I have a real soft spot for the Bluebird as I'm originally from Sunderland in the North East. I remember getting a school outing tour of the factory when I was young. Everyone knew someone who worked at Nissan, it really took over as the main employer in Sunderland when all the ship yards closed. People from Sunderland are called Makems (because the make 'em - referring originally to ships). btw the first Bluebird shown in the photo in your video is now in the Sunderland city centre museum, if you're ever in Sunderland pop in and see it - free entry!!
Takes me back to my Nissan dealership days.All the bluebird demos we got were that blue with blue interiors.This must be the way forward for local journeys.Converting old cars to electric power as that is far more eco than building new.
I worked at the Nissan plant from 1992 until 2006, The Blue Bird was just getting phased out when I started, And the reason the Blue Bird was so well built was because they had to prove that they could produce a very good car, they put far more into it than they did the primera, And now that Renault are involved the standards have gone right down.
I liked the engines in the Primera and the handling, the Bluebird was like a bus or truck compared to the Primera, but as you say the Bluebird was well-built don't remember the cills rusting
I had never heard of a Chapman strut so thank you for that. The Wikipedia page says, however “The distinction is that the MacPherson strut always requires a lower track control arm where the Chapman uses the drive shaft and a light radius rod.” So possibly not Chapman struts if no rear drive shafts.
Now I've reached the end, it certainly is an interesting concept there, utilising their existing platform from the Leaf to fit into an existing car (of course, doesn't have to be a Nissan!), and is a way to keep cars that are being banned from places on the road where they deserve to be, and if you keep the original running gear in storage, then there's always the option to restore back to original too... :)
Nice job! I subscribed to this channel because of the EV's you were driving at the time, so it's refreshing to see you testing the Newbird. It would be interesting to see what Richard Morgan, at Electric Classic Cars (in Wales) would have done with it. The later Leaf batteries fit into the same space as the 1st generation battery, so a conversion to higher capacity/ longer range is a distinct upgrade patch for this car,
I used to yearn to own a Nissan bluebird back in the day when I drove a Datsun 180B estate in delightful brown with sticky back plastic wood effect panels on the side and tailgate. I would love to have that car again 👍👍👍
It was that first video of yours that convinced me that a (relatively) normal person could go electric. Had a new shape Leaf for three years now, and haven't run out yet. Keep up the good work. Side note - you mentioned that they (Leafs) now come in 40kws - they also come in 60kw as well, so all the more practical...
I once took the previous model Bluebird in part exchange. Think it was 1981 on a W reg. Was riddled with rust. As it owed me next to nothing & was an estate decided to run it (wasn't in a fit state to sell it on). Am pretty sure it rear wheel drive. Anyway I digress. I used it through the winter then the snow arrived. Up here in the Derbyshire hills we get proper deep drifting snow. I left the old Bluebird at the end of the lane. Next morning it was buried. During the afternoon the guy driving the JCB clearing the road thought the bluebird was just another drift & took the drivers side wing & doors clean off the car That was the end of the Bluebird. It was a bland characterless car to drive but never ever missed a beat. I haven't seen one for years now. Guess they've all gone to Bluebird heaven
As a kid it puzzled me when Vera Lynn sang that there'd be Bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover. They must have been on their way to Bluebird heaven.
Enjoyed that, Ian! Always liked the Bluebirds but never owned one, I was driving around in a Mk2 then a Mk3 Cavalier when the Bluebirds were current. Reference electric cars, the only two I've driven are demo cars at work, Citroen eBerlingo & eC4. I remember doing a 14 mile journey in the eC4 & because I used regen wherever I could I only used up 2 miles of battery range.
I had a 1.6 on a F plate, fully loaded, utterly reliable. I ragged mine round the B roads of Wales and made ignored the so called poor roadholding handling etc. Did about 140,000 miles in it and sold it to a pal who did loads more then had it stolen. Best car by far I have ever had. Replaced it with a chipped Primera eGT which went like a stabbed rat, but had poorer overall quality.
This was a very instructional video from you. It made a whole lot of sense because like you said there is room to coexist between petrol and EV vehicles and this video shows that you can drive an EV like a regular car without the fear of running out of juice. This would be a perfect car for my wife because she travels less than 8 miles a day going and coming home from work and throw in another 5 for shopping on the weekends. This would be under the hundred mile range easily. Plug it in on Friday when you get home and you would be fine. These conversions will ease the fears people will have about EV's. The first wave of people getting them will be home owners that can fit a charger to their home and after that people in city centers near charging stations. That's my opinion. You wait and see how this is going to ramp up and EV's will be everywhere. I will get off my soapbox now. Have a Nice Day.
As a petrol head with an electric car, van and motorbike, the mix of everything on your channel is always very interesting. My last classic was a ‘62 Chevy stepside pick up and my last petrol car was a Vauxhall VX220 turbo. I’d love an electric H van (non coffee shop), it would cure the low gearing and deafening power train, but keep the handling and style.
I took driving lessons in one of those, back in 1981. I remember being impressed with it then. Thanks for the memories. Forward through the rear-view mirror, as they say.
I live in Sunderland - I don't know if it is still there, but they had a Bluebird in the local museum! Just an edit - I have driven quite a few of those roads, as my brother lives in Cheltenham. Have driven them in either a Saab 9-5 or my current car, an Alfa.
The light coming through the clouds at 22 mins were described in a Crowded House song as Fingers of Love. A very interesting video with beautiful scenery. Very enjoyable.
We have a second hand BMW i3 (which is now officially out of production) REX. About 110km range battery only (with 120km range extender back-up) and it is PERFECT for us as a 2 car household. My wife does a 40km round-trip commute 5 days a week and the car fully recharges on off-peak rates for the following day. On weekends and holidays it gets used as the regular drive and charges daily on our solar - all off the standard 240v outlet. It is the most easy, fun, satisfying vehicle I have ever driven, and getting back into my petrol car after a month of driving the i3 exclusively felt like a whole lot of noise for very little forward progress. You really should get a go in an i3 as it has some truly wonderful quirks and character and is destined to become a classic.
Ian, that was most enjoyable. I have a Toyota CHR hybrid and as you say it's most satisfying going down hills or braking and knowing I'm effectively producing energy. Oh and the front wheels are not coated with carbon powder either, just general muck!
We had a Bluebird 1.6LX, remember my dad collecting it, it was so comfortable, plush seats, on an F plate, went from UK all over Spain and France. It was sold with 74k miles, a really reliable car if not too exciting.
I thoroughly enjoyed this! Love to have a go in that Bluebird. It has nicer upholstery than my 4 year old car. Never realised how pretty rural Northamptonshire is.
I did recently read of an Irish Republic company recycling crashed electric cars by installing their engines and batteries into old cars. And for considerably less than the £30K mentioned here (which was presumably for more collectable classic cars). I wonder if there soon will be electric conversion kits for old cars to DIY? Or possibly garage chains offering electric installation for your old banger for say, £5000? Maybe we should be keeping our beloved old cars from the scrapyard with this possibility in mind.
Such a good celebration of 35 years of U.K. car production at Sunderland. As my brother (NTC’s SVP) keeps saying “we make more cars in the U.K. than ever before!” Maybe not as large a percentage of global car production maybe, but still a significant volume of metal, plastic, and rubber!! PS is Burford the place that Harry Metcalfe is always driving through on his test drives then?
My Dad had a C reg 2 litre GL Estate for 7 years in the 90's - lovely car (though uncomfortable compared to the Maxi we had before it) a lot of storage space for luggage for holidays in the UK. That ding-dong headlight alarm......
Obviously most car collectors will wonder if it can be converted back to original, so the reversibility matters in that sense. But I can’t help but notice it also would be possible for some future owner to squeeze batteries in the transmission tunnel etc, if they wanted the boot back. That flexibility goes both ways, which is great, and clearly the most ideal for a show car like this which isn’t doing shopping runs anyway. That motor and transmission whine (single speed as it is) with the limited sound insulation is really really nice. You don’t need artificial noises with electric engines!
I did indeed have to 1.8 ZX Turbo. It was a bit quick and the rather good Nissan build quality meant I got up to a considerable speed on the M6 (in ye olde days, when it was less busy) without noticing - no rattles or squeaks (We'd had a Montego before that), just a creamy smooth ride. Much fun!
Now that's a blast from the past (or future)! I had 2 Bluebird ZX Turbos back in the day. They would see off RS Turbos at the traffic light grand prix lol 😆
When my brother first started at Nissan’s Technology Centre they still had ZX Turbos on the pool car fleet. They soon opened the Cranfield site and he said it was the only car he ever had to refuel on the journey between Cranfield and Sunderland!!!
18:59 Did you notice the lack of courtesy when you were driving in Australia? I was so surprised when a driver let me in when I was driving in London, I almost didn't react in time! Aussies and Kiwis can be described as lovely face to face, aggressive and rude while driving. I came home with a different attitude, and now I enjoy the looks of shock when I let people in.
When I was in Aus, main thing I noticed was how dozy the drivers were. Assumed because they were so hot on speeding peoples didn't feel a need to stay awake.
I must admit, when you said you were going to Burford, I did wonder if you were going to arrive at Harry Metcalfe's place! Maybe when the 100k sub special comes around? Not his Lamborghinis, XJC or Project 7, I was thinking more the combine harvester etc. Lovely video, half an hour electropootling around the Cotswolds is always going to be a good thing. The weather wasn't too bad either, road grime is always going to be a thing in English winters.
Very intresting to watch, to achieve 100 miles in Winter that is 30 years old But was never designed to be electric to begin with I think is pretty impressive. Impressive Conversion too, However I hope all old cars one day do not end up Going electric. Its like removing History in a way which would be a huge shame. Other wise Very much enjoyed this edition Of Hubnut 👍
My dad had a Nissan Sylvia 1.8 Turbo. registration C802TLR. Was a nice car, with pop up headlights and even had a CD player as standard. Wonder if Hubnut can find one to do a road test on, if there are any left...
I am guessing, very few people can afford £20-30k to replace the engine and fuel tank in their cars. But good to see it is possible! Like most stuff, as it becomes more popular, it becomes more affordable. But I can definitely wait for the first Chinese Ebay conversion kit. 😁
I suspect you’ll be able to do it for £10k in 5-10 years if the price of LFP (lithium iron phosphate) chemistry keeps going down. Using iron and no cobalt in LFP, the materials are much more plentiful, but they’re only a little cheaper at the moment than rarer-material lithium formulations due to R&D costs. It took a lot to get LFP as high as ~80% the performance of cobalt-manganese types. The price of the motor is not dissimilar to any other, proportional to its size, so it all depends on the price of batteries. Given budget new electrics have gone from 50-70 mile range to 200-250 in a bit under a decade, even if that progress slows down by half there’ll be a lot more leccy conversion kits going round by 2030. Especially if the price of petrol stays high…
I had Relatives in Tuffley just outside Gloucester. ( many Moons Ago.) And 'Stow on the Wold' was always worth a Tea/Coffee break. Stunningly Beautiful little town/village. Particularly as we had Travelled from Benfleet Essex. The Difference in Building's was just Outstanding. Well worth a visit if you haven't been. But so is Benfleet in it's own way..! The Original Village not the Urban Overspill, full of Ex London Gits ( like me..!) Great Video Mr Hubnut. I am Still not Giving up my Petrol engine, until forced too..!! 😎 Cheers All. 🤗
My dad had 2 nissan bluebirds. plus he also had it's previous version. The Datsun Violet. i remember all three cars were really comfy and fairly quick as well.
Now a couple of things popped up. You mention the Bluebird was a little down on power so we need to see a test of a ZX turbo. You also mentioned pop up headlights with wipers - again I think that means almost a requirement for a test of such a car. How about a trip? "Hubnut in Japan" has a ring to it, don't you think? I like that more than a Leaf. Infact even if they just styled a Leaf like that I would like it more. Simple lines and a mch cleaner design. Oh and that "200hp" claim - that motor can indeed make those numbers quite reliably - and does in the latest cars. The problem is the battery in the early car can't sustain that power output so you could have a short burst with a big cooldown but after that you would be cooking those cells and with no active cooling they wouldn't be happy about that for very long. The powerful Leaf has a much larger battery which can cope with that power level and if they decided to fit that to the Bluebird it would probably work quite well - apart from the massive weight and size.
My dad had an 2 year old ex demo bluebird it was a 1.6 5 speed saloon electric windows front only no sun roof but I think it had headlight washers electric wing mirrors.
Cruise control set to a max of 55mph using regen will wring considerable additional range and letting speed falter a bit up hills until the crest. I like the absence of gears, which the much maligned CVT also offers.
The NewBird is still showing as a ⛽️ petrol car on DVLA with £280 Road tax, so not sure what has to be done to register it as an EV and make it possible to go into congestioncharge zones for no charge?
Ian enjoyed the video wish you could do more test driving other people's motor's that's when you're at your best. hope to see you test drive a brand new Kia electric car soon because your opinion counts you are honest and you tell it how it is keep them coming 👍
I once had a Bluebird, of a slightly earlier flavour, on a C plate, i.e the previous generation to this magnificent vehicle. I lived in South Wales at the time, and took a shine to this Bluebird owned by a guy I worked with, who then said " give me £200 But and she's yours". Well, as this was a Bluebird Turbo, with a not insignificant for the time 130bhp and 15' alloys, I couldn't say ok fast enough, and a week later she was mine. Alas, the clutch went in a couple of days, but no problem, fixed that, put two new Cooper Cobra tyres up front, then proceeded with Christmas plans, which entailed, drive to Oxford to mum's to pick some stuff up, drive to Newquay, Cornwall for a good night out and pick a couple of mates up, drive back the next day to London to pick another mate up, drive to Essex to drop one passenger and young daughter off, back to Oxford for a cup of tea at mums and discuss Xmas plans, on to Kettering to drop the other Newquay mate off, then head off for Keswick for another night out and drop mate from London off at his folks house in Bassenthwaite the next day, then to a hotel in Grasmere to meet up with family for three day Christmas knees up. Then back to Keswick for New year, including much hooning around Borrowdales great roads, back to London to drop mate off, then finally back home to South Wales, phew! Not once did that Bluebird so much as cough! It was also surprisingly economical, even during some rather spirited driving whilst up North. Could an electric car do that, in that time frame? No, not a chance. And you certainly couldn't pick one up for £200 either. Anyway, that car continued to provide faultless service being hammered around South Wales until the MOT expired that summer and I sold it for spares. One of the best cars I ever owned, and also one of the cheapest. Not seen another one since.
Nice idea,but it's pie in the sky for a hell of a lot of classic car owners who cannot afford the price for conversion and 2nd how many would want to convert if given that chance...!I have a couple of ford's and a vauxhall from the 80s...ive spent thousands over the years...would I convert!!..no..I just love the sounds of the petrol engine..it just wouldn't be the same..
If John S is watching, it'll be from a slightly warmer south of France. I miss him too, haven't figured out why yet. That was very interesting, thank you.
I've always driven turbo diesels, when I started working for my current company they purchased a Nissan leaf, I was instantly converted after booting the accelerator.
LS had manual sunroof, LX had electric sunroof and later 'Premium' (really a base model not even rear speakers had nothing!) Taxi drivers loved BlueBirds and would boast about not having to service them over many years!
I would love to have an electric car, but the only models on my price range are used Leafs and similar with very small range. My commute is 77km each way door to door, and for that I'd like to have at least 300km advertised range to be comfortable that I can get back home from work.
Lets face it your Only Driving it because of that Wonderful Rear Window Wiper. We all know you have Naughty Thoughts about Wipers..! Seriously, Thanx for your efforts in bringing us into the World of 'Retro Electric Cars.' In the future, I do Fear we will all be Faced with Driving an Electric Car. But for now, Hands off my Ford Capri Convertible XR2 DOHC Turbo. (1992) With the addition of what might be Referred to as 'A Gary Exhaust System' the Burble from the Rear end Brings me Great Joy..!! Glimpses of our Future from Mr Hubnut..! 😎 Cheers All from Downunder. 🤗
I had a ski jacket those exact colours in around 1989. Bluebird, except maybe the turbo ZX was never renowned for its engine. Great restomod and kept in-house.
The very first HubNut video i watched was you driving a Nissan Bluebird it was fantastic! love how its turned into a challenge thanks for pushing the bluebird for us Ian amazing as always!
I've been wondering just how cheaply an electric conversion could be done. All the professional conversions seem to come with stratospheric price tags, but it must be possible to bring in a DIY conversion at a sensible price. Rich Rebuilds converted a MINI for $5,000 (about three and a half thousand British quids, including purchase of the car itself), but he did get lucky by picking up a top-notch controller at a bargain price, and a discarded motor from a high school technical department (I have no idea if that kind of source even exists in the UK). I think as soon as electric cars start turning up in scrapyards in large numbers DIY electric conversions will become quite common. At present any electric car which arrives at a scrappy gets picked clean in five minutes, which possibly tells us something. I bet the home-brew EV scene has a pretty efficient grapevine - "Harry Bucklands in Cheltenham got a Leaf this morning - everybody pile in!"
Hoping for a Back to the Future style "hover conversion" ubiquity for electric conversions in the future. The problem right now apart from price, is they never seem to get the range out of the batteries in conversions, they take a Tesla running gear and battery good for a real world 300 miles range and put it in something else and it gets 150 miles or something, and they rarely have rapid charging. Companies need to get on it though, it's a great opportunity. Drop in motors in specced cages or adaptors that drop in to the engine mounts, battery modules for maximum adaptability, transmission tunnel, fuel tank, rear seats, and sympathetic dial replacements with range and regen etc
Really enjoyable Video and a great real world test as well! Would be really handy for when Edinburgh implement the ULEZ zone for going to work! As you say it's the cost that puts me off, to convert.
Thanks Hubnut. Interesting machine and interesting thoughts. Yes, it would make sense to own that car as part of one's fleet. That green bumper thoroughly offended my eye however! How could they?
I've never driven or been in an electric car. But, I am aware of how regen feels as I drive electric Toyota forklifts at work. But I haven't noticed any difference between fully charged and half discharged.
In the USA, we had this car under the name Stanza. My guess is that they could not use the Blue Bird name in the USA because there is a company with that name that has been making buses and other commercial vehicles since the 1930's and probably owned the name as far as vehicles were concerned. I am actually happy to see that Blue Bird EV. I think this may make the EV more ownable for a lot of folks when the prices come down. Perhaps 10 years from now the price will come down to $10,000 for a EV conversion. This is still probably going to be cheaper then buying a new EV off a dealer lot. You take a good condition car that you already own and love and have it converted to an EV and now you have a car that you know and love that is an EV without having to shell out $30,000 or $40,000 USD
I have a real soft spot for the Bluebird as I'm originally from Sunderland in the North East. I remember getting a school outing tour of the factory when I was young. Everyone knew someone who worked at Nissan, it really took over as the main employer in Sunderland when all the ship yards closed. People from Sunderland are called Makems (because the make 'em - referring originally to ships). btw the first Bluebird shown in the photo in your video is now in the Sunderland city centre museum, if you're ever in Sunderland pop in and see it - free entry!!
I love conversions like this as they blend my passion for older cars with my enthusiasm for electric cars. Marvellous
Takes me back to my Nissan dealership days.All the bluebird demos we got were that blue with blue interiors.This must be the way forward for local journeys.Converting old cars to electric power as that is far more eco than building new.
I worked at the Nissan plant from 1992 until 2006, The Blue Bird was just getting phased out when I started, And the reason the Blue Bird was so well built was because they had to prove that they could produce a very good car, they put far more into it than they did the primera, And now that Renault are involved the standards have gone right down.
I liked the engines in the Primera and the handling, the Bluebird was like a bus or truck compared to the Primera, but as you say the Bluebird was well-built don't remember the cills rusting
The Bluebird was unkillable. Old school conservative but bulletproof Japanese engineering. Thousands of minicabbers weren’t wrong.
@@lucindafergusonart Primera was pinnacle Nissan, reliable, handled exceptional,good power.
The older bluebirds, stanzas were history teacher cars.
@@unclejoe6811 the Primera was lacking in styling both inside and out, but I loved my Primera Sri, the Bluebird was definitely for straight lines
@@googleuser2571 well almost
"Lights up the grill badge" - I haven't heard that since the last Wolseley in 1975.
I had never heard of a Chapman strut so thank you for that. The Wikipedia page says, however “The distinction is that the MacPherson strut always requires a lower track control arm where the Chapman uses the drive shaft and a light radius rod.” So possibly not Chapman struts if no rear drive shafts.
Ah yes. Maccy struts it is then.
Please tell me there is a part 2 to this video, where you drive a new Nissan Leaf fitted with a 30-year old 4-cyclinder engine
Drat. Missed opportunity. 😉
Now I've reached the end, it certainly is an interesting concept there, utilising their existing platform from the Leaf to fit into an existing car (of course, doesn't have to be a Nissan!), and is a way to keep cars that are being banned from places on the road where they deserve to be, and if you keep the original running gear in storage, then there's always the option to restore back to original too... :)
80s interior design and electric conversion makes so much sense imo.
You prove that you can put new technologies in older cars. Thanks for the video your in my part of the woods
These type of video's make you shine Ian.
Nice job! I subscribed to this channel because of the EV's you were driving at the time, so it's refreshing to see you testing the Newbird.
It would be interesting to see what Richard Morgan, at Electric Classic Cars (in Wales) would have done with it. The later Leaf batteries fit into the same space as the 1st generation battery, so a conversion to higher capacity/ longer range is a distinct upgrade patch for this car,
I'll be visiting Electric Classic Cars next week. Looking forward to a catch up with Richard.
@@HubNut An excellent TH-cam channel too. Highly recommended.
I used to yearn to own a Nissan bluebird back in the day when I drove a Datsun 180B estate in delightful brown with sticky back plastic wood effect panels on the side and tailgate. I would love to have that car again 👍👍👍
It was that first video of yours that convinced me that a (relatively) normal person could go electric. Had a new shape Leaf for three years now, and haven't run out yet. Keep up the good work. Side note - you mentioned that they (Leafs) now come in 40kws - they also come in 60kw as well, so all the more practical...
kwh, but yeah. 60kwh capacity is enough for most people.
Really great update of a classic Nissan. What a great job they've done.
I once took the previous model Bluebird in part exchange. Think it was 1981 on a W reg. Was riddled with rust. As it owed me next to nothing & was an estate decided to run it (wasn't in a fit state to sell it on). Am pretty sure it rear wheel drive. Anyway I digress. I used it through the winter then the snow arrived. Up here in the Derbyshire hills we get proper deep drifting snow. I left the old Bluebird at the end of the lane. Next morning it was buried. During the afternoon the guy driving the JCB clearing the road thought the bluebird was just another drift & took the drivers side wing & doors clean off the car That was the end of the Bluebird. It was a bland characterless car to drive but never ever missed a beat. I haven't seen one for years now. Guess they've all gone to Bluebird heaven
As a kid it puzzled me when Vera Lynn sang that there'd be Bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover. They must have been on their way to Bluebird heaven.
Enjoyed that, Ian! Always liked the Bluebirds but never owned one, I was driving around in a Mk2 then a Mk3 Cavalier when the Bluebirds were current. Reference electric cars, the only two I've driven are demo cars at work, Citroen eBerlingo & eC4. I remember doing a 14 mile journey in the eC4 & because I used regen wherever I could I only used up 2 miles of battery range.
Any sign of Harry Metcalf around Burford driving something exotic? I recognised the traffic light controlled narrow bridge from his videos.
Always loved the Bluebird. My late Uncle Walter had one when I was a kid and I still remember it to this day :)
I love EVs. I wish these kind of conversions were legal in Norway, which somewhat ironically is the country in the world with most EVs per capita.
@@williamwoods8022 : as an antidote, I'm still adding tetraethyl lead additive to my petrol....👍
I think it's brilliant that Nissan UK have put this together as a project!
Another great video has always Ian and miss hubnut and hublets and hubmutts
Did very well with the range i love the conversion .
This one gave me the warm fuzzies. In the 90's I lived in Swindon and my parents lived in Northants, the A361 journey was always such a pleasure.
Great video nice to see Byfield and Northamptonshire i used to live in Daventry.
Byfield here too.
I had a 1.6 on a F plate, fully loaded, utterly reliable. I ragged mine round the B roads of Wales and made ignored the so called poor roadholding handling etc. Did about 140,000 miles in it and sold it to a pal who did loads more then had it stolen. Best car by far I have ever had. Replaced it with a chipped Primera eGT which went like a stabbed rat, but had poorer overall quality.
If you stab a rat on a wooden floor, it's not going anywhere 🤣
They missed a trick with the name, I'd have called it the Bluebird-e, as in, "birdie"... :D
(I shall continue to watch the vid now!!!)
This was a very instructional video from you. It made a whole lot of sense because like you said there is room to coexist between petrol and EV vehicles and this video shows that you can drive an EV like a regular car without the fear of running out of juice. This would be a perfect car for my wife because she travels less than 8 miles a day going and coming home from work and throw in another 5 for shopping on the weekends. This would be under the hundred mile range easily. Plug it in on Friday when you get home and you would be fine. These conversions will ease the fears people will have about EV's. The first wave of people getting them will be home owners that can fit a charger to their home and after that people in city centers near charging stations. That's my opinion. You wait and see how this is going to ramp up and EV's will be everywhere. I will get off my soapbox now. Have a Nice Day.
As a petrol head with an electric car, van and motorbike, the mix of everything on your channel is always very interesting. My last classic was a ‘62 Chevy stepside pick up and my last petrol car was a Vauxhall VX220 turbo. I’d love an electric H van (non coffee shop), it would cure the low gearing and deafening power train, but keep the handling and style.
Something nice about being able to see the bonnet when you're driving. A feature in a lot of eighties cars.
I took driving lessons in one of those, back in 1981. I remember being impressed with it then. Thanks for the memories. Forward through the rear-view mirror, as they say.
I live in Sunderland - I don't know if it is still there, but they had a Bluebird in the local museum! Just an edit - I have driven quite a few of those roads, as my brother lives in Cheltenham. Have driven them in either a Saab 9-5 or my current car, an Alfa.
Brilliant video Ian 👍 perfect classic car for conversion and nicer to look at
Mission accomplished! This is one of the first real normal how far can I drive an EV in normal use videos I see. And this Bluebird looks very usable.
The light coming through the clouds at 22 mins were described in a Crowded House song as Fingers of Love.
A very interesting video with beautiful scenery. Very enjoyable.
The are eight bells in Byfield church and I think they usually ring on a Friday. The three oldest bells date back to 1703!
I had an F-Reg Bluebird as a young driver, it was luxurious even in 2005 - power steering, 4 electric windows and an electric sunroof!
Great Video ! One of your best. Thanks.
We have a second hand BMW i3 (which is now officially out of production) REX. About 110km range battery only (with 120km range extender back-up) and it is PERFECT for us as a 2 car household. My wife does a 40km round-trip commute 5 days a week and the car fully recharges on off-peak rates for the following day. On weekends and holidays it gets used as the regular drive and charges daily on our solar - all off the standard 240v outlet.
It is the most easy, fun, satisfying vehicle I have ever driven, and getting back into my petrol car after a month of driving the i3 exclusively felt like a whole lot of noise for very little forward progress. You really should get a go in an i3 as it has some truly wonderful quirks and character and is destined to become a classic.
Ian, that was most enjoyable. I have a Toyota CHR hybrid and as you say it's most satisfying going down hills or braking and knowing I'm effectively producing energy. Oh and the front wheels are not coated with carbon powder either, just general muck!
We had a Bluebird 1.6LX, remember my dad collecting it, it was so comfortable, plush seats, on an F plate, went from UK all over Spain and France. It was sold with 74k miles, a really reliable car if not too exciting.
I thoroughly enjoyed this! Love to have a go in that Bluebird. It has nicer upholstery than my 4 year old car.
Never realised how pretty rural Northamptonshire is.
Well you made it.... Well done Ian.... Bob.
Fascinating they decided on a bluebird
I did recently read of an Irish Republic company recycling crashed electric cars by installing their engines and batteries into old cars. And for considerably less than the £30K mentioned here (which was presumably for more collectable classic cars).
I wonder if there soon will be electric conversion kits for old cars to DIY? Or possibly garage chains offering electric installation for your old banger for say, £5000? Maybe we should be keeping our beloved old cars from the scrapyard with this possibility in mind.
That sounds like a good idea. Before too long there will be rusted out electric cars as well.
Such a good celebration of 35 years of U.K. car production at Sunderland. As my brother (NTC’s SVP) keeps saying “we make more cars in the U.K. than ever before!” Maybe not as large a percentage of global car production maybe, but still a significant volume of metal, plastic, and rubber!! PS is Burford the place that Harry Metcalfe is always driving through on his test drives then?
My Dad had a C reg 2 litre GL Estate for 7 years in the 90's - lovely car (though uncomfortable compared to the Maxi we had before it) a lot of storage space for luggage for holidays in the UK. That ding-dong headlight alarm......
Obviously most car collectors will wonder if it can be converted back to original, so the reversibility matters in that sense. But I can’t help but notice it also would be possible for some future owner to squeeze batteries in the transmission tunnel etc, if they wanted the boot back. That flexibility goes both ways, which is great, and clearly the most ideal for a show car like this which isn’t doing shopping runs anyway.
That motor and transmission whine (single speed as it is) with the limited sound insulation is really really nice. You don’t need artificial noises with electric engines!
Exellent good to see an old car getting a new lease of life being electric 👍
I did indeed have to 1.8 ZX Turbo. It was a bit quick and the rather good Nissan build quality meant I got up to a considerable speed on the M6 (in ye olde days, when it was less busy) without noticing - no rattles or squeaks (We'd had a Montego before that), just a creamy smooth ride. Much fun!
Now that's a blast from the past (or future)! I had 2 Bluebird ZX Turbos back in the day. They would see off RS Turbos at the traffic light grand prix lol 😆
When my brother first started at Nissan’s Technology Centre they still had ZX Turbos on the pool car fleet. They soon opened the Cranfield site and he said it was the only car he ever had to refuel on the journey between Cranfield and Sunderland!!!
18:59 Did you notice the lack of courtesy when you were driving in Australia? I was so surprised when a driver let me in when I was driving in London, I almost didn't react in time! Aussies and Kiwis can be described as lovely face to face, aggressive and rude while driving. I came home with a different attitude, and now I enjoy the looks of shock when I let people in.
Can't say I did to be honest. Kiwis love to complain about the state of driving in NZ, but I really didn't see much of an issue.
When I was in Aus, main thing I noticed was how dozy the drivers were. Assumed because they were so hot on speeding peoples didn't feel a need to stay awake.
I must admit, when you said you were going to Burford, I did wonder if you were going to arrive at Harry Metcalfe's place! Maybe when the 100k sub special comes around? Not his Lamborghinis, XJC or Project 7, I was thinking more the combine harvester etc. Lovely video, half an hour electropootling around the Cotswolds is always going to be a good thing. The weather wasn't too bad either, road grime is always going to be a thing in English winters.
I’m enjoying the new camera angles.
Thanks, Ian. Really enjoyed this video and tour around.
Can't wait until kits to do something similar are more easily available to the general public for classic car conversion.
Very intresting to watch, to achieve 100 miles in Winter that is 30 years old But was never designed to be electric to begin with I think is pretty impressive.
Impressive Conversion too, However I hope all old cars one day do not end up Going electric. Its like removing History in a way which would be a huge shame.
Other wise Very much enjoyed this edition Of Hubnut 👍
Great video, it's worth pointing out that with a bit of twiddling the Leaf motor can put out a LOT more power but at the expense of range of course.
My dad had a Nissan Sylvia 1.8 Turbo. registration C802TLR. Was a nice car, with pop up headlights and even had a CD player as standard. Wonder if Hubnut can find one to do a road test on, if there are any left...
I am guessing, very few people can afford £20-30k to replace the engine and fuel tank in their cars. But good to see it is possible! Like most stuff, as it becomes more popular, it becomes more affordable. But I can definitely wait for the first Chinese Ebay conversion kit. 😁
I suspect you’ll be able to do it for £10k in 5-10 years if the price of LFP (lithium iron phosphate) chemistry keeps going down. Using iron and no cobalt in LFP, the materials are much more plentiful, but they’re only a little cheaper at the moment than rarer-material lithium formulations due to R&D costs. It took a lot to get LFP as high as ~80% the performance of cobalt-manganese types.
The price of the motor is not dissimilar to any other, proportional to its size, so it all depends on the price of batteries. Given budget new electrics have gone from 50-70 mile range to 200-250 in a bit under a decade, even if that progress slows down by half there’ll be a lot more leccy conversion kits going round by 2030. Especially if the price of petrol stays high…
I had Relatives in Tuffley just outside Gloucester. ( many Moons Ago.)
And 'Stow on the Wold' was always worth a Tea/Coffee break. Stunningly Beautiful little town/village.
Particularly as we had Travelled from Benfleet Essex.
The Difference in Building's was just Outstanding.
Well worth a visit if you haven't been.
But so is Benfleet in it's own way..!
The Original Village not the Urban Overspill, full of Ex London Gits ( like me..!)
Great Video Mr Hubnut. I am Still not Giving up my Petrol engine, until forced too..!!
😎 Cheers All. 🤗
My dad had 2 nissan bluebirds. plus he also had it's previous version. The Datsun Violet. i remember all three cars were really comfy and fairly quick as well.
Great video, beautiful countryside. Well done with 100 miles Nissan
Now a couple of things popped up. You mention the Bluebird was a little down on power so we need to see a test of a ZX turbo.
You also mentioned pop up headlights with wipers - again I think that means almost a requirement for a test of such a car.
How about a trip?
"Hubnut in Japan" has a ring to it, don't you think?
I like that more than a Leaf. Infact even if they just styled a Leaf like that I would like it more. Simple lines and a mch cleaner design.
Oh and that "200hp" claim - that motor can indeed make those numbers quite reliably - and does in the latest cars. The problem is the battery in the early car can't sustain that power output so you could have a short burst with a big cooldown but after that you would be cooking those cells and with no active cooling they wouldn't be happy about that for very long. The powerful Leaf has a much larger battery which can cope with that power level and if they decided to fit that to the Bluebird it would probably work quite well - apart from the massive weight and size.
My dad had an 2 year old ex demo bluebird it was a 1.6 5 speed saloon electric windows front only no sun roof but I think it had headlight washers electric wing mirrors.
Cruise control set to a max of 55mph using regen will wring considerable additional range and letting speed falter a bit up hills until the crest.
I like the absence of gears, which the much maligned CVT also offers.
Mate
Awesome video
Yet again
The NewBird is still showing as a ⛽️ petrol car on DVLA with £280 Road tax, so not sure what has to be done to register it as an EV and make it possible to go into congestioncharge zones for no charge?
Ian enjoyed the video wish you could do more test driving other people's motor's that's when you're at your best. hope to see you test drive a brand new Kia electric car soon because your opinion counts you are honest and you tell it how it is keep them coming 👍
Thank you. As the weather improves, there will be more road tests. Winter is not the time of year to film them.
Remember doing some driving lessons in a bluebird, steering seemed really good on them as a learner
It was if power assisted! Horribly heavy without.
Yes it was nice and light
I once had a Bluebird, of a slightly earlier flavour, on a C plate, i.e the previous generation to this magnificent vehicle. I lived in South Wales at the time, and took a shine to this Bluebird owned by a guy I worked with, who then said " give me £200 But and she's yours". Well, as this was a Bluebird Turbo, with a not insignificant for the time 130bhp and 15' alloys, I couldn't say ok fast enough, and a week later she was mine. Alas, the clutch went in a couple of days, but no problem, fixed that, put two new Cooper Cobra tyres up front, then proceeded with Christmas plans, which entailed, drive to Oxford to mum's to pick some stuff up, drive to Newquay, Cornwall for a good night out and pick a couple of mates up, drive back the next day to London to pick another mate up, drive to Essex to drop one passenger and young daughter off, back to Oxford for a cup of tea at mums and discuss Xmas plans, on to Kettering to drop the other Newquay mate off, then head off for Keswick for another night out and drop mate from London off at his folks house in Bassenthwaite the next day, then to a hotel in Grasmere to meet up with family for three day Christmas knees up. Then back to Keswick for New year, including much hooning around Borrowdales great roads, back to London to drop mate off, then finally back home to South Wales, phew! Not once did that Bluebird so much as cough! It was also surprisingly economical, even during some rather spirited driving whilst up North. Could an electric car do that, in that time frame? No, not a chance. And you certainly couldn't pick one up for £200 either. Anyway, that car continued to provide faultless service being hammered around South Wales until the MOT expired that summer and I sold it for spares. One of the best cars I ever owned, and also one of the cheapest. Not seen another one since.
Cool story bro
Great report. My 2CV gives me a regen every time I drive it 😁
A Rare Bird indeed. Excellent.
Well done Nissan I Washington as well.
Nice idea,but it's pie in the sky for a hell of a lot of classic car owners who cannot afford the price for conversion and 2nd how many would want to convert if given that chance...!I have a couple of ford's and a vauxhall from the 80s...ive spent thousands over the years...would I convert!!..no..I just love the sounds of the petrol engine..it just wouldn't be the same..
Fantastic video pal. 👍🇬🇧🏴
If John S is watching, it'll be from a slightly warmer south of France. I miss him too, haven't figured out why yet. That was very interesting, thank you.
Very enjoyable video Ian, thank you.
I've always driven turbo diesels, when I started working for my current company they purchased a Nissan leaf, I was instantly converted after booting the accelerator.
LS had manual sunroof, LX had electric sunroof and later 'Premium' (really a base model not even rear speakers had nothing!) Taxi drivers loved BlueBirds and would boast about not having to service them over many years!
I saw this on a trailer this afternoon heading back north.
My perfect retro EV would be a Porsche 928 S4 with the Tesla 100 D running gear 👍
I would love to have an electric car, but the only models on my price range are used Leafs and similar with very small range. My commute is 77km each way door to door, and for that I'd like to have at least 300km advertised range to be comfortable that I can get back home from work.
A 40Kwh Leaf would easily do that commute and if you get a Tekna it has all the toys.
@@jimf4748 Sure, so would Tesla Model S Plaid, but I can't afford either of those right now.
I like there not to be any deceleration function tied to an accelerator pedal - the first stage of the brake pedal should control regen.
I think that would be harder to engineer as a retrofit. I love one pedal driving.
I’ve been getting used to the weird silence in my Volvo PHEV. I think I love it. Probably.
That’s excellent. Only thing I would change would be the centre console. Gear selection via a standard automatic shifter would be more sympathetic.
Lets face it your Only Driving it because of that Wonderful Rear Window Wiper.
We all know you have Naughty Thoughts about Wipers..!
Seriously, Thanx for your efforts in bringing us into the World of 'Retro Electric Cars.'
In the future, I do Fear we will all be Faced with Driving an Electric Car.
But for now, Hands off my Ford Capri Convertible XR2 DOHC Turbo. (1992)
With the addition of what might be Referred to as
'A Gary Exhaust System' the Burble from the Rear end Brings me Great Joy..!!
Glimpses of our Future from Mr Hubnut..! 😎
Cheers All from Downunder.
🤗
I had a ski jacket those exact colours in around 1989. Bluebird, except maybe the turbo ZX was never renowned for its engine. Great restomod and kept in-house.
Ahh happy memories of my F reg 1.6LX Bluebird, Damn good cars, I had mine for 6 years, the only problems were wiper blades & a couple of bulbs blew 😁
The very first HubNut video i watched was you driving a Nissan Bluebird it was fantastic!
love how its turned into a challenge thanks for pushing the bluebird for us Ian amazing as always!
The way EV's glide uphill with no screaming is kind of sweet.
Excellent video. I think the hatchback Bluebird is still a good looking car.
I've been wondering just how cheaply an electric conversion could be done. All the professional conversions seem to come with stratospheric price tags, but it must be possible to bring in a DIY conversion at a sensible price. Rich Rebuilds converted a MINI for $5,000 (about three and a half thousand British quids, including purchase of the car itself), but he did get lucky by picking up a top-notch controller at a bargain price, and a discarded motor from a high school technical department (I have no idea if that kind of source even exists in the UK).
I think as soon as electric cars start turning up in scrapyards in large numbers DIY electric conversions will become quite common. At present any electric car which arrives at a scrappy gets picked clean in five minutes, which possibly tells us something. I bet the home-brew EV scene has a pretty efficient grapevine - "Harry Bucklands in Cheltenham got a Leaf this morning - everybody pile in!"
Hoping for a Back to the Future style "hover conversion" ubiquity for electric conversions in the future.
The problem right now apart from price, is they never seem to get the range out of the batteries in conversions, they take a Tesla running gear and battery good for a real world 300 miles range and put it in something else and it gets 150 miles or something, and they rarely have rapid charging.
Companies need to get on it though, it's a great opportunity. Drop in motors in specced cages or adaptors that drop in to the engine mounts, battery modules for maximum adaptability, transmission tunnel, fuel tank, rear seats, and sympathetic dial replacements with range and regen etc
Original plates too? Love it.
Another excellent video Ian :)
Would love to convert my old Astra GTE one day.. Hopefully, conversions will eventually become an affordable option.
It wouldn't be an Astra GTE with a conversion, you'll lose the driving experience, the changing of gears, the feel and hearing the engine etc
Oh I don't know. GTElectric could have the grunt to blow a 16v into the weeds. Though I admit that gruff engine note would be missed.
Really enjoyable Video and a great real world test as well! Would be really handy for when Edinburgh implement the ULEZ zone for going to work! As you say it's the cost that puts me off, to convert.
Thanks Hubnut. Interesting machine and interesting thoughts. Yes, it would make sense to own that car as part of one's fleet. That green bumper thoroughly offended my eye however! How could they?
Thankfully only vinyl, so easily removed.
I've never driven or been in an electric car. But, I am aware of how regen feels as I drive electric Toyota forklifts at work. But I haven't noticed any difference between fully charged and half discharged.
In the USA, we had this car under the name Stanza. My guess is that they could not use the Blue Bird name in the USA because there is a company with that name that has been making buses and other commercial vehicles since the 1930's and probably owned the name as far as vehicles were concerned. I am actually happy to see that Blue Bird EV. I think this may make the EV more ownable for a lot of folks when the prices come down. Perhaps 10 years from now the price will come down to $10,000 for a EV conversion. This is still probably going to be cheaper then buying a new EV off a dealer lot. You take a good condition car that you already own and love and have it converted to an EV and now you have a car that you know and love that is an EV without having to shell out $30,000 or $40,000 USD
I own a Nissan bluebird beautiful car ever built