if you missed the glory days of the SYFY channel on cable about 15 years ago, you probably haven't heard of the tv show Warehouse 13 (like the one the Ark of the Covenant at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark was stored in)

the reason they have their hands on the copper bar is that the energy to power the car is coming from them (according to the storyline)

in the show's narration, this vehicle was made by Edison for Henry Ford, and you can see the steering wheel is a Fatman tilt wheel

It was a FUN tv show, in the same zone of Voyagers, Quantum Leap, Back to the Future, and other romps through adventures to correct things that are going wrong. The cast is superb, from CCH Pounder, and Eddie McClintock to the many guest star actors you're already familiar with, like Lindsay Wagner, Mark Sheppard, Rene Aberjornois, James Masters, Anthony Michael Hall, Tia Carrere, Kate Mulgrew, Roger Rees, and Brent Spiner among a long list of others you might know, like Kelly Hu, Aaron Ashmore, Jamie Murray