How long do old skool engines have left..?

[John K]

Do we think there is a threat to the old skool engines running with carbs like the xflow or Rover v8's..?

Will the emissions controls ever get so strict we have to give them up?

Or is there just a little too much car heritage in the British bloodstream to let them die.

[Stu Faulkner]

I would like to think that they would allow the older cars to remain and allowing them to be tax exempt and having concessions at MOT time for emissions but it wouldnt suprise me if in the future all cars including kit cars have to be made to a higher standard when it comes to emissions and therefore carbs would become a thing of the past.

[DerekJ]

It would not suprise me if EU regs banned building kit cars entirely

[Murraymint]

It would not suprise me if EU regs banned building kit cars entirely

We better get out on the road and enjoy, before they do...

[Aerodynamix Ltd]

There is concern in Europe on this one already and does seem likely that due to new regs that in the next few years this will become a real possibility , European regs are stricter than here on many things , those of you that do F/B may have already seen the gradual increase of pre 92 cars leaving the U.K. and going overseas where it is easier to register them and there are not as many regulations on emissions . 

[Pistol Pete]

Judging by recent years I think kit cars and old engines will outlast the EU in its present form

[alexander72]

Old Skool Engines did OK on Speed series last year :-) i'm trying to keep mine going for as long as possible 

[jeff oakley]

There are many threats to our hobby from many directions and the classic car movement, ACE and Kit Car Magazines have all been instrumental in stopping the law curtailing our freedoms so far.

There has never been retrospective laws introduce, except all cars needing windscreen washers to be fitted, to older cars. However the amounts now in use could be further curtailed. In some EU countries old cars are not allowed free use for example.

One area that is being pushed hard is the need for cars to be only worked on by qualified mechanics. Now don't think this cannot happen as it already has with Gas and electrics in the home for example, no matter how well intentioned it will stop hobby mechanics unless they get a qualifications if this get put into law. One of the things that is stopping this is the lack of qualified mechanics at present.

I have been involved with the DOT in the past through my job, so this is not pub talk, trust me!

Another thing in our favour is the facts that the classic and kit business is worth millions per years so the department of industry is on our side to maintain this business.

As from my other post, those against cars are very well organised and lobby well so we cannot be complacent that it will not happen it could.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

As petrolheads, many of us also have a dangerous blindside when it comes to how we think others consider cars/transport.

 

You can often see it in the way we talk; many sort of treat non petrolheads like someone who is just not as enthusiastic or interested.  And completely fail to get their heads round the idea that to vast amounts of people their car is almost just another white good, like the fridge or the oven, and transport, just a necessary evil.

[John K]

Jeff makes a good point in this thread and http://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic/112928-the-relentless-sucess-of-the-anti-car-brigade/

I know it is a totally different starting point but I experienced what a vocal minority can achieve when whipping up an easily lead majority (hand gun ban), so we cannot take anything for granted.

I know the industry is worth a lot to the UK economy, but how many actual kit car / classic owners are there in the UK.

At the time of the pistol ban there where approx 40k shooters in the UK and they could do nothing against the headlines being printed in the red tops.

So how many of us are there..?

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

Never, never underestimate the ability of a determined busybody to get things done, especially if they can harness the power of do-gooders. It's subjugated continents and changed the religions of entire peoples before now.

[peet]

I even hate the thought of some of these comments - how dictorial and supressive!!

Depressing thoughts!

[tisme]

We do still have a free vote on May 7th

 

 

[jeff oakley]

We do still have a free vote on May 7th

We do but none of the main parties are any different regarding the way they operate. The hand gun example is a fantastic example. One nutter with a mental problem caused such revulsion that a whole set of people were demonised. Businesses closed as no politician would support keeping them after such an event, no one cared about logic and has it stopped gun deaths, no!

Dave is correct cars are seen by many as evil and by others as white goods. In the states when you see someone in a nice car people say one day I will have one of those. Here it is why does that person have such a car, the speed limit is 70mph why have one that is capable of 200mph? Why have a two seater it is a waste etc etc.

At the moment in the UK we are fortunate that we can build cars and modify them how long will that last? What happens if a heavily modified car ploughs into a queue of school kids, what knee jerk will that lead to?

[Lyonspride]

Never, never underestimate the ability of a determined busybody to get things done, especially if they can harness the power of do-gooders. It's subjugated continents and changed the religions of entire peoples before now.

 

 

Well, just look at the internet and the censorship of..... Somebody somewhere wasn't happy with all their power and wealth, so they set about taking control of it, basically anyone who stood in the way were accused of being hackers.

 

The media printed stories about all this personal information that true criminal "hackers" we're stealing, they bundled the activists in with the criminals and turned the majority against the very people who are trying to protect the internet and it's freedom of information.

 

Anyone sat on the fence just says "oh well, it won't affect me, so I don't care" and how many of those people now come back complaining of websites that have been blocked (false positives), slow internet speeds (data passing through filtering servers) and a whole host of other things.

 

Doing nothing is just as bad as the people who're attacking our rights.

 

 

Another example, who reads the local rag every week?

 

You SHOULD, for the public and planning notices if nothing else, whinge bags request changes, things like massive speed bumps, speed limits or parking restrictions right outside your house. They know nobody ever reads the papers, so they usually get their own way as nobody gets chance to object.

 

As for classic and kit cars, we as a minority have little power versus the brainwashed consumerist majority. The folk who believe they're saving the environment by buying a new car every 2 years. They too will either be dead against our cars, believing they are dangerous and polluting, OR they'll say "meh, I don't care, it doesn't affect me".

 

The idea of allowing only qualified mechanics to work on cars is one that's probably being pushed by the bosses of the big garage/service chains, car dealerships and of course the automotive manufacturers themselves.