King Charles Drives a Luxury Vintage Car That Runs on Leftover Wine and Cheese

“It smells delicious as you're driving along."

King Charles isn't well-known for being a man of modesty. After all, he just hosted a coronation event that reportedly cost upward of $125 million, where he was dripping in rare (and extremely controversial) diamonds and swimming in furs. He's also a somewhat well-known clotheshorse and is the proud owner of a fleet of luxury cars. And at least one of those cars highlights the King's concern for the environment, too.

In 2021, then-Prince Charles revealed to the BBC his Aston Martin MK ii DB6 Volante, which he received as a gift for his 21st birthday, had been converted to run on E85 bio-ethanol, which he produces on his Duchy of Cornwall estate. And if you don't know what E85 is, let Charles explain.

"My old Aston Martin, which I've had for 51 years, runs on — can you believe this — surplus English white wine, and whey from the cheese process," noted cheese fan Charles shared.

Related:Wine Waste Can Be Used to Make Eco-Friendly Racecar Fuel

According to The Guardian, E85 is a mix of 85% bioethanol made from leftover wine, cheese whey, and 15% unleaded gas. Don't worry. He's not wasting wine or cheese, as the wine used is not fit for human consumption, and the whey is merely a cheese byproduct.

However, this was no easy conversion, nor did the Aston Martin team exactly welcome it.

"The engineers at Aston said, 'Oh, it'll ruin the whole thing,'" Charles shared with The Telegraph in 2018.

But the king wasn't taking no for an answer. "I said, 'Well, I won't drive it then,' so they got on with it, and now they admit that it runs better and is more powerful on that fuel than it is on petrol."

The king also noted one more spectacular side effect of this luxury conversion. As he said, "It smells delicious as you're driving along."

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