Attention, Mr. Tiny Electric Car of My Dreams: Of all the internets, in all the digital spaces, in all the world, you roll into mine? Here's looking at you, you lovable kei-car kid, you.
The electric-into-classic drivetrain swap is a strange beast. On one hand, you have a cool old piece of automotive funk with an environmentally friendly powertrain. On the other hand, you have a cool old piece of automotive funk that has been deprived of a large part (exhaust note, induction honk, mechanical character, etc.) of its cool old funkiness. What's a gasoline-loving, history-obsessed, tech-freak blogger to do?
We are usually conflicted. Nine times out of ten (electric Volvo 240?) the result is a fantastically meh (electric MGB?) pile of whatever (electric Volkswagen Scirocco?) with an extra half-ton of curb weight yuck. (2500-pound electric Scirocco? Eww.) But there is no conflict here. Not now, and not ever. Not with the much-fab-work-required, rear-wheel-drive, 60-hp, limited-slip-VW-transaxle-equipped, electric 1969 Honda N360.
This, in case you were wondering, is how you do the whole electric-car thing. Sure, it's only a project, and sure, it's not quite finished. But both of those things do not matter. It will eventually be finished, and at that point, we will rejoice — maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon. And for the rest of our lives. And no matter what anyone says, we'll always have Clunkbucket.
(Apologies to the obvious.)