THE GREEN RUSH

DIVING INTO CALIFORNIA GOLD COUNTRY IN THE WORLD'S QUICKEST PRODUCTION CAR, THE ALL-ELECTRIC RIMAC NEVERA TIME ATTACK.

- JOHN PEARLEY HUFFMAN

"THERE'S GOLD in them thar hills!" Everyone has heard the saying, usually used ironically. But there really is gold in these hills. In fact, these are the hills, the canyons around California's American River, east of Sacramento, where gold was initially discovered, igniting the 1849 gold rush. I'm hurtling down State Route 49, otherwise known as the Golden Chain Highway, on roads first carved out by wagon trains over a century and a half ago.

Miners still pan for gold here, and the winding roads have become playgrounds for rare-hypercar drivers. On any given Sunday, there's no telling what 200-mph vehicle can be sighted out here.

There is a savage beauty about these roads. At this time of year, rattlesnakes ooze onto the pavement to warm their blood at dusk and dawn. Just days before this drive, a mountain lion killed a 21-year-old man not far from here. The canyons usually echo with booming internal-combustion exhaust notes-but not today. The hypercar I'm driving barely makes a sound.

The all-electric Rimac Nevera Time Attack is, depending on how you define the term, the quickest production car in the world. Rimac will make only 12 of them. This one was the first built and is the only one that exists in the Western Hemisphere. The speed comes on torrentially and feels limitless-zero to 60 mph in 1.7 seconds, quarter mile in 8.3 seconds, top speed of 256 mph. I won't hit those numbers on these roads bordered by cliff ledges that drop into deadly oblivion.

I'm sharing the driving with the vehicle's owner, Jeff Miller. The car is electronically tuned to his customized Mode 1, which sends 100 percent of available power to both axles-totaling 1888 hp-while tightening up the steering. The story of how Miller came to own the only Time Attack in North America might surprise you.