U.K. FUEL MOVES

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33442, 25 January 1974, Page 21

U.K. FUEL MOVES

Britain’s car manufacturers are preparing to rush out engine “economy packs” if petrol rationing is introduced, with the aim of helping carowners get more miles a gallon at the expense of performance. The economy kits will include such items as special carburettor needles or jets to give weaker fuel mixtures, John Langley reports in the “Daily Telegraph.” The kits will be a better buy for motorists than some of the dubious “economy devices” now being put on the market, Langley says. One British motoring magazine has tested a selection of these devices, and has said that nearly all of them are worthless. Langley says that the worsening fuel situation is likely to lead to renewed emphasis on the diesel engine, which is more efficient in its use of fuel than the petrol engine. One British manufacturer is expected to announce a diesel car in a few months.

At present, Mercedes and Peugeot are about the only firms making diesel passenger cars, but Ford of Britain has announced a new range of high-speed diesel engines for vans which might also be suitable for car use.

Ford of America plans to have a Pinto compact car running with a Stirling engine in a few months. The Stirling can use fuels other than petrol, but car Stirling

engines are not likely to appear before the early 1980 s. Meanwhile, the British magazine “Motor” has reviewed some ideas of the past for fuels other than petrol or oil. During the Second World War, it says, some Canadian firms ran trucks on sawdust, which was heated in special units to give off combustible gas. A British car-owner also converted his car to run on sawdust, at 48 miles to the bag. During the Second World War, a Stockholm firm ran a fleet of 50 vehicles on the alcoholic gas from fermenting dough. In other countries, fuel oil has been made from palm and cottonseed oils and groundnuts, and a British engineer converted a car to run on a mixture of carbide, peat, and water.

In the United States, interest is being taken in the use of wood alcohol as motor fuel. Easily and cheaply produced in large quantities, it can be used mixed with petrol, and is said to give good performance and low emissions.

The oil situation is having an effect on other motoring products as well as petrol. One company which specialises in carcare products says that most of its 60 lines are based on chemicals derived from oil.

Already in Britain, antifreeze is virtually unobtainable (no glycol available), there is a shortage of containers for car-care products (shortage of plastics), and other motoring products are also disappearing from accessory - shop and service station shelves.