An email arrived: ‘Could you nip down to Dorset and check out some bloke who says he’s an old rock and roller who’s fitting an electric powertrain into an old car?’
Electric cars are here to stay and I’m happy to review them, but retrofitting classics with electric powertrains seems pointless. Yes, you could drive an electric E-Type in central London, but why would you want to drive in London anyway? But down in Poole, things are looking up. For starters, Phil Wainman really is rock and roll. He was a session drummer in the 1960s and then went on to write and produce for glam rock bands such as Sweet, Mud and the Bay City Rollers.
Second, the car that’s being electrified is a DeLorean. This seems entirely appropriate to me. A car that is best known today for its starring role in Back to the Future should probably have had an alternative powerplant anyway. Also, the car could only be improved by chucking out its hefty and ineffective original PRV V6 engine. But before we explore, and indeed drive, this electrified DeLorean, a question needs to be asked first: why?
“I’ve always been interested in electric cars,” says Wainman. “In the early ’80s, I almost imported an electric car kit based on a MG TD that was built in Minnesota. I joined the Electric Car Association in the 1990s. I’m member number 77. “Converting a DeLorean to electric drive just seemed like the perfect project. I bought this one for $19,000 in the US and shipped it over. It was painted red and in a bit of a state.”
We’re at the premises of Castleman Auto Repairs, whose managing director Clint Townsend has been responsible for the creation of the DeLorean EV. “At first, Clint wasn’t too keen,” says Wainman. “I persuaded him by pointing out that it was his future and he ought to learn about the technology.”
Townsend is now a bit of a nerd on electric powertrains. He’s also one heck of a good mechanic/fabricator. Not only has he transformed this once-knackered DeLorean into a virtually concours example, but he has also carried out this conversion to a stunning standard.
“The electrical components, including motor, battery and control systems, are all from Tesla,” explains Townsend, “provided by a company in Bristol called Zero EV.”
If you’re not well up on DeLoreans, I’ll just remind you that the car was engineered by Lotus and, like an Esprit, features a steel backbone chassis with a glassfibre monocoque attached to it. The DeLorean’s famous stainless steel outer panels are bolted to the glassfibre monocoque.
