“Old cars are Beautiful, but they’re not practical,” Rob Howard told me one day this spring. “People don’t really choose to admit it, they’re a nuisance. And you tend to find reasons not to drive. To be sure, Howard isn’t immune to their charm: He has a small collection of his Modified cars include a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air station wagon and an ’88 Toyota Land Cruiser, but he admits that for commuting, he drives a Rivian R1T electric truck, which is easier.
We talked in his office not far from San Francisco, surrounded by beautiful old cars being modified. Howard is the founder and CEO of a small but growing company called Kindred Motorworks, which is in the business of upgrading classic cars to be more reliable and street-friendly, with new engines and modern safety features. And, Kindred’s case adds the option of a rechargeable, battery-powered electric motor. This trend isn’t new, exactly, but has become more active over the past few years as electrification technology has opened up to hobbyists and body shops. It’s now possible to turn an old gas-guzzler into an electric vehicle, as long as you don’t electrocute yourself. The appeal is obvious: all kinds of people, especially those with both money and taste, want to drive a rare classic car around town. At the same time, many people are becoming more and more open to electric vehicles. So a small group of companies has emerged, turning everything from an old Porsche 911 to an old Volkswagen bus into something that can charge overnight.
Restoration isn’t as exciting as the purist version of car restoration – the ones you see at car shows are called Concours d’elegance, which are designed to showcase classic cars as if they’d just rolled off the factory floor, to perfection Flawless. But outfitting an older car with modern power steering, air conditioning, and a Bluetooth stereo, let alone an electric drivetrain, isn’t exactly affordable. Florida-based FJ Corp. got me interested this year in a Land Cruiser they refurbished themselves (list price: $266,800). In the UK, Everrati will offer electric power to an old Porsche, with prices starting at around £240,000 (about $300,000). There’s a two-year wait for San Diego’s Zelectric, which will retrofit your dad’s 1969 Karmann Ghia with disc brakes, LED lights, and a Tesla battery (up to 120 horsepower). Kindred, meanwhile, focused on the humble Ford Bronco.
So far, the Electric Diner’s patrons have been exactly what you’d expect: Robert Downey Jr. made an entire TV show out of them. Donnie’s dream carabout his efforts to green his vintage car collection. Kindred representative Julia Roberts told me she had already reserved a Volkswagen electric van. Yes, one of Kindred’s electric Mustangs starts at over £200. “It’s a luxury,” Howard said. “We won’t apologize for it because there was a lot of craftsmanship involved. A very unique vehicle.
When I visited, the company was producing four Mustangs a month, Howard said, although they will soon be producing 10 a month. Regardless, everything it can produce by 2025 has been sold out. Not because of scarcity, but because the Bronco isn’t the only car of interest.
