My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

I had my Model at downtown today and two boys about 10 came over and were very impressed with my restoration. They asked if it runs on regular gasoline and I stopped them in their tracks and informed them that my Model A is solar powered. They were Impressed but could not find the panels.
I went on to explain that all cars are solar powered and that even a charcoal bbq is actually solar power. Their mouths were agape!. I went on a bit and "showed" them that all energy we have is from the sun, only exceptioin is nuclear. They left, with more understanding and the younger one said, "Wait till I tell my Dad!"
From there, I left and filled the tank with some nuclear gasoline.
Hav'in fun,
Jim

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

That's still a lot better than their teachers with a political agenda telling them that gasoline comes from dead dinosaurs.

Any engineer or physicist can tell you that the earth isn't big enough to support enough dinosaurs to produce as much oil as has been pumped from the earth over time since it's discovery and use.

To be fair, there is a group of UNT students converting a Model A to electric power- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlrRzsBvNyo

Or, this 29 roadster converted to electric power- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-W2rrk-elrg

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

I live 30 miles from UNT and had no idea they used a model a for the spirit vehicle.

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

I guess we just have different ways to deal with our cars admirers. I tell it like it is and answer their questions strait forward. There is enough confusion in the world as it is. Why not answer that yes it works on ethanol laced fuel but in order to protect the engine we must enhance it in numerous ways. I love little kids asking questions as before too long they will be potential Model A owners. Ad to their education, not their confusion and no head games !
IMHO
Al

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Somebody totally missed the education behind the explanation... Making kids think is what its all about.

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

When they are in the classroom I agree ! In a parking lot admireing a vintage car the answers need not be so deep that the person gets confused with the answer. In my humble opinion that is not how we truly promote our hobby and the Model A sector of the hobby ! We can all play the I am smarter than you game but there are no winners in that game.
Al

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Good job Jim. You got them to think beyond what they are given in the textbook. You expanded their minds!

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Ross and I ask you is this the answer you would like your child or grandchild to have received. I don't think so. There is a time for being serious and a time for fun. This was not the time to become Mr. Educator, it was the time to be Mr. Nice Model A man ! I personally get no pleassure in proving that I am smarter than two 10 year old boys !
Think about it !
Al

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

I really feel sorry that you guys have such little insite.
My five minutes with these to lads was equal to a whole day in the class room.
"Wait till I tell my Dad" says it all. These guys were "pumped"!

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Sure sounds like you did the job. Two thumbs up.:):)

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Solar powered in the modern vernacular usually means running on sun energy coming from the sun right now and not stored energy in fossil fuels. Now if you want to trace the energy back to the source you can go one more step and note that the energy from the sun comes from nuclear fusion. So your car is really a nuclear powered vehicle.

Bob

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Dead dinosaurs, not enough mass, but the decomp mass of producers (they make carbohydrates from water, carbon and energy) and lesser consumers exceeds the dinos by several orders of magnitude and exceeds the mass of present and projected oil reserves. New research now shows significant oil production from carbohydrate decomp, not just long chain animal glycerides. Maybe 0.03% of the oil is actual dino juice. Remember the Sinclair Oil dino? A more representative mascot would have been a pile of dead seaweed, algae, and bacterial scum!

BIOMASS PYRAMID:
http://sparkleberrysprings.com/v-web.../trophic2c.png

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Good to challenge the mind. Hopely "dad" doesnt say "ya whatever, see ya later".

I alway liked informing people that the dash pieces in my sold 42 was made from bio plastics. Green before being green.

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Sounds funny Jim, just ignore the negatives on here, there are people that always what to be /thatguy and have something to say. Some people here would argue if you had said the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Sounded like a fun interaction, unfortunately some people just don't get it or have a sense of humor. Keep on having fun :D

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Honest Opinion:

Good job Jim!

Looks like today, while traveling in reverse with education, we are stuck with having ding-bat tenure protected teachers who forgot their A,B,C's long ago & are concentrating on more sick leave, more sabatical leave, more substitute teachers, illegally fixing student's grades to look good, & voting solely for more teacher pay.

When one gets out of high school today, it appears that one may be partially qualified to swat butterflies with a tennis racket -- but, don't be alarmed if he or she has to ask, "What is a butterfly?"

Jim, you did a wonderful thing -- I challenged my (4) children all of the time when they were growing up, & now my grand kids -- this sort of talk was most common years ago whereby it produced lots of common sense & street sense -- hopefully after speaking to their parents they will be prepared to realize that adults are kidding sometimes -- so sad, but well over 51% of Americans still haven't caught on to this fact when watching our leaders on today's liberal news beleiving everything spewed from their lips -- in my opinion, America in 2013 is presently on what used to be called a "Snipe Hunt".

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

hey jim kudos to you, that was your good deed for the day.👍👍👏👏

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Kudos for the day that you outsmarted a ten year old ?
I would rather the 10 year old came home and said " I met this really friendly man that had a great car " ! Not that I met this 5o year old that is smarter than me !
I can't believe that a Model A'er thinks it is his job to give a physics lesson when a little kid asks a question !
Al

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe
 

Well, Jim, I am happy that you took such good opportunity to teach these boys some truth that was outside the thinking box. This is a conversation they will never forget and it was valuable to them. It will cause them to think. Of course, LuckyAl wasn't there to know the tenor and context of this encounter, but he surely is confident that he knows best. Maybe if someone would have challenged him to think beyond common and shallow thoughts, he could have appreciated what you did.

Re: My Solar Powered '31 coupe