Just a quick note to say that my 1987 BMW 325 will soon hit 150,000 miles and shows every indication that it will keep going to 200,000.

Why is it that American car makers can't make an engine like that? The answer, of course, is that they can't but wont.

But what if they can still turn a great profit, employ thousands, save the planet, and offer the public a great deal? They can do this by creating a great engine/chassis like the BMW has and designing--every year--a new shell that the public can buy to keep up with that new car smell. That's what I'm saying: keep the engine and chassis well-built and durable but offer a new body every year. The average consumer will enjoy a new car every year yet not pay the cost of an entire car. The seats, paint job, gadgets, wiring, etc. will be new but the engine and chassis will stay the same. Several options can be made available with regard to the engine: economical, standard, powerhouse. The body can be offered as sports car, pick-up truck, luxury, SUV.

Detroit, doesn't this make more sense? Make a move into the future before Toyota, Mazda, and Honda do it sooner.

Detroit, for help in getting your act together, please do not hesitate to contact me at thelobbyist@gmail.com

From what I've read hydrogen cells are the way to go (no more dependancy). Now it seems like two major discoveries have added a boost to the technology: researchers discovered that hydrogen could be released from glucose molecules using cheap tin, aluminum, and nickel catalysts instead of expensive platinum; another researcher found that if you do use platinum, you don't need nearly as much as was once thought (they coated a metal with platinum and then used acid to remove most of the platinum--the platinum left behind was enough to do the job, while the platinum that was removed was recycled.

These are just the kind of advances that we need to eliminate our dependence on foreign oil.

There was a scare recently about the possibility of hydrogen cells hurting the ozone layer. Luckily, a clear-headed engineer said that it was all a question of engineering; in other words, if a leakage problem existed, you only had to engineer it away. This is the sort of thing that Alfred Nobel did with nitroglycerin when he added it to saw dust.

Have you ever held on to a favorite car or purchased a used one only to discover that the car has or is developing electrical problems? Sometimes the problem is so darn exasperating that you would rather give up the car.

Today, with integrated circuits so inexpensive, it is possible to create a car electrical control network. Here's how it will work: There is routed thoughout the car a single wire. That wire--we'll call it the Grid-- will carry positive current AND a signal that piggy-backs on it (this technology already exists--it's used to control household appliances from your computer). Every device in the car (starter, radio, window motor, car seat motor, lights, etc.) connects to an individualized module that is attached to the Grid. The module only supplies the device with power if the module receives a signal from the grid. Input devices also attach to modules that attach to the Grid and these place the necessary signal on the grid.

The signal consists of 2 or more parts: an identifier section that might say, "the next command is intended for the passenger side window motor," and the actual command section that might say, "Open the window slightly."

This new wiring paradigm will practically eliminate present day wiring problems and aid immensely in troubleshooting any problems that do arise.

The second idea I have is to build a chassis that will last for several generations (think BMW, Rolls Royce). The automobile companies continue to make money by selling people a shell to go on top of the sturdy chassis. People would be able to buy a pick-up shell, a sedan shell, or any custom built shell that they might want. They could more readily keep up with the Joneses because they are only buying a shell to put on their chassis. This saves on steel. Also the electronic components can be easily salvaged from the shell and re-used. Initially, the car companies would build a chassis with an internal combustion engine but, later, people would be able to upgrade to hydrogen power.

I think it is a win-win situation for the car companies, the people, and the environment.