A couple of interesting articles

How about the Bricklen, does it also resemble the Scorpion a little? Perhaps not. Honestly I don't want to look at any pictures of Bricklens to find out. :p
 
ward00 said:
Since the Scorpion preceded the Delorean by 5 years, I wonder why the Delorean was never called a Scorpion lookalike.
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The Scorpion was a pretty unknown car here in the states. I only knew of them because my first job was at a gas station owned by the local FIAT dealer (Fronteras). At the time they had one Sky blue one for some reason.
 
Dr.Jeff said:
Although I've never had any interest in the Delorean, I vaguely recall there was a back story about its design. The original concept was done by one person, but it wasn't affordable to build so someone else redesigned it to be simpler....or something like that, I really don't remember. Anyone?
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I far as I remember, Lotus redesigned the car completly, since it apperantly was a total mess.
 
Actually, some years ago, well 20 or so, when we were living in the UK, we visited an interesting museum i Cumbria (I think)
The Museum was called "Cars of the Stars".
They obviously had one of the DeLorean from the films, complete with fluxcapacitor etc, as well as one of the DB5s used in Goldfinger (amongst other films), The BSA Motorbike used in James Bond Thunderball, one of the three P1800s used in the Saint, One of the Ford Falcons used in Mad Max, as well as some of the "cars" from Flintstone, Plus some other cars I cannot remember.
Unfortunatly we were not allowed to take photos inside, and subsequently I have learned that the collection has ben sold of and splitted.
I have also visited the National Motorcycle Museum outside Birmingham, before it was burnt down.
 
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Having just read the thread, I thought I'd make few comments about EVs. As a disclaimer, I have a Tesla M3 in Germany.

The first issue with electric that is often ignored when comparing them to ICE vehicles, is the total energy use. The EVs use less energy per mile (or kilometer) than an ICE of equivalent size. Switching to EVs saves energy. It also saves money even if the price of electricity goes up. The charging infrastructure doesn't have to generate as much power as all the fuel that would have to be burnt, just enough to move the vehicles. Also, the uptake of photovoltaic adds to the charging capacity and is price competitive. If the price of electricity goes up, more people install solar.

Range is always a big discussion point and ICE go further, it just isn't an issue for 90% of the traffic. We typically plug in once a week, sometimes more. The grid isn't going to charge all the vehicles at once and a full charge doesn't take all night, so the charging can be moderated. The intelligent chargers are already on the market and are being installed at a rapid rate here. For the occasional long trip, charging today is about 3 hours of driving in about 20 minutes. Plan your breaks, and it's not bad. Going across country this summer, rent an ICE; it is cheap per mile/km of wear and tear.

Uptake of EVs is increasing. The chance of having a rule change damage the usability of your ICE is a factor. It has happened to me twice with my Alfas, and was one of the reasons for getting an EV. As a measure of progess /uptake for EVs, they represent 13% of the Germany car market in 2021.
insideevs.de

Elektroauto-Marktanteil in Deutschland lag 2021 bei 13 Prozent

Reine Elektroautos (BEVs) machten im Jahr 2021 stolze 13 Prozent in Deutschland aus. Mit 350.000 BEVs lag Deutschland weltweit auf Platz drei.
insideevs.de insideevs.de
The EU will generally stop selling ICE in 2030. This will disrupt the ICE market - few buyers for parts, less research and innovation - means ICEs will get more expensive relative to EVs. Resales values are affected, further shifting new car buyers to EVs. Thinking that ICE will remain significate is mostly wishful thinking. Other fuels will take years to be viable. EVs have taken over 10 years to go from nicht to viable and I don't see something niche, that will make an impact in the next 10 years. The charging infrastructure is sited as a big problem for EVs even though many people can charge at home. We used a standard plug for two years. No one has a hydrogen tank at home, making the on ramp for hydrogen much more difficult. Wasn't the lack of diesel at gas stations one of the reasons why diesel wasn't successful in the US car market? I think the writing is on the wall, so to speak; the majority of cars sold in 2030 will be EVs.

The mining of lithium (not the only battery material) is cited as a problem. Mining oil has also been problem. The biggest difference between the two, is that lithium doesn't get used up. Oil gets burnt, and you need new oil. Lithium goes into a battery for 10 or twenty years, and can be reused in a new battery. At some point (in theory), we have enough lithium, so there is no need to mine any more, just reuse it. The same applies to steel, aluminium and number of other raw materials.

None of this has to affect our common hobby as X1/9 drivers. :)
 
Another release from "Singer":

www.goodwood.com

Singer reimagines the 911 Turbo | GRR

It starts at 450PS, has a full carbon body and the iconic whale tail…
www.goodwood.com www.goodwood.com

I like the side vents. ;)

In the pictures there are a couple of close-ups of the dash. If you look at the texture of the covered surfaces you'll notice a "grain" that is typical of many German cars from the 70's - 80's. Surprisingly that is a similar "grain" to the results when I used "truck bed liner" to cover my rebuilt dash. :)
 
Previously in this thread there are various comments about alternative fuel vehicles. Somewhere it was noted that "hydrogen fuel" options seem to have fallen from grace in recent years. However in the last few days I've read a couple of articles where some of the major European car manufacturers are developing hydrogens fueled cars again. :oops:
 
This article is about a UK company and written by English man, so it is decidedly British. And that makes a huge difference in this case; they have laws that heavily influence the ability to operate a ICE powered classic car in certain areas. But the company's success of converting classic/vintage cars to electric is astonishing. They are fully booked for years to come and look at the prices they are getting for doing the work! Keep in mind those prices do not include the vehicle itself, that is just to convert your car.

www.forbes.com

Electrifying Classic Cars Is A Surging Business–With A Two-Year Wait List

The business of restoring classic British cars and replacing their engines with electric motors is booming, according to Lunaz, a company that does exactly that.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com

Another interesting point they make is the typical age of many customers.
 
This one reminds me of a similar article we reviewed previously. In that case it was a abandoned warehouse in the UK but the contents were somewhat similar appearing.

Apparently a BMW dealer in Spain went out of business many years ago and simply closed the doors and walked away. The video is long so scroll through to get the highlights. While most of it is BMW related (i.e. it was a BMW dealership), there are several other interesting things...including some Italian cars. My thought was how great it would be to acquire a place like this for your personal shop.

www.motor1.com

Abandoned BMW Dealership Is A Gold Mine For Classic Car Lovers

An abandoned dealership in Spain houses some of the coolest and dirtiest classic cars, waiting to be restored.
www.motor1.com www.motor1.com
 
This is what happens when a young person has too much money:
stanced-ferrari-testarossa.jpg
 
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