On the face of it, one might be forgiven for thinking that classic cars are bad for the environment. The smell of a classic engine running might be an attractive feature to classic car enthusiasts, but tailpipe emissions are very much seen as the enemy these days. Indeed, there is no getting away from the fact that burning fossil fuels leads to climate change.
Despite this, classic cars are much closer to net zero than you might expect. The classic car industry is built on the back of a reuse and recycle ethos. Given the low mileage most classic cars cover the average classic car is responsible for less CO2 annually than a mobile phone or computer. Combined with the fact that a significant proportion of a car's CO2 emissions are emitted when it is built the longer you can keep a car in use the less significant this initial pollution becomes.
As an industry, we are all working hard to minimise our impact and move towards net zero. This is something I am passionate about in both my personal and professional life taking measures such as cycling to work to reduce my impact. Our workshop in Langstone has been designed around having a minimal impact with measures such as solar panels, air source heat pumps and insulation putting us on a road towards a greener future. The whole classic car industry is embracing such changes and is working together to find solutions ranging from sustainable fuels (non-fossil-based liquid fuels) to fitting catalytic converters to classics and much more.
I believe that heritage matters and that classic cars can have a place in a healthy and sustainable future. I will enthusiastically meet the challenges that this holds in store over the coming years and believe that this innovative and valuable industry will rise to the challenge.
You might notice that I haven’t touched on the subject of electric cars or electric conversions in this article. That is because it’s a complex subject that deserves an article of its own. You will have to wait until the next edition for that!