I think that it’s pretty much a forgone conclusion that private transportation – i.e. cars and trucks – will eventually all be powered by electric motors. I also think that day when all you can get is primary windings rather than piston power is going to come sooner that we all think. One of the oldest, and richest sub-cultures of the automotive age has been that of the Hot Rod, exemplified by any number of vehicles modded by their owners to lower their weight and raise their number of ponies. It’s such a big niche that both print magazines and an entire parts industry exists to support it. That ecosystem however, is pretty much SBC-based. In fact, the most important aspect of most Hot Rods is the showing off of the romper-stomper mill. Bling may be a term invented to describe the shiny accoutrements of fashionistas, but Hot Rods were doing it for years before the word was even coined. When we end up with ohms instead of octane, and electrons in place of exhaust note, how will this most venerated of car cultures survive? Do you think that hot rods will be one of the last vestiges of the internal combustion engine age? Or, do you think that they will adapt and we’ll see a new generation of amazing – but eerily quiet – hot rods that embrace this new paradigm? Image: Inhabitat