Smokey Yunick was a legend among racing mechanics, and he took the art out of rule-bending to new heights. One of his greatest mysteries was that of his adiabatic engine. Originally conceived after slipping off the toilet and hitting his head back in the 50s, Smokey claimed the engine achieved unheard of levels of performance and efficiency (up to 60% energy usage!) through the use of super pre-heating the fuel. The methods to prevent pre-detonation and the engine becoming a glowing-red mass of proto-metals was claimed to be Smokey’s secret.
Sadly, despite claims of interest from manufacturers both major and minor, as well as the military, development was shelved back in the early ’90s, and Yunick took that secret of what supposedly made it work along with him when he went to that great pit stop in the sky back in 2001. Find out more here.
Image source:[schou.dk]
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