One day we will know the full green credentials of a car, and what I mean is we will know the amount of energy involved in making it (and even scrapping it), as well as the details like fuel consumption. So, for example, the amount of metal in a normal car takes a huge amount of energy to dig out of the ground (some recycled), to transport, melt, cast, transport again, machine, weld, etc. Keep the car going a few more years and you spread that energy out over a longer period, you can be greener overall than a lot of cars even if you use a few more gallons of petrol. With a lightweight fibreglass bodied car, you save a bit more too, no huge machines rolling and pressing panels, no welding of panels, no robots to be made and powered, less weight to accelerate and brake. And a sporty car has less wind resistance too - which is why a super high performance Marcos can still return good fuel consumption (like 28mpg), and even be greener from cradle to grave than the average family saloon. The Marcos took less energy to make, and will last longer.

And it is a lot more fun !!!!

I have the luxury of the space for 3 cars and they are as follows :
A V8 Marcos - fast sporty fun. An engine simple enough to rebuild at home, a galvanised chassis and fibreglass body so no rust. Very few special parts, so parts are cheap, old enough to have negligible depreciation, even reasonable insurance. At the same time it is rare, beautiful and classy.
A V6 Calibra - a true 4 seater coupe, with reasonable performance, excellent fuel economy. Bought for a song on eBay, so negligible depreciation, but expensive for parts and not cheap to insure either. Black and beautiful.
A 110 V8 Land Rover - this former radiation detection vehicle has every extra Rover offered. It is no longer fitted as a mobile lab, but with 6 foot of load capacity in the back it is the general beast of burden (and occasional camper). Moves fridges, ovens, garden rubbish, lathes, engine hoists, and when it snows it is great fun - how anyone manages without one of these I don't know. In spite of the fact it is called a 110, I can't get it to go that fast - but close !

I have carefully worked out the costs of these vehicles, and mainly due to cheap servicing, cheapish insurance, and negligible depreciation, they work out the same as a normal modern family car - except for fuel costs as they are a bit thirsty! But if I want to save the planet, then I have a motorbike too (OK two, actually).

To keep things going it is useful to be able to strip down and rebuild. For example the V8 Landy engine was a fun project - see enclosed piccie :

Safety Engineer for major oil and gas company (designing things so that if the worst happens people don't get hurt).

Challenging, and maybe the only job that if you do perfectly, nothing happens !

All things mechanical - especially cars and bikes, but also have a selection of vintage lathes, old power hacksaw and pillar drill, ancient generator. People at work say I am turning into Fred Dibner - which I take as a compliment.