Modern Classics

ICE cars: what future?

It’s back! Modern Classics editor JJ’S take on the modern world.

That’s right, I’m kicking this new section off with a big one. How long will we be able to simply go for a drive in one of our beloved internal combustion engine classics? I’ve nothing against the rechargeable revolution, in fact in many ways I welcome it. Who doesn’t want to travel to work and back cheaply and in quiet comfort? But most car makers are now working hard to distance themselves from their fossil-fuelled past and this is a problem for those of us who like a multi-cylinder soundtrack. A blatant example recently came from Audi with its Super Bowl (whatever that is) commercial. It features former Game of Thrones star Maisie Williams smugly wafting around LA in an E-tron, while a selection of other drivers (all men) roar around in polluting old ‘bangers’ as she sings Disney’s Let It Go at the top of her lungs… worrying.

But don’t sell your old car just yet. Several manufacturers including Porsche and Mazda have voiced their interest in synthetic fuel. Using carbon capture to collect CO2 from the air and splicing it with hydrogen to make a fuel that can be burnt in internal combustion engines – it could become viable in the next decade. If it does, it might well be the saviour of our all of our beloved machines.