Thats a bit pessimistic... classic car ownership and classic racing will continue, actually i think it will thrive and grow. We still have Steam locomotives, i understand that getting the correct coal is getting more difficult and it may eventually be the case that getting petrol will go the same way but where theres a will...
I remember a few years ago driving south into Bedford on the A6 just before the Rushden Traction engine weekend, there were around ten steam engines towing caravans making their way up the dual carriageway, a wonderful sight. Sure, they were making a fair bit of smoke but in the greater scheme of things thats insignificant.. every time a Volcano decides to get a bit frisky the smoke from a few heritage engines pales into insignificance.
Classic cars and classic racing are not going away. I think that the sooner the UK fleet of 'going to the Supermarket and taking the kids to soccer' cars are replaced with electric cars the better.. once local air quality around schools and in inner cities improves and the Gov can boast about reduced CO2 we will be able to enjoy our classics without the finger being pointed our way. The electric car will ultimately be the savior of classic 5 litre plus V8's.
If you watched the 1/8 mile Tesla drag racing video i put up by YouTube Tesla Plaid Channel you would find that this guy has been drag racing a long time and has huge respect and a love for some of the cars hes racing against like the orange Baccarrrruuuuuda. He did over 1000 drag races in his 'old' Cheetah mode Tesla which was frequently beaten by the quickest drag cars. Hes having fun, same as the rest of them.
You are correct about getting good quality steam coal is a problem . The UK is still sitting on an island of it but our government is hell bent on shutting our last few pits as part of it`s ill conceived carbon neutral plan . If this happens then all UK steam locomotive operators will have to procure steam coal from other countries still mining it and shipping it across the worlds oceans in mega sized diesel powered ships to reach the UK ! How absurd is that ? All the government is doing is shifting the so called " green & clean " issues into someone else`s back yard , for which they will then ransome us drastically to buy the product back . But our politicians will smugly sit back and say " look how clean the UK is , we are saving the planet . Absolute bo**ocks ! Anyone thinking electric cars will save the planet is not getting the whole picture on the carbon footprint , they are just swallowing the hype from politicians .
Were will all the lithium for millions of batteries come from ? What about the carbon footprint of mining it and shipping across the world ? What about the scrappage rate of defunct electric cars in the future when too costly to replace batteries ? What about the massive infrastructure costs and problems of installing charging points for inner city dwellers and the carbon footprint of all that work . Renewable energy will not support all that demand .
Politicians want people to use public transport more , how big do you think the carbon footprint will be , not to mention the spiralling financial costs of HS2 just to shave 20 minutes off the London to Birmingham train times !!! Wake up and smell the coffee , the King has not got a new suite of clothes , he`s stark naked !
Ice ages have come and gone for millennia , there were no electric cars and dinosaurs still died !
