Vintage Voltage. Quest TV

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Smollet

Original Poster:

10,563 posts

190 months

Saturday 27th June 2020
quotequote all
https://www.carsceneinternational.com/uk-classic-c...
Not a fan of electric cars but the first episode was interesting. A Karman Ghia conversion. Looked half decent.

V8covin

7,310 posts

193 months

Saturday 27th June 2020
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30 grand.....is that the going rate ? Sounds expensive, especially when the batteries will need replacing at some point

Spunagain

755 posts

258 months

Saturday 27th June 2020
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Anyone spot the Countach shaped car in the background at the end? Replica perhaps?

Smollet

Original Poster:

10,563 posts

190 months

Saturday 27th June 2020
quotequote all
Spunagain said:
Anyone spot the Countach shaped car in the background at the end? Replica perhaps?
I hope it is a replica.

Smollet

Original Poster:

10,563 posts

190 months

Saturday 27th June 2020
quotequote all
V8covin said:
30 grand.....is that the going rate ? Sounds expensive, especially when the batteries will need replacing at some point
Yes. 18 of them at £700 each

droopsnoot

11,932 posts

242 months

Saturday 27th June 2020
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I saw it, some of the usual annoying parts (voiceover was a bit over the top) but not terrible. It'll be interesting to see how the rest of the series varies. Lots of interesting stuff in the background - the Countach, a 2002 turbo or tii, and a "Batmobile" BMW.

waynecyclist

8,786 posts

114 months

Sunday 28th June 2020
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It was something to watch but seemed very dumbed down.

£30k to me is madness plus why 3 months to convert if most parts are off the shelf, interesting that they had the adaptor plate machined in China as cheaper.

Also after spending £30k you end up with a car with no luggage space.

V8covin

7,310 posts

193 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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waynecyclist said:
It was something to watch but seemed very dumbed down.

£30k to me is madness plus why 3 months to convert if most parts are off the shelf, interesting that they had the adaptor plate machined in China as cheaper.

Also after spending £30k you end up with a car with no luggage space.
Or spare wheel

jonobigblind

754 posts

82 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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I missed the show but Petrol Ped from YouTube is one of the presenters and he’s been rather excited about it hitting the screens.

He’s worth a watch for his car reviews if you still have time on your hands

droopsnoot

11,932 posts

242 months

Monday 29th June 2020
quotequote all
waynecyclist said:
£30k to me is madness plus why 3 months to convert if most parts are off the shelf, interesting that they had the adaptor plate machined in China as cheaper.
That did seem a long time to me, too. I guess some of it is just more realistic than the other shows that can grab a load of stuff, send it out for chrome plating, and have it back in under eight weeks. Some of it will be making the custom parts - that adaptor plate from China being a good example - it might have been cheaper, but I bet there's a few weeks of waiting for it to arrive. There was a couple of weeks of test driving it to check for problems and get everything calibrated, too. I imagine the next time they do a Karmann, it will be quicker.

The price would put me off, too, but then I've been watching some old editions of Fantom Works where they actually tell you the cost of the work, and it just reminds me how out of touch I am with paying other people to work on cars.

Blib

44,055 posts

197 months

Monday 29th June 2020
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Ah, I thought Pedro was a production 'plant'.

Mrs B recently had her 500 electrified by ECC. We did not deal with Pedro, nor any other 'customer relations' person during the build.

Her car took 5 months to do - during lockdown for much of it. It underwent 400+ miles of testing and is laugh out loud enjoyable.

eccles

13,733 posts

222 months

Tuesday 30th June 2020
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droopsnoot said:
That did seem a long time to me, too. I guess some of it is just more realistic than the other shows that can grab a load of stuff, send it out for chrome plating, and have it back in under eight weeks. Some of it will be making the custom parts - that adaptor plate from China being a good example - it might have been cheaper, but I bet there's a few weeks of waiting for it to arrive. There was a couple of weeks of test driving it to check for problems and get everything calibrated, too. I imagine the next time they do a Karmann, it will be quicker.

The price would put me off, too, but then I've been watching some old editions of Fantom Works where they actually tell you the cost of the work, and it just reminds me how out of touch I am with paying other people to work on cars.
Fantom works often take ages as well. It's easy to miss the 'Day 425' logo at the bottom of the screen.

Biker 1

7,729 posts

119 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Watching this right now. Sacrilege!!! I'm no Fiat 500 fan, but why the actual fk would you butcher a classic car like that & put a washing machine engine that takes 6 hours to charge in it????furiousfuriousfurious
And as for the muppet 'mechanic' who can't cut a hole with a hole saw, uses a sanding machine with no safety specs, & fks up a simple interference fit coupling.....rolleyesrolleyes Sorry, but this show is lame....

biggbn

23,315 posts

220 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Lobe the idea of electric classic, particularly cars like the 500!

12TS

1,841 posts

210 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Blib said:
Ah, I thought Pedro was a production 'plant'.

Mrs B recently had her 500 electrified by ECC. We did not deal with Pedro, nor any other 'customer relations' person during the build.

Her car took 5 months to do - during lockdown for much of it. It underwent 400+ miles of testing and is laugh out loud enjoyable.
Did they do a good job? It looked like they knew what they were doing, but there wasn’t much detail on the electrical installation.

waynecyclist

8,786 posts

114 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
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Biker 1 said:
Watching this right now. Sacrilege!!! I'm no Fiat 500 fan, but why the actual fk would you butcher a classic car like that & put a washing machine engine that takes 6 hours to charge in it????furiousfuriousfurious
And as for the muppet 'mechanic' who can't cut a hole with a hole saw, uses a sanding machine with no safety specs, & fks up a simple interference fit coupling.....rolleyesrolleyes Sorry, but this show is lame....
I was shocked at him working under the car only supported on a jack with no axle stands.

Blib

44,055 posts

197 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
12TS said:
Did they do a good job? It looked like they knew what they were doing, but there wasn’t much detail on the electrical installation.
They did a very clean and tidy job. We've had a few interested and knowledgeable people give it the once over. They've all been impressed by the work.

CanAm

9,200 posts

272 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
Biker 1 said:
Watching this right now. Sacrilege!!! I'm no Fiat 500 fan, but why the actual fk would you butcher a classic car like that & put a washing machine engine that takes 6 hours to charge in it????furiousfuriousfurious
And as for the muppet 'mechanic' who can't cut a hole with a hole saw, uses a sanding machine with no safety specs, & fks up a simple interference fit coupling.....rolleyesrolleyes Sorry, but this show is lame....
I missed the first minute or so (despite watching on +1!); did the owner say she'd paid £25,000 for it?
It had been laid up because on her first 20 minute drive she "blew up" the engine! It turns out it wasn't "blown up" after all and the converters sold it on for £1200(?)

I'm not convinced about their expertise when the guy referred to the disc brakes and 5-speed box on this early 60s 500D. BTW, still registered as a 499cc petrol engined car, so I hope the lady owner doesn't get hit with congestion charges etc.

One small query; there was no mention of heating or demisting. I assume the original blowers would still be there, if an early Fiat 500 had such luxuries.





MG511

1,754 posts

241 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
CanAm said:
I missed the first minute or so (despite watching on +1!); did the owner say she'd paid £25,000 for it?
It had been laid up because on her first 20 minute drive she "blew up" the engine! It turns out it wasn't "blown up" after all and the converters sold it on for £1200(?)

I'm not convinced about their expertise when the guy referred to the disc brakes and 5-speed box on this early 60s 500D. BTW, still registered as a 499cc petrol engined car, so I hope the lady owner doesn't get hit with congestion charges etc.

One small query; there was no mention of heating or demisting. I assume the original blowers would still be there, if an early Fiat 500 had such luxuries.
She paid £26,000 for it at Historics in May 2018 https://www.historics.co.uk/buying/auctions/2018-0...
I wouldn't want to drive LHD in central London and she didn't look to have off street parking or a home charger.

21st Century Man

40,891 posts

248 months

Friday 3rd July 2020
quotequote all
I thought the hole cutting was appalling, but not only that, leaving an exposed metal edge without primer/paint and then just screwing those plastic glands into it. They did the same with the charging point hole on the front, a huge amount of bare exposed metal and they pushed a rubber moulding onto it without any corrosion protection. It all came across as a very amateurish bodge, despite the cutting edge (yeah, that'll be left exposed to rust) engineering narrative. And as for £17k, I just couldn't see it. Poor, very poor.

Edited by 21st Century Man on Friday 3rd July 11:31