Oh God, here we go......

I predict this thread will be binned, but it brought a smile to my face

I'm surprised that she openly tore into you when she wanted some support though, I'd have expected a more diplomatic/non-committal response of the type that politicians are so adept at.

Have some Marina lurve:

I have a sign on my recycle bin.....

"All Political Literature In Here Please"

Funny, I haven't had anything since..... ;D

brilliant post... made me chuckle.. an after the day I had thats quite an achievement

No, that is a fact - but one with which I don't have the figures at the moment. I'll do a little research when I'm not so busy.

A quick 2 min search has revealed very little but the C02 chaps reckon an 'average petrol car' (which most retros would probably fall into - regardless of size because of wear and tear reducing economy/efficency ect) would produce 1.15 tonnes of carbon a year (assuming you do about 3000 miles a year. - kinda useless becasue they don't actually say how much an new car would emit.

this link is kind of intresting though...

environment.about.com/od/environmentfriendlyautos/a/new_old_cars.htm

...which confirms my suspicions that the manufacture of a new shitbox would cost not necessarily more than running an old heap on a daily basis, but it ceratinly takes the ANNOYING SMUGGNESS!!! out of the equation. I'm all for the environment - I'm even a vegetarian which some of you might recoil at, but I care about it very strongly. I even have a cat. However, the whole 'eco drive' thing and the smug mindedness of the hybrid car brigade against hot rodders and classic car enthusiasts really does get my goat as clearly - there are the facts from the other side of the coin which do-gooders and car manuafactures don't want to reveal. The C02 footprint site will gladly tell you how much damage you are doing with you car - you naughty people - but they fail to admit what manufacture actually does. The hybrid batteries (manufacture, charging and disposal) have a massive impact (as do solar pannels, but thats a whole other debate)

Another issue to factor in is the lifespan of a new car. My viva is 37 years old and still going strong, and It will continue on for many more years. Now, if I was an average person, I would get a new average car every 5 to 10 years. Most cars more than 10 years old are considered old by the same hybrid brigade and should be scrapped immediately and traded for a new hybrid or something equally crud (scrappage ect ect), which means that by driving my viva and choosing to keep a classic on the road, I have side stepped not one, but three sets - at least - of individual manufacture C02 costs, which according to that article above, means that I have saved more C02 then I will ever contribute........... unless we all revert to bicycles....

I'm liking this thread. That would have been my question/reply too, in fact if anyone comes canvasing around here, then I'll be asking then about their opinion on the matter, weather they bring it up or not. I'm kind of curious to see what their response would be. (This area's lib-dem at the moment I believe, if that makes any difference.)

A mates neighbour has a prius, now that's not a crime, I think if you live in london, or another big city, and spend a lot of time in stop start traffic, then it could make sense. However, I live in rural somerset, I spend 80% of my time on the road, doing 45 behind an articulated truck, and I can honestly say, the longest I have EVER spend in traffic in this county, baring accidents and snow, was 45 minutes. Most days I can happily drive through the nearest large town, one side to the other, at rush hour, in half an hour. That prius belonging to my friends neighbour, is going to have a bloody heart attack the first time it tries to use that electric motor its been pointlessly lugging around the last year or 2!

(Rant over)

Yeah! Right on! You got my vote ;D

One thing I don't get though... If we're all to be driving Priuses in 5 years time, exactly where does all the Nickel/Lithium/electricity come from that goes into the 50kg battery packs shoved into the boot floor? I guess more mining, and I could be wrong but isn't this more likely the product of a carve a mile-wide hole in a hill with big excavators, rather than the sink a shaft and lower blokes into it sort of mining?