Evaluating Alternative Internal Combustion Engines: 1950–1975

Abstract

GMR (General Motors Research Laboratories, now GM R&D Center) has long sought ways to improve automotive combustion engines. Following World War II, considerable effort was also devoted to evaluating new powerplants that embodied different operating cycles from those of the established spark-ignition and diesel engines. Two internal combustion variants receiving attention during the third quarter of the 20th century were the free-piston diesel and the gas turbine. Research on those two alternatives is reviewed. Because their shortcomings were judged to outweigh their advantages, neither has found commercial application in highway vehicles.