Cars of the 196 cfs 55 



First Dr. Thomas Midgley, Jr., discovered that a few drops 

 of tetraethyl lead (composed of lead and alcohol) in gasoline 

 made it burn evenly and halted the knocking. But, since tetra- 

 ethyl lead's effectiveness strangely decreases as the amount 

 added to gasoline increases, it could not raise the octane rating 

 of gasoline above 87 the type of fuel our military planes 

 used for years. 



So, instead of adding anything more to gasoline, the chem- 

 ists took the second step. They began to rebuild the fuel itself. 

 Crude oil is a complicated compound of hydrogen and car- 

 bon, with smaller amounts of sulphur, oxygen, and a few 

 other elements. By a refining process known as "cracking," 

 the hydrocarbon molecules are cracked apart under terrific 

 pressure and heat. Then they are hooked together again to 

 form a new fuel high-octane gasoline. Improvements in the 

 cracking process have brought a great saving in petroleum 

 supplies, because it can make high-octane fuel from heavy oils 

 that otherwise could not be used for gasoline. 



Today we have several fuels that exceed the 100 octane 

 rating. One superfuel "triptane" is reported to be 50 per 

 cent more powerful than aviation gasoline. Only very small 

 amounts of triptane can be made now, but it, and other super- 

 fuels, should be in quantity production in a few years. 



Our capacity to produce powerful fuels will be available 

 for civilian cars when the war is over. And the price will be 

 low. These high-octane fuels will mean that if you now get 

 eighteen miles per gallon you should get thirty or more in 

 the postwar years. 



Future Traffic Solutions 



By now you may be saying, "This low-cost postwar dream 

 car sounds fine. But it will merely be a nightmare to me unless 

 something is done about traffic congestion and parking diffi- 



