GETTING TO THE STARTING LINE

Getting to the starting line is half the battle ...
We’ve heard stories of very powerful organizations buying out inventions that compete with theirs only to place the technology in a vault - in effect suppressing the use of the technology and to wipe out their competition. I remember reading about this gentleman who developed a carburetor that pushed a car’s mileage to 50+ miles per gallon in the ‘80s. He was featured in a major car magazine. One day his technology was being talked about and praised by the press and then he just disappeared. I can’t remember his name but I’ve often wondered what happened to him and his company.

There may be a number of explanations for that. Market dynamics may have played a role in the disappearance of the gas-saving technology. A more efficient technology like fuel injection may have displaced it altogether. Another story line would have a big bad company acquire the technology and shelve it. Whatever the reason, the technology simply disappeared. The lack of explanation gave it that suspicious aura. Remember Tucker Cars? It was supposedly a car that was ahead of its time when it came out in the 1940s but failed despite being a vastly superior product.

So, tell me if powerful forces are conspiring against the team in this case. We've been attempting to source a car for the “Junk Car Series” and on three separate occasions our efforts were thwarted. Twice, my car was towed under very highly suspicious circumstances. And the third, the purchase of two cars for the team got sabotaged. In all, one case has already been filed in court and effectively tolled because of my homelessness. Another civil action is currently being prepared for filing.

Every now and then we have to demonstrate our perseverance so we can attract the right kind of sponsors. So, we thought that we’d offer an explanation why, after two years, we have yet to get a package to start in a $500 junk car race. Here’s why:

THE 1ST INCIDENT - CAR TOWED (Film)
THE 2ND INCIDENT - DEAL SABOTAGED (Blog)
THE 3RD INCIDENT - VAN TOWED (Blog)

OUR NEW RACER: A VAN!

Well prepared plans have a place in life. Even Mike Tyson once said that “everyone's got a plan until they get hit.” That's basically what happened. We wanted a fast, durable and aerodynamically efficient package that will go around a race circuit for an entire 24-Hours of bare-knuckle racing. Instead, we got a 23 year-old clunker with 423,000 miles on the odometer. It has no leaks from what we can tell but we won't hold our collective breath. We haven't done a detailed inspection yet, but we figured there are no leaks because all the fluids have already leaked out.

There are always compromises in racing. If you want it fast, you'll have to give up on other things. In most cases, that means giving up a whole lot of money. For right now, it just ain't gonna happen 'cause we ain't got no mullah at the moment. In this case, we are giving up a lot on aerodynamics because our platform has the drag coefficient of a large trash container. I decided to acquire it primarily because I was able to negotiate a no-money down deal with installment payments. We settled for the unbelievable price of $500 (in keeping with junk car series rules) payable at $100 per month. If we find a better package, in the meantime, we could always use the vehicle as our equipment hauler. It already has a tow package which makes it an unbeatable deal.

The vehicle is a 1988 Dodge Ram 350. It is white with a blue stripe on the side. I couldn't get a picture of our van because my camera got stolen. Since our program is a work of imposing one's imagination on the status quo (creating a hydrogen economy), I ask for your indulgence and urge you to use your imagination. Superimpose this description on the attached picture – a white van with a single blue stripe on the side and without an air scoop on top. You'll have an idea on what the future racecar, I mean, racevan, looks like. We will get pictures of the real deal uploaded as soon as we can.

So, the work begins. We have to make this van fast, unbreakable and safe. Wow, do we need a budget for that one. We'll be working on that when we get around to it.

NEW: CHUMP CAR WORLD SERIES

We were doing our usual technology research, looking for ways to develop a hydrogen package and came upon a competing series for the “junk car” category. It is called the "ChumpCar World Series". Well, it definitely caught our attention, enough in fact, that we meticulously inspected their calendar and found some of the world's greatest racetracks as venues:

Road America at Elkart Lake

Sebring International Raceway

Portland International Raceway

Looking at that, we just had to say “HOLY WOW BATMAN.”

So we scrolled through and discovered three events in California - Willow Springs (April 2-3), Button Willow (June 18) and Fontana International (October 15-16). What that means is that we have more opportunities to showcase our cutting edge technologies and world-class team of race professionals. We will study the ChumpCar format and make a decision on whether to run races there or not. We just thought you'd like to know.

THE 2011 SEASON (THE DANGER ZONE)

The organizers of the "24 Hours of Lemons" recently announced the race schedule for 2011. This year the series will have a total of twenty-four (24) races across the country, four (4) of which are in California. Following are the races in California we have selected for participation:

August 6-7              Thunderhill Raceway

December 3-4          Buttonwillow Raceway

December 22-23       Infineon Raceway

Our season opener will be at the Thunderhill Raceway on August 6-7. We've decided to skip the first race at Infineon Raceway to be held in March because the series will return there in December, where we intend to race.

The $500 limit set by the promoters make it rather difficult to find a car that will last more than one full 24 hour race if driven close to the limits. We can participate as moving fixtures on the track and do the laps, or we can race. We view the track as our laboratory and will try to stress our equipment so we can determine where the breaking points are. We want to do this so we can develop technology that is durable and less expensive in the long haul.

Since we have a limited budget and could not afford the usual logistics mix of crates, boxes and transporters, we may have to drive the car to the race. That would be an 8 hour drive one way to Thunderhill Raceway from Aliso Viejo CA, where we are based. We fear that by the time the car gets there, it would be, for lack of a better word, completely spent. That would be a bummer - getting to the starting line and not be able to race. That would be like a Howard Jones song - “You can look at the menu but you just can't eat”. What would be the point of all that? We want something that invokes feelings of adventure and achievement like a Kenny Loggins song celebrating the virtues of going supersonic in the “Danger Zone” with an F-14 Tomcat. Unfortunately, we are an underfunded privateer team with no budget to speak of. Actually, we don't even have a checkbook making it appropriate to add this clip of an angry Commodore enraged with his men and their egos “ ... writing checks (their) body can't cash”.

Stay tuned.

SALT WATER AS FUEL

There are a slew of promising technologies available to power vehicles at this moment. Some are being suppressed for strategic reasons by its developers and are sitting in vaults. Yet there are others that are out in the public domain languishing for lack of need. Finding the balance is difficult because without the right economic incentive investment is hard to attract. On this post, we want to feature a technology that turns regular salt water into flammable fuel. Every time we discover clips that demonstrate the feasibility of hydrogen as the fuel of the future, we get very excited. As you read this post, you'll find out why.

On this clip, featured on another television show, John Kanzius, an inventor, demonstrates a way to turn salt water into combustible fuel. Like many inventions, he was actually looking for a solution for another problem – in this case a cure for cancer. His tinkering led to the development of a potential fuel system that can displace most of the systems currently in use. I suppose, such is the process of invention. You'll never know what you create until it stares you in the face. The 3M Sticky Note, for instance, was the result of an adhesive that did not quite meet the standard set by the team of scientists working on the project. For a while it was placed on the shelf until eventually they found another application that proved to be commercially successful. Another example is the popular drug developed by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer called Viagra. It was actually designed as a treatment for certain kinds of heart diseases. After a few rounds of medical trials, it turned out to be a lot more effective in treating another kind of heart malady - the Valentine Day variety.

We are glad that Mr. Kanzius had tinkered about and came upon this fantastic solution that may prove to solve many of our nation's problems. We would like to visit with him at some point to investigate the potential of his technology. We hope to report back on this blog some time soon. In the meantime, take a look at the astonishing thing he can do with salt water.

CLICK TO VIEW CLIP