Eco Hot Rodding - This might be a stretch

In order of impact, walking is without a doubt the least impactful way of getting around, followed next by bike, public transport, motorcycle/scooter, car pooling and finally driving yourself. The unfortunate truth about city design in most US cities is that walking isn’t always a realistic possibility to get everywhere you need to go. In some cities, the public transportation system may even be inadequate. The point being that many people in the US have no choice but to use a car, and the type of car they use, and how they use it is the biggest determinate of their impact from transportation.

My current situation is such that at least three days a week I have a 150 mile round trip commute. This type of commute begs for public transportation- bus or rail. Unfortunately in my situation those are not well developed enough options to satisfy my needs (and believe me, I dream of being able to jump on a train and have a couple hours of my day back to work while traveling). This distance is also beyond my abilities to peddle in, even if I had help from three friends. So, I am beholden to the commute via auto.

These days the answer to the question: “Ok, which car?” almost always seems to be a hybrid. The Prius being the most common, but there are many from Honda and Toyota, and many more coming from the Big Three and others. I have two problems with this answer. First, why must we always consume something new? Cars take a great deal of energy to produce, and have a great deal of impact just getting them to the dealer’s lot, no matter how low their MPG is. Second, all of these hybrids have batteries. Battery technology is seeing a great deal of investment, but I feel the jury is still out on the impact of producing and, more importantly, disposing of car batteries. This problem will potentially become larger as a new crop of full electric vehicles comes to market. Essentially, hybrids and electrics are great at reducing fuel consumption, but what are the other ecological trade offs?

I might not be raising these questions if I didn’t have an answer that would work for me, and maybe others. Until a more sustainable answer comes along, I propose a new green option for the car: repurpose and hot rod.

Repurpose: Pick any old used up car and save it. Ideally, pick something cool, but not too heavy. This will rule out ‘57 Impalas and ’67 Lincoln Continentals. Both cool cars, but also quite heavy with full frames and solid axels. Think smaller and lighter: old VW Bugs might work well. But I think I’ll go about as light and small as is feasible: a classic Mini Cooper, not a MINI, a Mini. Like from the early ‘60s. These old Minis sip gas but aren’t really set up for modern traffic, a little slow to accelerate, not too reliable, and despite the small engines, they are ‘60s technology, so they pollute. In other words, the engine is not going to work.

Hot Rod: The solution to the power plant issue is another opportunity to repurpose. Almost any Honda 4-cylinder engine from the last 25 years will bolt into these small little cars with the help of a kit from Mini Tec. The Honda power train is reliable and relatively efficient. By essentially bolting a smaller, lighter car to the Honda engine, you maximize its potential.

These repurposed parts combine to create a car that gets 45 miles per gallon and can go 0-60 in under 5 seconds, an added benefit to “adding lightness” to the Honda engine. This sort of performance matches the VW small diesel’s performance, with out having to force VW to make a whole new car in your quest for efficient driving. In this pursuit you are potentially saving the car and engine from a landfill, and giving them new life. The fact that you created a high performance hot rod that can park in almost any parking spot is just an added bonus of trying to be green.

And don't forget...the Mini is one of the best handling cars ever. This just keeps getting better.