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Hi, all

From the 12 of January 2011 my old car (’82 VW white beetle) can’t circulate any more into the town centre for air pollution level issues.
Owned it for 29 years, covered 130KKm in total and it still runs quite well.
It’s just an affective value, next year it’ll be 30 and I’ll be able to register it to the A.S.I ./Italian historic cars Association, but those limits to circulation could persuade me to sell it or, even worse, to scrap it. After all a car is there to be driven always and everywhere!

Obviously that's my second car! Just don’t ask my opinion about the need for frequent replacement of cars (almost in mint condition) only for engines/exhausts exceeding the pollution limits! As if to scrap an old car and manufacture a new one doesn’t produce new general pollution!
I’ve got no experience but thought that a strictly regulated updating/replacement of engine/exhaust of our cars, just to respect the more and more restricted air pollution limits, could be a solution to give them a longer life but really never heard of such a possibility.

But now it would be better for me to blank the mind of all those concerns…..and -“respectfully”- go out for a walk!

Regards

Claudio
_________
Visit Italy!

Motoring
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official meddling at its worst

Pesaro looks good Mog country though

Indeed. The energy needed to produce that replacement car would be far greater than the small extra that your 'old' car would produce.

I would keep driving the VW as a protest to such stupidity

It's happening, or happened, in Holland, Germany and other EU countries too.
If it happens here, driving our old Mogs will become more difficult Steve...

Claudio, as far as I know you can get a two-way catalysator set for beetles in Germany. Also in Germany registered "historic" cars (red number plate) are exempt from the pollution restrictions. In Switzerland we have sent this pollution regulations for cities down the drain two weeks ago. Lobbying and our direct democracy have worked for once.

Let's hope that the Italian governement follows the Swiss or at least the Germans. What helps is written protest from as many old car owners and clubs as possible. Those political hipocryts want to be elected again...

Frank

Frank, having lived in Switzerland for 26 years (but now retired in the UK), I had come to appreciate the common-sensical approach of the Swiss to older cars. Pre 70's "expertises" (MOT's) looked for safety issues - brakes, bearing wear, etc., - but recognized that modern emissions levels were impossible to meet because of the old technology, so didn't check for them. And to sweeten the whole thing, not only could you have interchangeable number plates, with benefits in insuring two cars, but collectors could have 6 cars on one plate if they were all pre 70's, and were taxed and insured.
Modern vehicles, though, went through serious checks after 4 years, using Government testing stations. No slipping someone 20 quid there!

Shame that we didn't know each other when you were over here, Allan. We could have blocked the alpine passes with your Van, my wive's 2CV 1960 and my Dyane6 (both gone now).

Greetings
Frank

Claudio,

I sent you a p.m.

Andreas

My first car was a 1972 VW Beetle, so I have a natural affection for them.

I remember reading a well written article on how un-'green' the Toyota Prius was, predominantly down to the CO2 produced during the production of the batteries, how the batteries could not be recycled (or were extremely difficult to do so) after their shelf life, etc.

When will these legislate bodies wake up to the fact that there is far less impact by keeping a built car on the road, than building new ones. I appreciate that the motor manufacturing groups have huge lobbying power and in many cases are a massive part of the economy (the US power blocks, French and Japanese); however, classic cars need to catch a break!

With improved exhaust systems, these classics are viable and have less impact than the new build of the average mass production car.

Simon, I also believe this. But I have searched in vain for any definitive or carefully researched articles that demonstrate that older cars, despite their greater fuel consumption and pollution, are in fact greener than modern cars because of the avoidance of the embodied energy required in manufacturing it's replacement.

Have you come across anything?

Brian