Buick hybrid in 1974

[serb]

I picked this up on the TEAM BUICK Site:

Buick Hybrid 1974

[Guest brh]

Great story, thanks for the look see!! Sadly I am not surprised, even as a kid pumping gas during the energy crunch I knew we were smart enough to do better.

[Guest DaveCorbin]

During my research trip to Canada in 2006 looking for McLaughlin info, I saw a Galt in the Canadian National Automotive Museum in Oshawa, Ontario. It was built in Canada in 1914 and is a hybrid car, very similiar ideas to Wouk's and today's Prius. Small engine charges batteries, which drive a high torque DC electric motor. Tchnology was primitive, but I'm sure it worked. Just so all of us know that someone got there a LONG time ago.

Just proves the old saying: There ain't anything new under the sun !!

Regards, Dave Corbin

[Guest Shaffer]

Very interesting... Thanks for posting.

[imported_75RivGS]

Good story. As surprised as when I first heard about Buick and Cadillac already had airbags (ACRS) in their 1974 and 1975 BCE models.

Still looking for the first year a European car (Mercedes?) came up with protecting a driver and passengers)like that (at least 20 years later).

[Reatta Man]

I found this quote very revealing about the true personality of the bureaucrat with a little power:

QUOTE

The story of the 1974 prototype hybrid car pits Wouk against an EPA bureaucrat, Eric Stork, head of EPA's Mobile Source Air Pollution Control Program from 1970 until 1978. Stork was highly skeptical that any inventor or backyard tinkerer could produce a feasible low-emission vehicle.

UNQUOTE

If he had been in power at the turn of the 20th century, Wilbur and Orville Wright would have been rejected, and Henry Ford would have also been dismissed as 'backyard tinkerers.' In other words, one pissant bureaucrat could have single-handedly stopped most of the modern world as we know it. That also means that if we didn't have the airplane, Germany and Japan would have very likely won WWII....

At best, we would still be traveling cross-country at 30-40 MPH in a steam-powered locomotive.

NOW do you understand the basic conservative principle of less government?

[Guest brh]

AMEN!!!

[Matt Harwood]

It is truly sad that nobody followed this path until decades later when the Japanese picked up the scent. I wonder how the controls operated with such rudimentary computerization back then? I'd like to see how it operated in the real world and if there was any downside to it that a normal person couldn't master. At the very least, he apparently demonstrated the feasibility of such technology and after that, someone with deeper pockets could have better exploited it. What a shame.

I'm in total agreement with you on this, too: bureaucrats do nothing to improve anything for anybody. They are best at saying, "No," the instant something exceeds their understanding. Feh.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Reatta Man</div><div class="ubbcode-body">NOW do you understand the basic conservative principle of less government? </div></div>

Roger that, Reatta Man! Too bad there are no more true conservatives left. If there were, you'd probably have to teach me the secret handshake.

[Reatta Man]

I know that a lot of people have trouble with this concept, but I have seen the fair and open market work in far too many examples to mention, once you get the Beltway Bureaucrats out of the way of the people.

So, to me at least, the answer seems to be to get government out of the way, and let a free open market encourage people to 'build a better mouse trap.'

And yes, there is and always will be a need for some oversight (very likely will always be total or mostly government-controlled) to protect some or all people who will put $$ over integrity and personal responsibility to do good to all mankind!

If you think that is inconsistent with the concept of less government, then remember, the government's job is to PROTECT its' citizens' rights, not regulate them. Under that mantra, the government needs to protect people from bad ideas, bad laws, etc. etc. That can be anything from lead-based paint on Chinese toys to the idea of seperate water fountains and schools for 'colored' people.

[HurstGN]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Matt Harwood</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Reatta Man</div><div class="ubbcode-body">NOW do you understand the basic conservative principle of less government? </div></div>

Roger that, Reatta Man! Too bad there are no more true conservatives left. If there were, you'd probably have to teach me the secret handshake. </div></div>

EVERYBODY!!! SShhhhh!!! Matt doesn't know the secret handshake. Be careful what you say around him now.

Maybe Matt's been sucking in waaaay to many greenhouse gases lately.

[Matt Harwood]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: HurstGN</div><div class="ubbcode-body">

Maybe Matt's been sucking in waaaay to many greenhouse gases lately. </div></div>

I love the smell of Hi-Test in the morning. Make mine 101 octane, please.

PS: Reatta Man, how the heck are we suddenly agreeing on every single thing you say?

[Reatta Man]

Matt,

'Cause life is too short to argue, being negative all the time only raises your blood pressure and usually not the person who loves to argue, and we live in the most blessed country on Earth.

Other than that, no particular reason!

Take care!

Joe

[serb]

There should be a seminar held in Washington D.C. The people invited ought to be the Executive Branch including all of the Cabinet members and their underlings, The Supreme Court Boys and other, and the 435 Guys/Gals in the house and the other 100. They ought to have the same from all of the states and territories.

OH, The Subject of the seminar:

.......................................................................................................................................... THE CONSTITUTION of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

They are all following their own selfish agendas instead of looking out for the citizens and residents (LEGAL)of this country.

I could go on but I keep my posts on the short side. There are many here that can expound on my thoughts.

Matt, Reatta Man, Dan, and the rest of you, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK!

Stevo

[imported_75RivGS]

although complete bull (IMHO) I couldn't resist to post this short movie