EFFORT TO SAVE EV1 CARS FAILS.

Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer

BURBANK - Protesters vying to save the last of General Motors' futuristic electric cars on Friday briefly blocked the first of many truck trips to the crusher.

``They took the first load away - we tried to stop them but none of us were willing to get arrested,'' said Paul Scott, organizer of a day-and-night vigil in its 16th day hoping to save the last 77 EV1s in California stored at the General Motors Training Center in Burbank.

An auto transport picked up seven of the torpedo-shaped sports cars once leased to 800 avant guard motorists in the Golden State and Arizona, a GM spokesman said. With the exception of some cars to be sent to museums and schools, the majority will be recycled.

Electric car proponents had weathered the worst rainy season in a century to save what they consider the best zero-emissions car ever made.

At noon, Gary Raymond blocked a transport many said was ferrying their favorite cars toward their demise. When police asked him to move 15 minutes later, he calmly stepped aside.

``These are perfectly good cars, these cars could be on the street, to be used for zero-emissions transportation,'' said Raymond, 53, of Thousand Oaks, standing vigil with his son Bud, also an electric car fan.

Raymond, a sound man for the movie industry, also has a company that produces 150-pound electric cars for the highway.

But while protesters want to buy their former lease cars, the world's biggest automaker says it's time to turn them into scrap.

Though EV1 enthusiasts insist there was a waiting list to lease the car, General Motors, which spent $1.2 billion developing the EV1, said there wasn't enough support to make it work. Because of a legal obligation to warranty and service cars containing more than 2,000 unique parts, General Motors maintains remaining EV1s cannot be sold to enthusiasts.

``There is no longer a viable market for these vehicles,'' said Dave Barthmuss, a spokesman for GM, which is staking its future on hydrogen fuel cell cars. ``This isn't a vehicle for the shade-tree mechanic - it's time for them to go to the ultimate destination.''

Proponents argue that, since Ford has agreed to sell its remaining electric vehicles, GM could sell its EV cars as is.

``My car's still back there,'' said Bob Seldon, 57, a patent lawyer from Santa Monica with a long face after the departing transport. ``I want it back - it's the best car I've ever owned, the first American car I've owned in several decades.''

Dana Bartholomew, [phone]

dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com