In the hot rod world, there is a ghost that sits at everyone’s table. As local, state, and federal governments become infatuated with the idea of an all-electric future for the automobile, one has to ask what kind of effect this will have on the millions of gas-powered classics already in circulation or in the process of being returned to service.
While everyone loves the thought of having a classic car in their garage, the general idea is that they’d like to drive it at least once in a while. Unfortunately, some jurisdictions are already in the process of enacting heavy restrictions on gasoline engines, so an outright prohibition on them is not entirely out of the question. Of course, this may take many years, even decades, to play out, but it remains a risk that people need to keep in the back of their minds.
One strategy for handling this is for car enthusiasts to think outside the gear box. It is not written in stone that your 57 Fairlane must have an internal combustion engine in it. In fact, there are many potential advantages to giving it an electric heart transplant. Converting it to a sleeper e-rod is not really that different from shoe-horning a Coyote into it. You are taking all of the old 1950s power train out and replacing it with a new 2020s-era unit. In either case, gas or electric, it is going to be a real surprise to someone who thinks they can outrun your old dinosaur with their sporty new electric Hyundai.
What this means is that there are always going to be opportunities to customize old vehicles and make them into something that nobody else has in their garage. It may well be a brave new world that will offer vast possibilities for people who adapt to these new realities quickly. Just like mining bitcoin in the early days, there could be huge rewards waiting for those who are early adapters of new technologies that others are slower to accept.
Hey, they already did it to Hot Rod magazine’s Project X, the ultimate hot rod test bed, for the last 50 years or so. Maybe it’s time for you to think about marrying your own classic car with the latest in electric drive trains. It might not be an easy swap, but then who restores a classic car because they think it will be easy? It never is, no matter what sort of modifications you have in mind.