Malibu resident John Paul DeJoria, CEO and Co-Founder of Paul Mitchell and environmental philanthropist, donated his Mana La Solar Car to the Petersen Automotive Museum of Los Angeles earlier this month. The Mana La Solar Car was built in 1987 for the first solar-powered car race from Darwin to Adelaide, Australia on the Stuart Highway (totaling 2,000 miles).
Of 23 entrants, the strongest U.S. teams were Paul Mitchell and General Motors. The Paul Mitchell car eventually dropped out due to difficulties with terrain and low wind power (and they wanted to preserve the car as many entered were destructed on the journey). The GM car won in 44 hours, 54 minutes, with Ford placing second.
DeJoria said he is committed to protecting the environment, and his Hawaiian estate runs on solar and wind power only. He and Paul Mitchell worked with local farmers to build the car, modeling it on how the estate was built-the Paul Mitchell car ran not only on solar power, but wind power as well (the only entry of that kind).
The car will be on display through May 2010 at Petersen Automotive Museum, 6060 Wilshire Blvd., in Los Angeles. More information can be obtained by calling 323.930.2277.