This has come up in conversation more than once; but what classics would benefit from EV conversion? I'm pretty sure we can all agree that some should never be; but what could work?
IMO, the Delorean would be a great candidate for EV conversion. Lots of people love the car; nobody loves the motor or the performance- and with the Sci-Fi aspects of being featured in That Movie, I think an electric Delorean could be awesome.
Another possibility would be the classic VW bus; another vehicle where the original motivation is more or less tolerated instead of loved.
Any others?
1981 Honda Accord?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOLzpBzUXZs
I think that the little British sports cars would benefit from electrification. Even with a modest electric motor they would still run rings around their originals, with much less smell. I've always found MGB, Sprite, etc. to be charmingly packaged but VERY underwhelming in the motor department.
VW was my first thought
Anything choked by late 70s emissions garbage
Mustang II, Pinto, any 4 cylinder fox body
Cadillac Cimarron
Chevette
Any 4 cylinder, automatic Fiero
Any diesel Chevette or Oldsmobile
Any Corvair without a turbo
Fiero! Elevate it from the GM partsbin.
Anything made after 1970. Have fun! :lol:
the real question is, where do you put the batteries?
Older cars with lots of examples would be the best, to design the most efficient battery pack placement.
Quote from: Laconian on November 12, 2021, 08:10:19 PM
I think that the little British sports cars would benefit from electrification. Even with a modest electric motor they would still run rings around their originals, with much less smell. I've always found MGB, Sprite, etc. to be charmingly packaged but VERY underwhelming in the motor department.
The amateurs, those hopeless arrogant snobs that ran the big British companies (BMC, Standard-Triumph, & Rootes) used wheezy old engines with pre-WWII roots - they never invested in anything new. So they drowned.
Quote from: Morris Minor on November 13, 2021, 04:58:11 AM
The amateurs, those hopeless arrogant snobs that ran the big British companies (BMC, Standard-Triumph, & Rootes) used wheezy old engines with pre-WWII roots - they never invested in anything new. So they drowned.
There were exceptions, of course, the Kent, the XK, anything breathed on by Cosworth, etc. However, the Mini, the Sprite, the MGA, MG Midget, etc. would make interesting choices for electric motors.
Citroën DS & CX: those engines were dogs.
Quote from: AutobahnSHO on November 13, 2021, 12:13:44 AM
the real question is, where do you put the batteries?
Older cars with lots of examples would be the best, to design the most efficient battery pack placement.
How did steam locomotives carry extra fuel? Tow a trailer full of batteries.
Considering these would be low usage, limited driving cars, there would likely be no need for excessive battery storage. Something in the range of a couple of hundred miles or less would be adequate.
No batteries. Solar panels. Does anyone make a vinyl wrap with solar cells in it?
Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on November 13, 2021, 11:31:36 AM
No batteries. Solar panels. Does anyone make a vinyl wrap with solar cells in it?
Give the wrap a carbon fiber look, and it will be cool.
New Solar Vehicle Wrap That Powers Batteries will Debut at Smart Automotive Surfaces Show in Novi (https://www.dbusiness.com/daily-news/new-solar-vehicle-wrap-that-powers-batteries-will-debut-at-smart-automotive-surfaces-show-in-novi/)
Quote from: Laconian on November 12, 2021, 08:10:19 PM
I think that the little British sports cars would benefit from electrification. Even with a modest electric motor they would still run rings around their originals, with much less smell. I've always found MGB, Sprite, etc. to be charmingly packaged but VERY underwhelming in the motor department.
As long as there are no Lucas electronics on the EV conversion :lol:
50/60s Cadillacs and Rivieras all seem to be great candidates for EV conversions. Great styling, great torque, but quiet and refined.
Lead sleds and customs would also still be very cool as EVs. Some of them have good exhaust rumble, but they're all about the custom bodywork and styling, less about the engines.
Quote from: CaminoRacer on November 13, 2021, 01:56:45 PM
50/60s Cadillacs and Rivieras all seem to be great candidates for EV conversions. Great styling, great torque, but quiet and refined.
Lead sleds and customs would also still be very cool as EVs. Some of them have good exhaust rumble, but they're all about the custom bodywork and styling, less about the engines.
ICON Derelict does that sort of thing. I really like what they've done here...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_oh92UjN6Y
...but I'd miss the flathead rumble.
(https://www.totemautomobili.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/33-1024x372.jpg)
Why does it look so droopy?
That happens with age
I like the idea of what the Icon Derelict people do. OT but just in general the fashion now seems to be light restomodding - keeping the car as original as possible but, at minimum, giving it modern suspension, brakes & tires. Just enough to make it drivable in current traffic.
Quote from: Morris Minor on November 13, 2021, 04:58:11 AM
The amateurs, those hopeless arrogant snobs that ran the big British companies (BMC, Standard-Triumph, & Rootes) used wheezy old engines with pre-WWII roots - they never invested in anything new. So they drowned.
Another candidate for E power from the Morris factory...
Remembering the 1956 Morris Oxford (https://www.msn.com/en-ca/autos/ownership/my-first-car-remembering-the-1956-morris-oxford/ar-AAQAVaq?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531)...funny story.
Not a bad looking car...
(https://i.postimg.cc/gJhvhRx2/AAQASG3.jpg)
I wouldn't mind some Ford Model T and Model A EVs. Hot rodded ones are sweet, but stock style ones might be improved with an electric motor.
With these old classics, obviously I don't want all of them to be converted to EV. Gotta keep the originals around, to be able to see the engineering and technology of the time. I'd mostly like custom coachbuilt EVs with classic bodywork. Put them on a skateboard chassis if it works, but make exact steel replica bodywork. Has to be done well to avoid being lame, like Pinto-frame fiberglass '32 Fords. Brookville Roadsters make new steel body panels for '32s, using original factory molds and presses. That's the way to do it
Quote from: Eye of the Tiger on November 13, 2021, 07:14:48 PM
Why does it look so droopy?
Because those Alfas WERE droopy:
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Fp6bOltlbok/maxresdefault.jpg)
I can see doing this when the original ICE engine always was, and always will be, a nasty lump.
But it's a crime to rip out a jewel of twin-cam goodness and put in an Electrolux washing machine motor.
Quote from: Morris Minor on November 16, 2021, 06:28:25 AM
I can see doing this when the original ICE engine always was, and always will be, a nasty lump.
But it's a crime to rip out a jewel of twin-cam goodness and put in an Electrolux washing machine motor.
Agree. Works of art should never be replaced.
The Alfa Romeo Twin Cam engine debuted in the 1954 Giulietta. The engine featured:
An aluminium alloy engine block with cast iron "wet" cylinder liners
An aluminium alloy cylinder head with hemispherical combustion chambers.
A forged steel crankshaft running in five main bearings
Double overhead camshafts driven by a double row timing chain
Direct valve actuation via camshafts on bucket tappets
Two inclined valves per cylinder with a near-centrally located spark plug
Inlet and exhaust valves separated by an angle of 80 degrees
A large, flat, finned oil sump.The same applies to anything with an XK engine.
For those you are interested theres a nice write up in the spring edition of Classic Car Mart about the Rover 220 Turbo that makes good reading.
I love the Rover 220! Thanks for sharing!!!
Really cool conversion, though the wheel choice is a little suspect...
Those are beautiful, but yeah, I agree. Those wheels are awful.