Question: what do you do if you're a 125-year-old specialist engineering company that wants to raise its profile? That's right, you create Australia's first electric supercar.
Well, that's what Varley is hoping to do, because the Aussie company, which makes everything from hospital bed movers and airport tugs to urban search and rescue models and transportable aircraft landing systems, has just unveiled this, the Varley eVR450.
And Varley Group is serious: revealed at the 'Third Electric Vehicle Conference' in Brisbane last week, the car has a price tag of $200,000 AUD (around £130k) and "You could expect seeing it on Queensland roads as early as January 2012" (according to John Bettini, Varley Electric Vehicles division manager).
Those who do fork out the required 200 Australian big ones will, we're assured, get a car that can hit 62mph from rest in 3.8secs, an electronically limited 125mph and a 150km range (which extends to 300km with the optional range extension pack).