My name is Mark Kitchener and for most of my life I’ve been inspired, made passionate, obsessed about, driven, brought and lingered over the classic automobiles of the 1960s and 1970s.

There was something about their raw power, sitting in the front seat and feeling the throb of the engine in every fibre of your body. I loved the intricate mechanics, the painstaking search for new parts, and the innovative and slightly dangerous stop-gap measures when you found that something was no longer stocked.

I was a card-carrying member of automotive clubs. I attended conventions, and built websites. I liked their growl and I didn’t care that they were walking pollution time-bombs, almost revelling in their ability to chew through petrol.

At the end of 2005 - everything changed for me. It wasn’t a startling revelation - the first time I drove in a hybrid I wanted to laugh at the feeble way it responded to my foot on the accelerator. But sometime during that year - I started to see:

I saw:

1. On a trip overseas I was able to see the devastating affect of our impact on some of the most beautiful places on this earth.

2. The violence and conflict fueled by oil.

3. The incredibly real impact of spiralling oil prices on millions around the world.

I will never stop loving the classic muscle cars - but I have accepted the new fundamental truth - hybrid vehicles offer us the only hope.

They are not a plaything for "liberal celebrities", they are not a passing fad. They are the future, a solution, a last vain attempt to dial  back the clock.