less-than-conventionally-attractive machine. The white #53 VW went on to do the impossible. And here, on November 14th, 2026, I think we saw what that kind of adoration can mean outside the silver screen.
The team did the impossible, and the result is a car that embodies their hard work, dedication, and yes, love. And will go on to share that with as many people as possible, per what Billy has said.
Long live V212, and long live the EV1.
Top photo: Author
