ALL THE BUZZ
CLASSIC CAR EV CONVERSIONS
It isn’t often you get to write the phrase: “Neil Young, electric vehicle pioneer.” But in one (admittedly niche) context, the Cinnamon Girl balladeer has as much right to the title as Tesla’s Elon Musk.
A decade ago (Neil Young pun intended), the Canadian crooner and classic-car fan, ripped the native engine out of a 1959 Lincoln Continental and replaced it with a 150kw electric motor, paired with a 30kw biodiesel rangeextender, creating a hybrid car beyond the wildest dreams of anybody who lived through the original jet age.
Born out of Young’s desire that the world’s superpowers stop sparring in the name of oil, as much as to promote cleaner, greener vehicle technology, the Lincvolt has gone through a couple of iterations since. It’s now run on a mix of battery power and Domestic-green Carbonneutral Cellulosic Ethanol from Biomass. I know, bought some just last week, didn’t you?
It took several years but these days — if you’re wealthy and have a special classic car or two in your six-bay garage — several manufacturers of note will do what Young did but in an official, warrantybacked sort of way.
Jaguar’s Classic Works in the UK will not only source and convert original E-types, morphing them into silentrunning zero-emissions headturners, but it will also convert a Jaguar fan’s existing E-type, holding on to the original engine so as to swap the fossil fuel-burner back in should the owner decide to sell it in its traditional format.
Aston Martin will do the same at a factory level, making what it calls Heritage EVS out of DB5S, DB6S . . . whatever sir or madam fancies. Elsewhere, reputable car restorers are opening up their workshops to EV conversions for Volkswagen Kombis, original BMC Minis and other classic metal.
All admirable, of course. But at The Good Oil, what we’d like to know is, when will the first maniac demand his or her 1987 Mitsubishi Galant be converted to battery-electric goodness at great expense? What about a silent Citroen ZX? A rapidly accelerating mid-80s Ford Laser?
Now, that would take an electro-pioneer of an entirely different sort.