In the future; when electric cars are mandated/the norm; what happens to classic cars?

[lildreamer316]

I've been wondering; 'cause I know there have to be more people like me: I am a staunch supporter of converting to non-oil based fuels/electricity; but I am also a Detroit muscle fanatic. I love the roar of a Hemi; or any well-built engine. I am restoring a Firebird with a 350. As of the moment; I haven't done the engine work for precisely this reason...I wonder if there is some way to do it so that I won't be hurting the environment.

It sucks...there are tons of classic car fanatics out there. I wonder what the best solution is going to be? Is going to have to be a special dispensation to get fuel for those cars; and a cap of how much you can burn? Or is there a way to convert them all? Would ethanol work?

Sheesh. I want to be able to enjoy one of my passions without harming the evnirons.

[ileus]

1. I just sold a 300HP AMC 360...

I was going to do an engine swap in my jeep however.com that's on hold for now...

I believe most classics will be trailored to events and petrol will still be around for killer bucks. The days of driving for enjoyment are coming to a close.

[lildreamer316]

3. Nice!!

...and you're probably right.
Here in NC (home of NASCAR!! eek); I hope maybe there will be some inventiveness; but I don't know.
How hard, I wonder; to convert these engines to ethanol-ready? Hmm. I'm off to do some research.

[NightWatcher]

2. Could they be retro fit to a non-gas power source

Maybe in the future we can brag about the size batteries and amps that our car's pull.

[lildreamer316]

4. I dunno.

As I said in the above reply; I think ethanol is probably the easiest solution; but that's just a guess. Of course that would still have to be produced and regulated in smaller quantities...:shrug:

[NightWatcher]

7. maybe once gas is no longer the norm

people will have thought of and found a way to have "supercharged" electric motors that can still get 300+ hp.

I have another question for you...
Would you purchase a "noisemaker" to give your muscle car the sound that it used to have when it rumbled down the street? Would a muscle car be the same if it sounded like a segway?
I'd pay for a "rumbler" to put on my car.

[lildreamer316]

14. I'm not sure.

If I'm going to be a purist; no; but if that was the only way to allow the car to sound as it should; probably.

[asthmaticeog]

9. That would *massively* devalue them as antiques, though.

I really wish the auto industry would get off its ass and switch to more efficient technologies already, but I'd hate to mandate that enthusiasts, preservationists and collectors destroy their antiques. :shrug:

[taterguy]

5. I doubt we'll switch from gas anytime soon

We all commit sins against the earth. I hassle people a lot about excessive car usage but even I'm guilty sometimes. There was a group trip to the New River State Park last summer. I drove alone in a car a couple hundred miles, instead of car pooling with people just because I didn't want to listen to their music and I wanted to be able to smoke on the way.

Just live your life as responsibly as possible but don't feel guilty if you occasionally indulge yourself.

[SteppingRazor]

6. I imagine, even at that distant point in the future, gas will be available, much like...

the availability of gasoline with lead in it for very old cars today (Model Ts, etc.)

[lildreamer316]

12. I think you're probably right,

like someone said upthread. It'll just be damned expensive.
Ah, well. Guess I just need to get my business plan in gear ;)

[unpossibles]

8. I am a vintage scooter buff (Vespas)

and they are grandfathered in. The engine is a small 2-stroke which is illegal now in new bikes I believe because it burns dirtier. On the other hand, it also gets around 70mpg, so I am a bit skeptical about how much dirtier it is compared to a car burning more gas but more cleanly. I'd love to try to make a hybrid or greasel bike.

[hunter]

10. Not ethanol, gasoline.

Converting cars to ethanol will make them much less valuable in the future, sort of like ruining antique furniture by refinishing it.

Gasoline can be made from almost anything -- worn out tires, old carpet, broken plastic lawn furniture, etc., it will simply be expensive, and maybe there will only be one place in town that sells it, perhaps a 'fifties retro gasoline station-garage for automotive hobbyists.

The vast majority of people will wonder what it's all about. Owning a gasoline powered car will be a mysterious sort of hobby. Why would anyone want to do that?

That's what I see in my crystal ball, I mean if we manage to survive the crunch with any sort of civilization intact. Otherwise you can forge a pretty wicked sword from an automobile leaf spring. You might need that to defend yourself against hungry neighbors, or maybe hunt them down and eat them if you don't have anything against cannibalism.

[Orsino]

11. They will become the playthings of the very rich, of course...

...and you and I won't even get to look at them.

[Lautremont]

13. This:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082642/plotsummary

[RedStateShame]

15. Given the current economic state, they'll be...

put in parking lots of out-of-business box stores and marketed as "affordable housing."

[MissMillie]

16. a friend of my said he felt sorry for today's youth

they'll go to car shows to see the cars of their youth and say "wow... look at that Hyundai!"

[SPKrazy]

17. It Will Be Like This....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeZk3W1GrGc

Red Barchetta

My uncle has a country place, that no one knows about
He says it used to be a farm, before the motor law
And on sundays I elude the eyes and hop the turbine freight
To far outside the wire, where my white-haired uncle waits.

Jump to the ground
As the turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind,
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Down in his barn
My uncle preserved for me, an old machine ---
For fifty-odd years
To keep it as new has been his dearest dream

I strip away the old debris, that hides a shining car
A brilliant red barchetta, from a better, vanished time
I fire up the willing engine, responding with a roar
Tires spitting gravel, I commit my weekly crime...

Wind in my hair ---
Shifting and drifting ---
Mechanical music ---
Adrenalin surge ---

Well-weathered leather
Hot metal and oil
The scented country air
Sunlight on chrome
The blur of the landscape
Every nerve aware

Suddenly, ahead of me, across the mountainside
A gleaming alloy air-car shoots towards me, two lanes wide
I spin around with shrieking tires, to run the deadly race
Go screaming through the valley as another joins the chase

Drive like the wind
Straining the limits of machine and man
Laughing out loud
With fear and hope, Ive got a desperate plan

At the one-lane bridge
I leave the giants stranded
At the riverside
Race back to the farm
To dream with my uncle
At the fireside...

[lildreamer316]

18. Mmmmmmmm.

Thanks. That's beautiful...and sad.

[SPKrazy]

19. Isn't It!

:shrug: