“The Lady and the Dale”: This Car Runs on Fraud
/A four-part documentary series from HBO, “The Lady and the Dale,” is a fast-paced deep-dive into a web of FBI raids, manhunts and a whole lot of fraud. Directors Zackary Drucker and Nick Cammilleri treat viewers to the complex life of Elizabeth “Liz” Carmichael — a charismatic and cunning salesperson with billionaire and presidential aspirations who took the automotive industry by storm when she revealed the bright yellow prototype of a car called the Dale in the mid-1970s.
At the height of the global oil crisis, Carmichael promised interested buyers and investors that this three-wheeled vehicle could get 70 miles to the gallon, and all for the low purchase price of $2,000. Carmichael’s grandiose claims promised to revolutionize the landscape not only of the automotive industry but also of the world at large. This promise, of course, was gradually revealed to be completely empty.
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