Our esteemed automotive historian wraps up the year by considering an air-cooled wonder that proved a disaster .

IT was the car that almost sank Chevrolet; the subject of the first automobile recall in the United States and also the vehicle that tarnished the reputation of a larger-than-life inventor who’d transformed the automobile industry.

Charles F. Kettering obtained a degree in engineering from Ohio State University in 1904, moved to Dayton for a position with National Cash Register Company and was instrumental in development of the first electric cash register.

In 1909, with Edward Deeds as his partner, he founded the Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, known as Delco. One of the company’s initial accomplishments was development of the first practical electric ignition system, including electric starter, for automobiles. On the heels of this revolutionary contribution, he then perfected the automotive electrical system for headlights and taillights.

Kettering sold Delco to General Motors in 1916 and accepted a position as the head of that company’s research division. In the decades that followed Kettering developed or perfected the modern spark plug, leaded gasoline for higher compression engines, the torque convertor automatic transmission, and four-wheel hydraulic brakes. He also improved diesel engines, led a team that created safety glass, and was credited with development of the refrigerant Freon.

Marring his record of success was a project launched in 1918. The goal was development of a modern, air-cooled engine that would ignite sales of the Chevrolet 490, a car that had been in production with little change since late 1913. As envisioned the new engine would also reestablish Chevrolet’s reputation as a competitor to Ford which had been damaged with introduction of the expensive V8 powered Model D in 1917.

Air cooled engines were not a new technology. Franklin had been marketing their vehicles as the “car for all seasons” since 1902. The durability of their air-cooled cars was legendary. And until the company ceased production in 1934, Franklin pushed the technological envelope with extensive use of aluminum, and even an air cooled V12 engine.

Adams Farwell had had limited success with their radial air-cooled engine due to the company being underfunded, not because of mechanical issues. Julian suffered from similar issues as did several other companies that produced cars with air cooled engines.

Hans Ledwinka of Austria began working on the development of air-cooled automotive engines before World War One. His endeavours would result in the revolutionary Czech built Tatra with its aluminum and magnesium air cooled V8 engine, built in the 1930s.

So, as there were ample examples of air-cooled engines in automobiles, the challenge faced by Kettering was to develop an engine that could be massed produced at a cost equal to or less than the conventional Chevrolet engine. His solution was development of an engine with cast iron cylinders to which pleated copper fins were fused to the block in a bonding furnace designed by Kettering. To keep costs in line with the proposed budget, the engine used numerous components from the 490.

Midway into the project Pierre duPont, president of General Motors, decided that an entirely new Chevrolet should be designed for the engine, and that both should be ready within 24-months. And if this wasn’t enough of a challenge, he also authorised development of an air cooled six-cylinder engine and entirely new vehicle for the Oakland line.

And that is when the troubles began. While the emphasis was on the Chevrolet engine, both projects had been rushed to completion as General Motors was in a dire financial position resultant of William Duran’s second tenure as chairman. The company needed something fresh if they were to compete successfully, especially during the post WWI recession.

In the laboratory the engines had performed relatively well except for an overheating issue resultant of uneven cylinder cooling. Kettering was convinced that issues could be resolved more quickly with real world testing. So, in May 1921, Kettering had test chassis fitted with four- and six-cylinder air cooled engines.

Improvements were made with a modicum of success. But despite his warnings that there were still issues to resolve, orders were given for the company to begin tooling up for Chevrolet production in April of 1922, and for Oakland production to commence shortly afterwards. The pending disaster was magnified when Oldsmobile was added to the list of cars that would be equipped with the air-cooled engines.

With the deadline fast approaching, in an unprecedented move the company also ordered the chief engineers at the Oakland, Chevrolet, and Buick divisions to work directly with Kettering to perfect the engines. Detonation issues were determined to be an issue that contributed to overheating, and so Kettering developed a leaded gasoline that partially resolved the problem.

At the eleventh-hour production of air-cooled Oakland and Oldsmobile cars was placed on hold. Conventional cars to roll from the factory for those divisions. But in December of 1922, limited production of the air-cooled Chevrolet commenced. It was an unmitigated disaster.

Only 759 cars were manufactured. The cars ran hot, and lost compression at high temperatures. Dramatically uneven cylinder head temperatures resulted in warpage of heads and manifolds. Some cars experienced piston seizure at 1000 miles.

Within 30 days production and development was suspended. More than 200 cars that had rolled from the assembly line required repair before they could be sold. These were scrapped immediately.

Chevrolet dealers had 150 cars as demonstrators. These were returned to the factory and scrapped. Several hundred cars were pulled from dealership inventory, and they were also scrapped.

More than 100 had been sold to customers who wrote angry letters to the company or as editorials published in newspapers. Only two customers refused an offer of replacement or reimbursement.

One was a gentleman in Boston. The second car had been purchased by Henry Ford who was curious about what had been heralded as a revolutionary new engine. These are the only two cars that remain as a tangible link to the first automobile recall in history, and to Charles Kettering’s greatest failure.

Written by Jim Hinckley of jimhinckleysamerica.com