Lunaz – Exploring the Electric Avenue

Electrifying classic cars isn’t a new thing. There are plenty of companies doing it, a case in point being Swindon Powertrain with its Mini that we featured earlier in the year. The idea of classic lines with a modern, tree-hugging source of propulsion is one that has captured the hearts of many an engineer. This is no doubt fuelled by the banality of the new cars that have brought this technology to the masses. The Nissan Leaf is a wonderful technical achievement, but it’s hardly an adrenaline rush. The Tesla range is superb in terms of showing how 100% electric cars can work, but the models themselves have all the soul and charm of a fridge. This is why many have become obsessed with applying electrification to the classics. And the newest name to this currently niche fold is Lunaz. And Lunaz has big plans. 

The company’s mission seems to be fairly noble. Appreciative of the design and the evocative nature of classics, Lunaz wants to take them into the future. It wants these lines, these shapes, these works of art if you will, to be a part of future motion rather than just that of the past. And that’s nice, but we can’t help but sense a bit of an ‘anti classic’ sentiment in the press release, which is odd given the subject. It talks of ‘answering the questions of reliability, usability and sustainability’ which is noble, but also somewhat dismissive. A classic is only unreliable if it’s poorly maintained, it’s only unusable if you’re unwilling to accept its ageing design and as for sustainability, we’d argue that a car produced 60 years ago has a far smaller carbon imprint than a car that was built 60 years ago, has since had its engine ripped out, and has instead been filled with modern batteries full of freshly mined or otherwise sourced material.

So what of the cars themselves? The most resolved project would be the Jaguar XK120, which is in the final stages of testing. Powered by a 80kWH electric battery back, which has been custom engineered at the company’s Silverston base. Apparently this car “will demonstrate the power of combining new world technology with old world beauty.” Right’o. 

The other cars currently in development are based around a 1961 Rolls Royce Phantom V and a 1956 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud, though these will pack more power in the form of a 120kWH battery pack. And the technology doesn’t stop there. All of the offerings from Lunaz will feature bespoke altered chassis, traction control, cruise control. There has been considerable time and effort put into the weight distribution, so as to retain some sense of driving pleasure. 3D scanning technology has been employed to ensure absolute accuracy. 

Atop this foundation of modern wonderment will sit the bodies, perfectly restored and wearing paint and trim care of the finest masters of their craft. Internally there will be WiFi, modern electrical systems and creature comforts. To look at, there will be nothing outwardly obvious to distinguish these cars from their liquid dinosaur-fuelled siblings.

And therein lies the problem. Yes, the metalwork may carry with it genuine heritage, but as a whole, these cars are no longer classics. They’re merely a facsimile of what they once were, and while the press release pours out prose about taking these cars to the future, the reality is that these cars won’t be bought by people who want a classic car. They’ll be bought by people who want other people to see their classic car. The kind of people who’d buy a retro looking fridge, but only if it was a brand new HotPoint underneath. People who, in a nutshell, aren’t interested in the classic element at all. They’re just interested in the image.

There is no doubting that this is a highly impressive feat, and we congratulate the team at Lunaz on their hard work. There is genuine engineering and design skill behind this project, and we look forward to seeing the cars when they’re tangible. Until then, though, we can’t help but feel that this is a project that takes from the classic car world without really giving anything back. The press release talks of classics as if they are an inconvenience, and as if they and the internal combustion engine are going to vanish in the next three weeks. And while many would like that to be reality, it’s not. Internal combustion is here for a while yet, and in the case of classic cars, even longer still. This is a multi-billion pound industry – the petrol pumps won’t be shut off next week. 

Cars like the Swind-E Mini we mentioned earlier bring the electric future to classics in a way that still retains the charm and for the most part, originality of the donor car. Whereas projects like the Lunaz cars seem to smack of picking apart classic cars, only taking the pretty bits forward. The press release talks of classics almost as if they’re an inconvenience, rather than something that should be cherished and carefully looked at as a proposition for the future. We will of course reserve judgment until we get to see a Lunaz car in the metal, but at the moment it seems like these £350,000 machines are just a ‘cool’ solution to make money, rather than a means to sympathetically take these cars into the future.