Engineer-A-Car is my public engineering notebook focused on designing modern electrical, electronic and software systems for classic vehicles. The work here focuses on how technology can be integrated into mechanical systems with restraint, respect, and long-term thinking — without erasing the character that made these machines worth preserving in the first place.
I’m Halldór Stefánsson, working as a software engineer with a background in mechatronics. I work at the intersection of mechanical systems, electronics, and software — particularly where reliability, diagnosability, and maintainability matter more than novelty or feature count.
Much of this site is centred around a long-term project: the thoughtful modernisation of a 1972 MGB GT. The aim is not to "upgrade" the car in a superficial sense, but to design reversible, well-considered systems that coexist with the original engineering. Every decision is treated as a systems problem, constrained by real-world use, ageing hardware, and the assumption that someone else will need to understand and service the work decades from now.
This site documents real design work as it happens — including trade-offs, incomplete ideas, open questions, and mistakes. The emphasis is on why decisions are made, not just how to implement them.
You will find it useful here if you care about engineering that ages well — or about integrating electronics into mechanical systems without unnecessary complexity.
— Halldór