STINK BUG: METHANE-POWERED VW HITS THE ROAD



By Hydra

Researchers in the UK have engineered a Volkswagen New Beetle that runs on refined human waste.


Whether or not this "feces flyer" technology will waft over to the States remains to be seen. But if it does, it's good news for flatulent folks like my sister Cammie. She's got enough to power the Daytona 500!

Loose the DEUCE!

SMOKEY YUNICK’S HOT-VAPOR "TEASE" IS BACK

By Cammie

Smokey Yunick’s legendary (or some say mythical) Hot Vapor Cycle engine has long been of interest to Truthseekers at this blog.

Now the September 2010 issue of Hot Rod Magazine reinvigorates the legend with the so-called "Story Behind Smokey’s Hot-Air Engine.

According to HRM, the keepers of the Hot Vapor flame are engineer Ralph Johnson and ISCA show car builder Tony Allers.

Johnson claims to have built the first Hot Vapor engine at GM back in the days of the Blue Flame Corvette. Allers picked up Smokey’s Fiero prototype engine at Yunick’s estate sale and recreated Smokey’s infamous Fiero. HRM reports the recreated Fiero is now in Don Garlits’ drag racing museum in Ocala, Florida.

Of course HRM’s story is another big tease. Allers and Johnson don’t really explain how to build a Yunickmobile at home. And the story suggests that Yunick took some of the "secrets" to the grave. HRM does suggest that big corporate money has picked up the research (perhaps under the guise of the trendy Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) theory.

But for grassroots hot rodders, "hot vapor" remains just so much "hot air." That's sad. Imagine where the technology would be today if secrecy and greed weren't factors.

Here’s a potpourri of links to discussions about Yunick’s engine:

Skeptical engineers speculate on how it works (or doesn’t) here and here.
Background research on Smokey and the Hot Vapor Engine.
The story behind Tony Allers’ Fiero is here and here.
A test drive of Tony Allers’ Fiero.
Hot Vapor Engine presented to the Smithsonian.