Gents, as too the mileage gone, let me interject two things, first of all, the fuels we are burning now days, are piss poor, low quality both gas an Diesel, especially compared to the fuels of the previous decades.
Engines are quite different too, overloaded with too much mandated equipment an options, almost impossible to buy a plain simple vehicle now days.
An also let me give some details about the VW Rabbit, the Diesel version, I was an impromptu consultant for that project. It was NOT originally a VW or Porsche concept, but was funded entirely by NASA, as one of their Earth Resources Projects.
My wife was a Senior Contract Specialist, Contracting Officer at Johnson Space Center, Houston for 35 years, worked, awarded more than 500 contracts a year, quite often she would consult me about ideas for some of those contracts.
This Earth Resources Project was right up my alley,, so I helped her to locate an decide who too award the contract too. The basic contract ( Grant) was for 30 million dollars, to any company, preferred a US Company,, to build a vehicle, that would carry four passengers, meet current US standards an use conventional fuel, with at least 50 miles per gallon fuel economy.
She spent months contacting over 50 US companies, from Ford, GM, AMC, Chrysler, even to Briggs an Stratton, none would take the contract, basically told her that the technology was not there. Even Cummins Diesel, who I had suggested, did not want to try it, Nor any other US Diesel or gas engine companies wanted anything to do with such a project.
My wife came home one night, frustrated, her Branch Chief, had told her to get the contract awarded, even it meant going to a foreign company. She approached me while I was reading a VW magazine article comparing the VW Bug to the new Rabbit sedan, gas engine only at the time.
So, I showed her the article, an suggested she contact VW an Porsche Engineering in Germany, she did, they jumped on it, an used only about 10 million of the grant money, to convert the VW Rabbit gas engine to Diesel an the rest is history.
I was impressed at the end result, drove one of the prototype models sent to Johnson Space Center , an over the years, have told many that of all the numerous conversions of gas engines to Diesel, this seemed to be the best of the lot.
At least 50 gas engines have been converted to Diesel fuel, over the years, from VW, to Briggs, Pratt an Whitney, GMC V6 PU trk engines, an the infamous, much harshly, undeserved, bad mouthing the Olds V8/V6 conversion, an the Chevy 6.2 V8s. The Chevy 6.2 being a whole new engine designed by Detroit Diesel as a lite duty economy engine, that did well for its lifetime on the road.
The Pratt an Whitney aircraft radial engine conversion to Diesel for the Army to use in the WWII African campaign, was most interesting, I worked on one later years,, it was called a Gulberson, spelling maybe wrong, converted in Dallas TX an not really used by the Army much, many were sold surplus.
Cold weather coming to Texas, stay warm,
Doug Traylor, Baytown, TX '78 300SD,,parts Queen for me, '81 300D daily driver,, LOVE my MBs, at age almost 70, can still work on them.
40 years, putting the bread on the table, June '59 thru June '99 as Master Auto/Diesel Tech, Master Engineman, US Navy Chief Engineman retired.
