OK, I don’t want to besmirch the memory of a pioneer so the “prince of darkness” is fake news. I still have to mention the joke about why the English drink warm beer, because they have Lucas refrigerators. Of course to be fair there is the joke about French engineers too. Those who copy no one, and no one copies them.
Lucas made an electronic ignition system in the early 60’s that allowed a 1.5 liter V8 Formula 1 engine to rev to 10,500 rpm to bring Graham Hill his F1 championship driving for B.R.M.
Very reliable and cutting edge technology in 1962!
Lucas gets maligned because of things like a water drip passage in Minis that dripped right onto the distributor. Not the fault of Lucas…
… and certainly not the fault of Joseph Lucas.
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What, are you his descendant or something? Interpreting a comment about an electrical system with a reputation to cause problems in early British cars as a personal comment about a man that was long deceased by the time those cars were made is really stretching things. The man’s been dead since 1903. Let him rest in peace and don’t find reasons to make comments about cars’ systems into personal comments.
OK they designed a cutting edge ignition system in 1962. That saying that a blind hog finds an acorn once in a while comes to mind. Yeah I’m just having fun with the English electric car. Gotta spice things up a little bit here.
Reportedly the conversion was done with the help of rimac,
I think the royals’ choice of cars was cool.
And it brings up the possibility of conversions of conventional cars to EVs as being a future niche industry. Perhaps if battery and systems technologies evolve enough, EV conversions will become common, albeit perhaps not generally cost effective.
Only time will tell.
It’s been said that the royal family is the biggest welfare case in the world. Many years ago it was quoted at 20 million plus per year. I’m sure that number has doubled.
I hardly think of them as “environmentally conscious” when their energy usage per year would probably power a small third world country.
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I don’t think it’s realistic or fair to judge England’s royal family by American standards. The English political system is entirely and totally different than ours, and the royal family, while they no longer run the country, is a crucial part of it. We in this country support numerous international goodwill organizations for far more total cost than the English spend on their royals, who perform all of the functions of our numerous goodwill organizations. Heck we even support a UN that routinely tries to prevent us from protecting our own interests… to the tune of about $8 billion annually.
And I feel confident that all of our senior members of congress and the executive and judicial branches are chauffeured in vehicles far, far less PC and far, far more expensive than a converted XKE. I doubt if any of them would be caught dead in something that pedestrian.
I heard the queen is worth somewhere around $600 million (I think it was in dollars and not pounds) comfortable but not in the top tier. I don’t think she contributes to the electric bill though. Part of my issue is with the archaic class system not to mention how they have currently lost their way. You either are landed gentry with a title or a plain commoner, forever without a family name. Some would call it snobbish. Like Reagan said, you can lose your freedom in one generation and it appears to be happening across the pond. But they have soccer and the royal family so what’s to worry about?
On the other hand, if you compare the English “class system” to the systems in Russia, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, China, and countless other systems throughout the world, the English look pretty doggoned great.
By the way, “landed gentry” is obsolete. It goes back to a time when the rulers owned (and passed on to their descendants) all the land (ergo “landed”) and everyone else worked it. As many in England own land now as in the U.S.
I loved England. It ain’t perfect, but I think they got many things right that we’re still struggling with. And the people and culture there are wonderful.
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I wonder if England has the same thoughts about the USA 
I have no doubt that visitors from England see things about our country that they like, things perhaps that we take for granted. Note that I never said I didn’t love the U.S., only that I loved England.
I know you didn’t say that . . .
I love this country, even though I know it’s not ideal
But I chose to live here and feel I made a good choice, overall
I’ve been here a long time, I could have left, but I chose to stay . . . that should be saying something
Considering how many Brits live here in my little section of Florida, I’d say they like it just fine!
Plus you generally are not jailed here for saying something uncomfortable for those in charge. Good to see though there are mass demonstrations over the latest arrest. Was that Germany or England where they said the elite in charge do not represent the general population? Or was that the US?
At any rate, I liked my Morris Minor. It just looked a lot better parked than it ran is all. What the hey though at $125 it was a good lesson. Of course then a private school semester tuition was $425 so that wasn’t exactly pocket change. Still a good lesson in buying cars.
We have friends from Northern England that moved to Canada first, then the US. They are happy expats.
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That could apply to any number of countries across the world 
There are a couple of happy ex-pats on this very website, but I’m not sure if they’re from England
To bring this back to cars, the English have also made a goodly number of cars over the years that I’ve always loved, among them the Triumph Spitfire, TR3, TR4, TR6 (although the 6 was a bit front heavy), MG TC, TD, TF, MGA, and, of course, MGB. I’ve driven most of them. My all-time favorite is the Spitfire.
I’ve never been into big horsepower. I like toss-around fun. The Brits were great for that.
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I recently saw a very nice MGB, and it reminded me of just how small they were, and how low-to-the-ground they were. I can recall sitting in one many years ago, but at my current age, I couldn’t even contemplate getting into–and out–of one!