Look mom, no gasoline

It looks like a conventional car and it even sounds like one, but on further inspection there is one big difference.

However, upon further inspection, people will find there is one big difference between Leonard Stoik’s latest project and a conventional car, it has no motor. At least in the conventional sense.

Stoik is a retired farmer and part-time school bus driver and tow truck driver, who in his spare time restores classic or unique automobiles.

His latest project is a 1955 NSU Prinz.

“The car is totally electric,” Stoik said.

When the car first rolled off the assembly line in West Germany, as part of the now defunct NSU Motorenwerke company, it had a conventional gasoline engine.

“The engine was air-cooled and in the back of the car, like the Volkswagen Bug,” he said, adding that he believes Volkswagen may have taken over the company.

Stoik bought the car in July from Fred Godberson’s wife.

“When he (Fredrick Godberson) bought the car at an auction,” Stoik said. “It was just an empty shell, it was really in rough shape.”

Godberson who owned the car for a number of years, would work on the car in his spare time in an effort to restore it to its former lustre.

“He (Godberson) had made a lot of progress,” Stoik said. “He built a frame for the electric motor and put in a chain drive.”

Unfortunately, Godberson became ill and passed away before he could complete the project, so Stoik decided he would complete the project.

After, buying the Prinz from Godberson’s widow, Stoik continued to work on the car and has gotten it to the point where it is road worthy.

“I still have a lot of work to do on it, but by the spring I should have everything completed,” Stoik said.

One of the things Stoik will work on during the winter is eliminating the noise of the car.

“When an electric car runs it should be very quiet, but this one is very loud,” Stoik said. A fact this reporter can attest to after being taken on a drive around Beaver Brook Estates.

Stoik said the noise comes from the car’s chain drive. While he said the chain drive is efficient and is capable of getting the Prinz up to highway speeds, it is very noisy.

During the winter, he hopes to solve the problem by replacing the chain drive with a differential from an ATV. In order to lessen road noise, Stoik also plans to install a sound and temperature insulating material.

“Right now it is basically an empty shell,” he said, referring to the interior of the car. “That is why you can hear it echo when you shut the door.”

Another project Stoik plans to complete over the winter is to create a more efficient charging system.

Currently, Stoik powers the car using conventional lead acid car batteries.

“Right now I have six, 12 volt batteries, making 72 volts,” Stoik said. “Unfortunately, I have no real way of charging them yet.”

Most conventional car battery chargers are created for 12-volt batteries. Stoik said if he were to try to use a regular battery charger, it would not be safe and it would do serious damage to the car and the batteries.

To charge the batteries Stoik disconnects all the batteries, which are wired in series, and hooks them up in parallel.

By charging the batteries in this fashion, besides being extra work, it also takes extra time.

He said to fully charge the batteries it would take 24 hours, which is a major time expenditure, especially considering the car only runs for about 40 minutes on a charge.

“It was really interesting getting it (Prinz) registered,” he said, adding that even though there is still work to be done before the car is roadworthy and legal.

After he had the car inspected, which is required by law before it is registered, he went to the local registry office.

“On the inspection form the mechanic, checked off was no engine, no gas tank, no transmission, and no exhaust. The registry office did not know what to do with it,” he said, adding that eventually he was successful in getting it insured and registered.

Although, Stoik said this is his first electric powered car, this is far from his first restoration project.

He said he always had an interest in cars and when he was working on his farm in Vega (about 30 kilometres north of Barrhead), he was continuously building go-carts and dune buggies.

After he retired from the farm and moved to Barrhead, Stoik continued to tinker with automobiles.

“My first big project was a 1926 Model T,” he said. “I took out every bolt of that car, cleaned it up with acid dip and put everything back together, upholstered it very nicely.”

In addition to the Prinz and the Model T, Stoik has restored a 1960 and 1970 Cadillac, 1977 Lincoln and a 1977 Ford Ranger pickup truck, which he uses to pull his other vehicles to nearby car shows.