Electric 356.

[mycar]

On the Registry this morning, a very interesting conversion.





http://forum.porsche356registry.org/vie ... =1&t=45485

And lots of info and photos on the facebook page :-

https://www.facebook.com/Gus-Borners-19 ... 132553004/

I considered an electric conversion when my engine was in a box in bits and before I payed top dollar to have it mended. I'm wondering how much the electric option would have cost instead.

[roy mawbey]

Mmmm, that is interesting, sounds like it means you have to hold on tight when you engage drive. How tractable in a traffic jam I wonder?

A lot of work to do that for sure.

Roy

[Lightweight_911]

Surely the attraction of owning a 356 - or any other 'classic' car - is to experience the whole 'feel' of how a car from that particular era drives/drove ?

IMO the engine is a large part of that experience ...

[misteralz]

Surely the attraction of owning a 356 - or any other 'classic' car - is to experience the whole 'feel' of how a car from that particular era drives/drove ?

IMO the engine is a large part of that experience ...

I agree. That electric 911 Targa is an abomination, too. Can you imagine driving that and watching the massive rev counter right in front of you do nothing the whole time?
There are classics where electric power is totally 'right'. A DS, a Jag XJ, anything biggish and wafty. Not a Porsche.

[sladey]

I"d rather have the engine, but each to his own

[Adrian3]

yes each to his own....you've got to admire anything out of the ordinary, unless its in bad taste , of course

[sladey]

I thought his name was made up at first - Gus Borners car isn’t a Gas Burner

[Jonny Hart]

That 356 above is quite an old school conversion, things have moved on a bit.

It will be a slow burn project but my 914 is going to get a Tesla rear drive unit which is an 'instant' 250HP+. With the newer production batteries being higher energy density, I hope to keep the whole pack in the engine bay and still have 150 mile range.

I bought the 914 as a 'roller' without an engine or fuel tank so it makes total sense to me.

I don't see this any differently to any other kind of engine swap.

[smallspeed]

I think there's a place for these conversions and some people find them really desirable - I think as long as the car is built such that it can be reverted to stock if required its not a big deal. for example the BMW CSL being built at the moment appears to be a top-notch resto. As long as the parts removed to convert are retained to convert back in the future (if required) then I'm all for these cars getting restored and used in the meantime

[hot66]

Personally ... I’m with Andy, if I have a classic it’s for the whole experience, not just the aesthetics . Let’s be honest, without the power train ( imho the power train that makes a car what it is ) ... are pretty poor day to day cars compared to anything modern unless of course you value pose factor and want to ‘stand out from the crowd’ hipster style

I’m not against hybrids or electric cars ... got a 330e arriving next month

[Jonny Hart]

imho the power train that makes a car what it is...

Same could be said for an electric power train. Maybe that will also make the car 'what it is'?

The large majority of hot rods have power trains that bear no relation to the original.

[hot66]

no point kidding ourselves .. we love classic Porsches for the whole package incl the romantic notion of their history and the power train is fundamental to that

Old school Hotrods .. again big slug of nostalgia is the very reason big V8's are their core .. replace it with an electic motor & I'd argue its no longer a hotrod and just a bad handling old car ... if the nostaligia is removed, whats the point of it ( apart from posing ) .. youd be better off building a new caterham or Atom with an electic motor & at least then youd get a good handling car with modern suspension and the true benefits of electic power ( assuming you didn't mess up their lightweighness by having to fit batteries tat weigh more than the original engine)

Looking ahead there will be a massive market in modified electric vehicles as on the face of it bigger and more powerful electic motor upgrades seem relatively straaight forward and battery tech is on'y gettignn better .. but this modified scene will come from todays and tomorrows vehicles. The youth of today will ensure that as they have a very different idea to us on what makes a cool performance car. So , IMHO, fitting elctric motors to our classic vehicles is cool in one respect ( and obviously an easy option to build due to their lack of complicated existing electric systems) , but ultimatley misses the point of a classic car.

and just to add , I'm in no way against electric cars , I am genuinley looking forward to our new hybrid bmw arriving , and i'm excited to see where modern cars & their tech is heading

[smallspeed]

I am genuinley looking forward to our new hybrid bmw arriving

be interested to hear your thoughts on it - might be an option for mrs smallspeeds next car..

i agree with the above comments on the powertrain, and i struggle with modern M-Cars for exactly this reason. i find the new turbocharged engines to be a poor experience compared to the old NA engines. Sure they're mighty powerful/loaded with torque, but they sound dull (fake-loud at best) and don't give the same response and thrill as the NA stuff.. ..electric i guess is a step away from NA in another direction - excellent response, terrible sound (although, as with turbo charged cars, the outright performance is hard to ignore). I'm also old-fashioned with gearboxes. While I get you couldn't keep up with a GT3 with a manual box, I think having a "switch" is a level of detachment I'm not ready for yet.. I'd rather do it a bit slower/not quite as well, but do it myself!

General people I think love the idea of classic cars but not the potential ownership hassle, and so for them an electric version is a good choice maybe, also for people living in city centres. At the end of the day, as long as the car is not wrecked / ruined in the process of converting it, and it could be returned to stock by future owners, I don't mind.

I am actually really intrigued by the tech behind electric vehicles, its just not really for me in terms of a "toy car".. ..Electric driver-less daily car for commuting and motorway travel? Absolutely! Give me a "johnny cab" or one of the Heathrow parking pods and i'll happilly sit in the back brushing my teeth and watching big-breakfast (or whatever its called these days) on the way to work

[911hillclimber]

When ever over the last few years there is a thread, or a post on electric vehicles or conversions there is good debate.
This is of course A Good Thing, but I feel each time this occurs there is a gentle slide showing where we start to see the distinct advantage of going to work (and such tasks) as the ideal way to see autonomous cars as a good thing, a way to improve the daily life and of course this will become reality in a few years to come.

I think we can all see the place for these commuter pods, and this will lead to Luxury pods, and GT (as in Grand Tourer) pods for long journeys.

I'll keep petrol in my old 911 , the next owner, prob my future son-in-law, will keep it this way when I'm gone for the odd days when a real, smelly, and reasonably fast old skool car is stretched on a run into the Lake District.

[vwgillybilly]

Lucky son in law...

Or not so lucky depending on how much you vet the living sh*t out of him...

I know if I had a daughter I'd be ruthless, mind you women are as bad these days, bloody suffragettes!

Then again I'd leave the car to the potential grandkids anyway!

Gill