Diesel history...

[Ted Hart]

The history of the diesel engine is very interesting! Dr. Rudolph Diesel's initial attempts at running an engine on coal dust (coal was common) were a failure. In his attempt to salvage the basic concept, he tried coal oil. Long story short, it worked....

Further polishing led to putting the beast in a car...the rest is history.

Dr. Diesel and his engine competed with the early gasoline-powered automobiles in the U.S. The looming impact on sales in this country was noted.

Tragically, Dr. Diesel was reported to have "fallen overboard" while on a steamer on one of his trips across the Atlantic. Thus sayeth an old edition (now long gone) of the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Hmmm....

[Spule 4]

Triva, who built the first production Diesel car? BTW, Mercedes Benz was second.