At the Autodesk press conference last week, I met with Joe Palumbo, CEO of Palumbo Motorcar Company of America who designed a convertible sports car that is both fast and environmentally friendly. The M-80, which stands for “Mid-engine, 80 inches wide", is a "light" (2,200 pounds) everyday car designed to have explosive performance: 0 to 60 in under 4 seconds, a top speed over 150 MPH, but with a fuel economy of 46 miles per gallon. The M-80 uses a parallel hybrid system, which can use an electric motor, an internal combustion engine, or both simultaneously to drive the wheels. The M-80 also uses a constantly variable transmission, avoiding the need to shift gears while delivering enhanced fuel economy and seamless acceleration. The car will be on sale in two years for approximately $80,000.

In 12 months time, our goal is to have one running prototype and a complete show car that is exactly what we are going to sell to the market [...] We'll be producing about 40 cars per month and I think we need 18 cars per month to break even, says Palumbo