It’s something which I find has started coming up more and more in recent conversations.
Just last weekend at Players Classic, I had a couple of unprompted conversations with different people who are concerned that we as car enthusiasts might have already reached our peak, and are now facing into a future of uncertainty and turmoil. It’s a conversation we’ve had before, but it’s still worth talking about.
Between the rapid advancement and introduction of electric vehicles, and the slow but steady improvements in autonomous driving assistance systems, we’re slowly but surely witnessing the purposeful destruction of what we love about cars.
Here’s a really scary thought, but what if we’ve already seen the greatest internal-combustion engined cars that will ever exist? Will there ever be another car that will light a fire inside of us like the Porsche 917 or the Group B era Audi Sport quattro?
Yes, there’s still the likes of the Aston Martin Valkyrie and Gordon Murray’s new T.50 supercar to come, but these aren’t cars that will exist for us mere mortals.
When I try to think of what exciting but affordable cars are coming for us, the ordinary enthusiasts, I start to draw blanks. Is there even anything on the horizon for us?
There’s a quote that’s often attributed to the king of triple denim, Mr. Jay Leno, that states the best thing that’s ever happened for horse enthusiasts was the introduction of the motor car. Can the same be said for the introduction of autonomy & EVs for the car enthusiast?
When the masses of commuters migrate to their BEV-powered autonomous pods, will we be left with the roads to ourselves? Will we even be allowed to share the roads with them? It is hugely concerning, and if you think that it won’t affect you, then you haven’t been paying attention.
The big question for me is what can we do about it? At the end of the day, we all share a responsibility to take care of this planet which we inhabit. Our enjoyment of motor vehicles can’t come at the expense of other people’s health and well being. So, it’s not an easy question to answer but we have to find a compromise or solution.
I love cars, so I think it’s imperative that we start talking and working together now to protect what we all clearly love. There’s no locking yourself away from it and pretending it’s not happening, and there’s no ignoring your responsibility as an enthusiast to do something. Inactivity makes you as guilty as those who are legislating against us.
We might all have our differences, but if there’s one thing I love more than the cars, it’s the community and people around them. We’re a special breed of people who — regardless of our differences which often divide so much of the rest of society — are unified by a common interest.
It’s often been said that if the whole world was occupied by car people, we wouldn’t have half the problems we have today, and there’s a lot of truth in that. But it’s time that we really stick together and figure out this whole mess before it can’t be undone.
Right now, things are pretty good and we should make sure it stays that way, because the alternative doesn’t bear thinking about.
Paddy McGrath
Instagram: pmcgphotos
Twitter: pmcgphotos
paddy@speedhunters.com
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It could be a utopia: autonomous cars will stick to the slow lane and people in them won't care because they can text and not look at the road. Petrol might be cheaper because with more EVs there will be less demand for it.
There’s a good chance it’d be more expensive. There are a lot of fixed costs to gasoline. With fewer customers, those costs would be shared at a higher percentage per user.
Same thing that’s happening with cable tv now.
There is a chance he is right. Because you have carbon neutral fuels. Waste from trees could be turned into Ethanol for instance. And it could even be cheap as few wants a petrol engine when electric cars is more clean, stylish, less noisy and faster (in the future) to mention a few. Only reason fuels are expensive is the heavy taxes.
How about because you need to: dig it out of the ground, pump it up, package it, transport it around the globe, refine it, ship it to your nearest petrol station and then you buy it... "Only reason fuels are expensive is the heavy taxes" really?
While it certainly isn't the "only reason", depending on where you live, it definitely is "the main reason". As far as I know, taxes (VAT + fuel tax) represent more than 50% of gasoline price in Japan, and around 60% in France (where you also pay VAT on fuel tax, sweet !). If gasoline was only subject to VAT, then you could consider it "cheap".
As soon as Nissan canceled the IDx Nismo concept development (https://jalopnik.com/the-nissan-idx-nismo-concept-is-the-rebirth-of-the-god-1468159303) I had the same thought. That was the only new car I have been properly excited about in the last decade, and then it was cancelled because the "Z" already filled Nissan's small car niche. I hope one day Mercedes recreates the 190, or BMW reinvents the E30, but if trends show anything, it is that those days are gone.
I do believe there will be an ever greater push towards banning (outright banning, yes) cars as we know it, but not because of environmentalism. I believe governments throughout the world will carry on infringing on our freedoms and free mobility is one big part of that.
The real question is "Is the internal combustion engine what you love about cars?"
Motor vehicles will exist long after every last drop of oil has been sucked out of the earth.
Of course it is, with out the internal combustion engine there isnt the noise that comes with it. Ee love our v8s for the noise, our 2jz's because of the sound they make. Is a supra still as appealing if it was silent with an electric motor? No, vehicle looks aside the reason we drive "ugly cars" is not because they look good its usually because it has a really nice sounding engine.
The best electric will be with an onboard genset. You know diesel or petrol electric and run on bio fuels.
Yes, absolutely. Enough jerry cans will buy you some autonomy for a while, with an EV you have to constantly stay plugged in, figuratively. There's just as much individual taste and creativity in building an engine as there is in bodywork and nobody is going to compliment how tight your stator winding is.
At the same time nobody is going to complement you on your polished lightweight forged crank either.
A couple of jerry cans will roughly double to quadruple your range over standard then your back to sucking on big oil's teat just as you perceive EV users being plugged in.
Theoretically it is a lot easier to acheive complete autonomy with an EV. You can build your own off-grid charging system at least as easilly as you can try and do a Dukes of Hazzard style moonshine distillery.
I'm really looking forward to autonomous cars. I love the idea that I can work during my commute, get home from the bar safely, or travel to visit distant places while I sleep. I wonder to about whether I will be able to send the car to pick up my groceries, take my dog to the vet, or drive uber and earn money for me when I don't need it.
If the worst thing that happens is I'm only allowed to drive my enthusiast cars on a race track or outside of cities I'm OK with it.
On a related note, I wonder if autonomous cars won't be a bigger disruption to air travel. If I can relax and drink a beer, sleep, or read a book while I drive cross country I would be much less inclined to endure the expense and inconvenience of air travel.
Working while commuting, sleeping while traveling, getting home drunk safely.. Yeah I use a bus or a train for all of that
It is reality already
In some locations I completely agree. It doesn't work for me.
My 8.5 mile commute would take over an hour using the bus. It would also include over a mile of walking, and probably not save money compared to the price of fuel. This becomes even less desirable if I have to do the daycare run with my kids.
I recently looked at using the train to visit a friend for a three day weekend. The round trip ticket was $200 compared to $45 for fuel, and the times were less than desirable.
My opinion is that the thing which keeps mass transit from making sense for me is that fuel is so cheap.
Yeah, it's obviously very much related to where you live. For me it's 56€ per month for unlimited public transport in the city so it's an absolute no brainer
1) I think the level of autonomy you're dreaming about in that first bit would be far enough in the future that you'll be too long in the ground to enjoy it.
B) The thing about airplanes is that they take hours to cross a country rather than days in a car. It's worth paying for that when your job only allows limited vacation time.
Also, by the way your first section of you comment seems worded it is as if you do not really like driving cars in the first place. Which is fine, not a lot of people do. But I feel you are kind of at the wrong website if you can't even enjoy driving on a normal day to day basis. But that could also depend on where you are from.
No disrespect either but you sound kind of lazy. Rather than doing the small things like going to the store, taking dog to the vet or walking from the train you would rather something else do it all for you. Seems to me like you would be one of the people who should be fighting against enthusiast cars instead of for them.
I've no idea how you arrived at any of that, but I'm 100% the opposite of the impression you're getting. For one, there's a difference between laziness and trying to maximize a small window of allotted time. But I live at the base of the Rocky Mountains; I LOVE driving and do it as much as possible. I don't even mind sitting in traffic, because I enjoy being in a car that much. Driving them, modifying them, cars are life for me. That and reading, but that's irrelevant. Cars are why I'm here.
RobBob might be mentally retarded. He seems to have a pretty serious problem with reading comprehension and claims he is a racing driver.
It's funny...anyone who has actually raced can take one look at this guys inability to process information and tell he would be a nightmare to coach / deal with on the track as an engineer. What a moron!
The prevalence of stupidity in the car community is more rampant than it has ever been. This guy is pure proof!
Well said. In a lot of ways I also feel like as cars are forever evolving, the car scene will also evolve with it. Where will the scene go? no one know for sure. If you look back in 80s for example was visceral raw experience. 90s introduction of technology becoming the norm in cars. Now with electric & hybrid systems.
Performance wise I think engines are becoming better & better. surely they're not as cool, but small displacement are packing so much more horsepower than they used too. Cars are also becoming more comfortable to drive around and that's not a bad thing. We all choose how we want our rides to drive.
I'd love too see old engines with hybrid system. Imagine 2jz with electric motor packing a punch. That would be nuts. Many, many ways the car scene will go.
Though it is our duty to keep it alive. Make bold crazy ideas on how we want to build our cars!
Having your own car that you can take and drive absolutely anywhere and do what you want with has long been under siege. The UK government seems insistent on putting average speed cameras everywhere set at preposterously low limits, something that has nothing to do with pollution. Add to that the new 'noise cameras' that are being talked about to combat loud cars. We are somewhat luckier than our continental cousins in that modified and performance cars still enjoy a lot of liberty where we don't have to suffer things like TUV...
Don't drink the climate kool-aid, keep running our cars and doing what we want, even if that means cash under the counter for vehicle inspections. There's been no attempt at compromise from the law makers, so why should we try to meet them halfway?
Funny how when I posted a comment on an article you guys published of a Porsche converted to electric and said that promoting this will help speed up the demise of the combustion engine car events and hobby I got a whole bunch of flak saying that it's just another version of car customizing... yeah well I seem to be reading more and more articles regarding a slow but worried outlook on where the hobby is going. Electric is only the beginning of a massive change that environmentalists having been waiting a long time for. The push to get gas-sucking cars off the road started a long time ago. I live in California and the smog laws have tightened to the point of many cars getting forced off the road (pardon the pun) because the laws have become so strict many just give in as it becomes a constant every-two-year struggle.
Will there be gatherings of automobile enthusiasts at car shows, club gatherings, cars & coffee? Possibly, but the dynamic will be continually changing as the car industry does. Customized electric cars will become a large part of the shows I'm thinking.
It's a cycle where at some point combustion engines will cease to be made, then what? Cars as we know and love them become museum pieces, collectibles, parts get scarce, rare.
Just my rant, take it for what it is to you. But I do think we need to open our eyes and pay attention to laws getting passed regarding gas cars and get involved so that these laws don't blindside us in the coming years and one day we are required to get a special permit to take a combustion engine on the road for the day.
In reality, the future is hybrid. BEVs are hype. They only work for a small group of people (who usually have access to healthy public transport). Real car users need range and power (for towing/hauling/long trips). Our roads in the US are so bad and laws so varied that it's a nightmare for level 5. That said, I do look forward to autonomous hybrids as long as I can still share the road with my collection of 40 year old clap traps.
"When I try to think of what exciting but affordable cars are coming for us, the ordinary enthusiasts, I start to draw blanks. Is there even anything on the horizon for us?"
It's called karting, formula cars or used open wheelers. All of these require more skill to drive than any T.50 of BS super car your wallet will get murdered over. This is exactly why I got out of sports cars and into real racing cars.
All of the problems car guys complain about aren't found in real racing machines, but you have to be fit, sharp, mechanically inclined and a much better driver to get into them. I took a guy who is a well known PRO 2 drifter one time in a shifter kart and the guy was so far off the pace he wrote the whole sport off as "not requiring as much car control as drifting." Laughable, but this type of motorsport is available if you really want a driver's car. All this super car stuff is pretty nonsensical and not any grounds to base where the industry is going.
Formula cars from the 70s for $15,000 will still wipe the floor with these "cutting edge" modern machines.
So your example of a nice fun car to have as a daily driver is a race car that you can not drive on the street?
Your logic is off with this one. By the way, as a racing driver myself you are forgetting to inform the rest of the people you are trying to reach all the added expenses you get with owning a race car like tires, brakes and misc parts that will fail. Those things have to be changed more frequently than your road car. Lets not forget towing, a place to store your car and the money you pay in track/club fees. There is also no insurance on a race car. You lose it once and the bill is on you. Even in karting you still have quite a few expenses.
But I digress, a race car or kart can not get you to work and back, or pick up the kids and groceries. Nor can they take you on trips.
Also--for the record--track days do not make you a racing driver. I can tell you don't compete in anything serious by the way you talk and I've raced with F1 engineers. You sound like a punk!
No, your reading comprehension is horrible if that's the message you got. Instead of flapping your trap, please try to re-read what I wrote.
First new car I was excited about was the Alfa Giulia Quadrifoglio but then.......no manual for the US. Oh well, plenty of old cars to play with for now. And I don’t see that changing in the western US in my lifetime. Cities are not populated enough for mass transit and distances are generally too big for electric cars.
to clarify my point: I don't give a damn if they outlaw road cars. I will be at the race track in a real racing car while you are sprouting grey hairs over things "going back to the good old days."
Cheers!
It is still poor logic regardless of the point you are trying to make. You are basically the guy at the BBQ restaurant telling the guy at the counter how great salad is.
Shit analogy. I'm more like the guy who is flying to other countries to sample rare meats while people like you try to tell me how good lunchables are because you can take them with you every where you go.
This analogy actually made me laugh. Well put, lol.
I totally agree with what you're saying and I would love to find my way into an old Formula-style car someday. And I think, in part, that’s exactly what the article was saying by referencing this: “the best thing that’s ever happened for horse enthusiasts was the introduction of the motor car.”
The issue I’ve found with these “proper” drivers is that it’s an old boys club and rather than welcoming you, helping you get started, offering advice, etc, they tend to belittle you, insult your interests, and are quick to share how much better they are and their driving is.
It’s not a pleasant experience and doesn’t help to grow or unite the community at large.
Thanks for using your brain before your keyboard Trevor. Formula cars are great. Start with a 100cc kart before you buy anything. They're under $2000. Then if you like it go for a Formula Ford as they hold their value and can be had for ~$10,000 to $20,000. Do your homework though, some designs are better than others or offer camber curves that are more desirable. Best to store it at a track if you can work out a good deal--this will offer you a consistent place to test and acquire data about your driving and the car's setup.
As for the issue you've found, I've found the exact opposite.
The guy who got me into the sport invited me to a very nice home where he helped me rebuild my first engine for about 1/5th of what a shop would have charged me. I would challenge you and others to become proficient in something like a kart or FF before you discredit the skill differential. The simple fact is it's miles harder to be quick for an hour while you're pulling 3-4G than it ever will be to slide a car (drifting) or pulling one qualifying lap (time attack). Now put 40 people around you who are all 20 years old and don't give a shit if they run you off the track.
Not really sure if anyone cares about growing the community as much as keeping the costs down. I've had some ego from guys until they find out who I drive with and my background, then it's usually a non issue. Respect is definitely earned in the open wheel community through lap time and setup knowledge. Where drifters will add a giant angle kit and boast about car control, there is nothing you can fake about going through Eau Rouge at 200mph.
That cover photo though!!!!!
I think it's time that I need to tell my wife that we need to but another Fd3s !
I used to be like this and sad, then I started riding motorbikes. EVERY MOTORBIKE IS AN ENTHUSIAST MOTORBIKE.
The sheer joy you can even achieve on a disposable Uber Eats motorbike is a world away from a rental fleet car. No one waves at you if you drive an ordinary car, but where I'm from, bikers will wave or nod no matter what. Maybe not if you're on a scooter but like the guy in my pic, if you pull a sick wheelie on your moped, you're in the club.
Motorbikes are for enthusiasts plain and simple.
I've huge respect for bikes, but I know that I don't have the restraint to ride one properly.
Sadly I feel it's a dying thing (Well here in the UK) I've been riding 7 years, and I'm quite often the youngest person at the stop by a long way and I'm 25.
But almost all riders are enthusiasts yes, and will happily chat!
You bring up responsibility to take care of the planet, which I'm all for, but I'm also of the belief that humans aren't contributing to climate change. Glaciations, the disappearance of the glaciers in the American Rockies, etc... Earth has been heating up and cooling down in cycles all on its own since long before humans and mechanical industry. That's nature, and there's nothing we can do about it. It's stupid that the auto industry should be the one shouldering most of the blame for it. EVs may not pollute themselves, but how to you think a) they're manufactured, and b) the electricity is summoned to charge them up? How long will it take to clean up EVERY stage involved in just getting you to work in the morning? More ice ages will come and go with or without us, if an enormous space rock doesn't come along shatter this planet first. But I don't care to waste time arguing about environmentalism, no one's going to change anyone's mind on that.
That said, the auto industry can go whichever way it wants, I'm not buying a new car. Too much technology is being crammed into them these days that seems to exist solely to make it easier for idiots to be allowed licenses. "Don't care to pay attention to the road because your Instagram or texts can't wait to be checked until after you've ended your ten-minute journey? No problem, we've got a lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and an automatic braking system to inform you of close calls! Is it too much of a strain to turn your head before changing lanes or reversing? Relax and forgo the exercise, we've got you covered with blind spot monitoring and backup cameras! Besides, since you don't seem to care about style anymore, what with all the crossovers and SUVs you're scrambling after, we're free to bloat the bodies into soft, pedestrian-friendly marshmallows that are that wee bit higher off the ground so that the child you just ran over isn't AS dead as it could be. Happy trails!"
Well said David, very well said...
... wait, what? I came back in here expecting "-10" or something at the bottom of my post for coming off as an idiot conspiracy theorist or something in that first bit, haha. I read a FICTIONAL Michael Crichton novel (albeit sprinkled with real-world data, fwiw), listen to his speech on the subject, and suddenly I've lost all trust in both government and the scientists that are evidently too afraid of losing their funding to be honest with the information they're putting out. Thanks, though!
Just saying that I prefer a simple, analog vehicle with no frills, and we're never going to see that again outside of track-only cars. The future of the automobile is not for me.
I said exactly the same thing below and people down voted me. It's hilarious. The simple reality is that the race track is where the future of automobile performance will reside and where it has always resided in the first place.
Cars and "the enthusiast scene" are already not for me. Haven't been since I drove my first open wheel car and realized how slow even the most modified road cars are. There is no super car, hyper car or any other bullshit on 4-wheels that can do what a $15,000 Formula Ford has been doing for years. This is really nothing new tbh.
I personally don't care if they ban us all from driving because I can still hit the track where you can really push a machine to its limits.
I have to agree, I've written off the idea of "exciting new cars." Even those with three pedals will still come equipped with Activenanny directional control and GPS-enabled warranty-voiding for those of us who even consider modding.
Motorsport-themed vehicles will continue to sell, but they won't offer true driver control, by our definitions. They'll give just enough driver interface for those will be coming of age with autonomous vehicles. It will be an extension of the stability-control tech that already refuses to allow us full control.
I think we've been living on borrowed time for quite a while, and that it's the preservation of the global economy that drives the message of petroleum existing in some sort of unlimited supply. Denial exists in the sale of every full-sized V8 pickup and Charger R/T that will see daily use. I can't even begin to imagine a world where those vehicles aren't allowed on the road-- but I can imagine one in which driving them becomes cost-prohibitive.
I can see a world in which any vehicle we steer ourselves will become incredibly pricey to insure. I think that's how our "real" cars will be slowly pushed off the roads. For the next decade or so, those of us who stick to our conventions will pay dearly, but we'll probably be allowed to keep driving. However, I can only speak from my POV as an American. I can see more progressive societies regulating the cars we love off the roads for good.
I say "roads" and not "tracks" because I don't give a hoot about the track, really. Part of the appeal of the car is the way it enables us to just go-- anywhere, anytime. Cars and freedom are inextricably linked, and that notion is central to the threat we feel, IMO.
Great article and something I think all of us as car enthusiasts have seriously thought about.
For me the last great motors were the V8s in the RS4, M3 and C63. So I bought an E92 M3 and will drive it till they tell me I can’t. Then I will but an electric / hydrogen car and retire the M3 to club days or car shows or whatever it is we are allowed.
It’s change and progress. Buy the car you love now from ‘the good old days’ and hold on to it forever! No different than if you are a massive fan of a horse and cart.
Actually there are some pretty decent cars on the market today, although their price point vary from "affordable" to "barely affordable".
Cars like the FK8R Civic Type-R and Renault Megane RS are some gems. Even the Koreans has some pretty decent cars in their line up; you just need to know where and what to find. At times some unassuming small hatchbacks and sedans do provide lots of driving enjoyment.
With news that Mitsubishi is planning to resurrect the Lancer Evo, things are starting to look up slightly.
Some might say that Pixar foretold the future more than than ever thought with the movie Wall-E...
My thoughts on this subject are... there will be 2 types of cars on the roads in the future; 1) EV cars for the everyday duties 2) enthusiast/classic/super cars etc (for the sake of this lets call them 'special cars')
Your run-of-the-mill Ford Mondeo will no longer exist unless its electric. The following and (lets face it) money behind special stuff is too much to just throw away. Its always going to be a thing but IMO they will be the only internal combustion engine'd stuff around, anything else will die a death.
This goes without saying though... the cost of running our pride and joys will be ridiculously expensive but it wont matter, we will still do it because its what we do.
Every car enthusiast isn't just going to give up on their pride and joy, especially considering most of us have ploughed our hard-earned cash and countless man-hours into. It will just make them that extra bit special.
Do i see a point when a Ferrari 250 GTO, Shelby GT500, C110 Kenmeri, MK2 Golf G60, MK1 escort mexico are going to end up worthless because of electric cars? HELL NO!!! Doesn't matter its value or following, its a part of someone's life somewhere in the world and they wont want to give it up.
If Jay Leno's quote is anything to go by, that would mean that owning a non-autonomous and/or internal combustion car is some for the rich. Personally I don't mind EVs, and I'd love to make mine into an EV. However, lacking many talents I can't do it myself, there are no shops I can pay to do so, and local laws (legislators don't get our passion and influenced by lobbyists) and insurance companies (they love the concept of autonomous vehicles) also don't help. In my country, the system is designed to buy a new/used car, use it as an mode of transport, finally to dump it and buy a newer one after a few years.
Being creative, having an alternative view or outright cool cars are very hard to pull off. Heck, even finding a place to store a car and work on is a big challenge. In the meantime, I bought myself a Honda Zoomer (Ruckus for our friends in the USA) because it is more affordable for my minimum wage, it allows my to try and wrench a bit to learn some skills and to safely park it inside.
Yes, we need to do something about the environment (I've started to limit meat consumption to 1 day per week to compensate my 'internal combustion passion). But when I look at what my old man could do back in his day, and how hard it has become to today, I'm worried about the future. Oddly enough, my employer (a petro-chemical company) is allowed to pollute at an unpresendented scale for the sake of having jobs in the region. Not good in economics but seems to me they should also chip in. Happy to find a other line of work if that will contribute to keeping cool cars (internal combustion or EV) on the streets. Hoping they will stay though, I have a growing admiration for some of the cars I'm seeing on Speedhunters, and the lengths people are going to to make these rides. Respect! Sorry for the rant btw.
Well keep your heads up my 5 year old son wants a Veyron and my 7 year old daughter wants a Z32 with T tops.
He said he will settle for the Z28 camaro. They show no interest in electric cars.
when the current generation of petrol heads are gone, their will only be a small minority interested in this obscure interest. Just like the very small minority still interested in steam locomotion or horseless carriages from a century ago. If you aren't interested in any current affordable production cool drivers car, better buy a old car cool you are interested in, before they are all gone. Current cars have become appliances, boring. Super cars & hyper cars are interesting but are pure unobtainable to all but the .001%
I think that's why we're seeing a rise in the prices of anything old and slightly interesting. There's only a finite number of cars available which will only dwindle as the years go on, further driving prices up.
It might not be too long before we see the 'Porsche Effect' across the majority of makes and models.
While I hate to say this, we may very well have reached the pinnacle of automotive culture, or at least the last of anything new and great. At least in North America. More manufacturers are pulling cars from their lineup in favour of SUVs and trucks for the masses. I have never liked driving SUVs or trucks. I love small cars, the hot hatches, coupes, hell even a good sedan. But the options are becoming sparse. While there is still hope for across the pond, I do fear the days of modified cars may be dying.
I feel that until we invent teleportation, we will all be OK and Car culture will thrive, on one hand we may run out of parts before Oil and on the other hand we have more and more resources and access to 3d printing (or similar) to make our own parts.
Like it or not, but EV's are getting pretty awesome in the performance and exciting department (for me at least) but I cannot trust auto-pilot just yet...
Didn’t see the dart hit the board. I read it all but felt you going around the bush
One comment just to add
Race tracks will be the only place you can drive gas powered cars by a human for the next few ??
Till noise restriction get even more harsh. Then good bye. Like the horse whip and the buggy.
This is the time to build. Enjoy it while it lasts.. that is what it the message should be. The future is coming. Can’t change that.
Build the most illegal shit you can think of and payoff whatever requirements you have to do. And drive it dammit. Drive it
I mean you can still ride a horse , just not on the street. If you did. At your own risk
I missed this, I was workimg on valve guides, it took heating, drilling, and air hammering I love the pressing in part on my bottle jack press. My EV designs are more like a magnetic tornado in a cage fed by bottled lightning so far just blowing up hand windings for fun,,. if I ever get my winding weaving thing made I could make crazzy eddy currents no worries for EV. BUT AI IS BAD and is now not in the futer. I could make drones linked to social media that float around take pictures write stories and are self maintained self replicating, but I wouldnt. AI can replace us all if we let it.
Future----- I dont need glasses
I'm usually the worst of the pessimists when it comes to this kind of topics but some of the comments in this section are a bit too extreme even for me. I can't predict the way is going to unfold all the electric autonomous driving thing but thinking that all the culture about cars and racing to end in a 20 years range looks a bit dramatic. today it looks like everything, even the strangest niche is flourishing on line, and with the progress of 3d printing and manufacturing in general building things is getting more and more easy to do. I'm really concernd about our future as car enthusiast but at the same time I don't think that all the story and the passion about this sport will vanish like it never existed just because it's easier to move with an autonomous vehicle. I mean it's like saying that no one will never ever cook a dish again just because someone invented robots that does it for you, or no one ill ever buy again a standard bicycle because someone put an electric motor in most of them. If something is done by someone just because it's fun people will just do it anyway. It's our duty as enthusiasts to make it last and find new ways to make it work.