But not in a hoodless Hiboy? There was a news item this morning that OPEC (the oil-producing countries' cartel) are threatening to pump up their prices (yeah, even higher!) if we all go to alternative fuels. Pity we can't all instantly switch to something else and let them pump their oil where the sun don't shine!
Bureaucracy is a crippling addiction. This story reminds me of Buckminster Fuller and the dome home. Clearly superior in all aspects, but never getting into public approval. Hats off, Mr. Wouk
It's really not suprising that his idea received no support from the EPA or Detroit. It was in the 1970s for pete's sake. While it is a glowing eulogy for Mr. Wouk, I wonder what facts were left out. As Stork says, the car was rigged to run on batteries on the Dyno, which was cheating in his opinion. That fact alone could have been enough to cancel the contract with the EPA. Also, considering that America is a capitalist country, if Wouk's idea had been comercially viable, he would have been a rich man. Either he didn't have the business sense or the right connections to turn his private company into the first hybrid producing automotive company. It's like he just expected that Detroit would buy his invention and produce them, when that didn't happen he just gave up.
I love gas. I love nitro. But wouldn't it be GREAT to not need it anymore? I'd like to run fuel by choice, not necessity. Think of it...to not be at the mercy of crazy arabs and crooked captains of industry. Kook or NOT, old man Wouk was ahead of his time and should be respected for his work, regardless of his inadequate financing or approach to the technology. It's a damn shame the way industrial America and the big 3 (or is it 2 now?) plod along like they own the world, when the world is evolving beyond them. No vision...it's embarrassing. Pretty soon we'll just be a big "Fonzie" theme park. Is there anybody on this board that is working on anything other than a gas burning engine in their hot rod, or maybe adapting hybrid technology? If so contact me would ya?
you can imagine the kind of propeganda that would have been associated with technology back then .....you know there were pictures and stuff of his deal ....probably destroyed ....i think it would have been interesting to see what all he had done to make it work in that buick....figure that there has been a lot of stuff that has been bought out by the government and the oil and car companies over the years.....just for the sake of being a little too good for the people......brandon
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