Neil Young, the rock legend who provided some of the soundtrack to Vietnam-era war protests, is trying to change the world again – with his car.

Young has teamed up with Johnathan Goodwin, a Wichita mechanic who has developed a national reputation for re-engineering the power units of big cars to get more horsepower but use less fuel.

The two are looking to convert Young’s 1959 Lincoln Continental convertible to operate on an electric battery. Ultimately, they said they want the Continental to provide a model for the world’s first affordable mass-produced electric-powered automobile.

“Johnathan and this car are going to make history,” Young told The Wichita Eagle. “We’re going to change the world, we’re going to create a car that will allow us to stop giving our wealth to other countries for petroleum. And we’re going to do it right here in Wichita, a great place that I now love, where people know how to make things and make things happen.”

Young has poured about $120,000 so far into the project, Goodwin said.

What’s more, the prototype power system works – albeit with a few glitches.

A test drive last week almost ended in disaster when Goodwin, who controls the vehicle’s acceleration with a knob in the back seat, twisted it the wrong way while approaching an entrance ramp and lurched toward the rear end of another car. Young, in the passenger seat, was able to hit the brakes in time.

“Still needs work,” said Goodwin, 37.

Young, 62, began making hits in the early 1960s as a founder of the band Buffalo Springfield. He later formed Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, which played its first gig at the 1969 Woodstock music festival – before Goodwin was even born.

Since then, he’s had his own solo hits and joined with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp to form Farm Aid, which helps farmers in danger of losing their land.

Through it all, Young, 62, said he’s always loved “big roomy, American cars,” and collected classics all his life.

“But I decided that it was stupid to own cars that just sit around and then pollute when I drive them,” he said.

Eight months ago, he said he wanted to make his Continental more friendly to the environment.

Looking on the Internet, he discovered Goodwin through taped interviews and segments on the MTV show “Pimp My Ride.” Goodwin’s clientele includes California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had Goodwin work on his Hummer.

On the drive to Wichita – the car got nine miles to the gallon, requiring 18 fill-ups – Young said he decided he wanted something more than just making the vehicle able to use biodiesel.

He asked Goodwin if they could instead power the car with batteries and use it as a template to make electric cars more mainstream.

“I believe in the American dream,” said Young, who was born in Canada. “With all this talk about gas, people are saying we should go to small cars, but I like big American cars with power. So does everybody else. Why give up on that?

“I asked Johnathan that first day if we could take a huge American car like this, 2 1/2 tons, 19 1/2 feet long, and make it so you could drive it without ever refueling. Something practical. Something that would change the world,” he said. “And Johnathan said ‘Yeah.”‘

For Young, the project may finally complete a mission he set for himself with his music.

“You know, I thought long ago you could change the world by writing songs,” he said. “But you can’t change the world by writing songs. Oh, you can inspire a few people, get some of them to change their thinking about something. But you can’t change the world by writing songs.

“But we could change it with this car.”