Puzzle #1795 - Richard Clem and his Crisco-Powered Clem Car

[Oguerrerob]

Vegetable oil?

[Otto Puzzell]

A product made from vegetable oil.

[Aaron65]

Powered by soap?

[Otto Puzzell]

Not soap

[Otto Puzzell]

Are there no chefs or bakers in our ranks?

[Aaron65]

I'm no chef, but maybe shortening?

[Otto Puzzell]

Yes!

[pnegyesi]

Is it powered by margarine?

[Otto Puzzell]

Aaron65 guessed the agriculturally-derived product, above (shortening)

Here's an amusingly-worded clue 

[Otto Puzzell]

Upon further research, I guess vegetable oil is acceptable, too.

[grobmotorix]

Must be a peanut butter powered Carter President...

[Otto Puzzell]

 

No, not one of those.

[gilescooperuk]

Lard or some other fat?

[Otto Puzzell]

Vegetable oil (or shortening) is the fluid used. Now the task is to ID the person and the vehicle; everything needed to win the point can be be found via a Google search using information already in this thread.

So, who'll be the first to find it?  

[Aaron65]

It's the Richard Clem Unity engine...I can't find a specific name for the car, but the man died of a heartattack soon after it was built.  It apparently got insane mileage and could go over 100 miles per hour...

[Aaron65]

By the way, the story behind this thing seems really weird...it's a whole conspiracy theory deal.  If this engine worked the way the stories say...wow...

[Otto Puzzell]

Nicely done. The car is referred to only as the "Clem Car". As you've identified Mr. Clem, the point is yours. Here's one version of the dubious story:

Flower Mound, Texas - Richard Clem claims that if the automobile industry would adopt his new invention, the American motorist would change the oil in his car only every 115,000 miles and in between not buy any gas.

That might come as a shock to Detroit and the petroleum industry, but Clem, a heavy equipment operator for the city of Dallas and a spare time inventor, said he has discovered what french fries and hashbrowns have know for years - that vegetable oil is a hot product.
He said his motor - much of which he won't divulge - uses eight gallons of vegetable oil for fuel.
"Engineers have told me this can't work," Clem said, laughing. "I only know it does. It will do someone some good and will help keep the air clean."
His motor is mounted in a bright red car but he said if it is made large enough, "this type of engine could power ships, aircraft, even provide enough power to produce enough energy for large cities.

Vegetable Oil Best

"I use vegetable oil because right now the engine is running at 300 degrees," said Clem, 43. "Water would boil and evaporate and conventional motor oil would break down."
The only apparent outside source of power in his car is a 12 volt battery, which Clem said "is used only to start the engine. Once started you can throw the battery away." He said, however, the battery is also used to power the car's lights and horn.
His power plant and car, both financed through his regular earnings, are not the picture of Detroit designing.

"I'm not an engineer, I'm an inventor," he said. "When I get this done I'll turn it over to the engineers and they can develop the finished product."

He said he once attempted to get financial backing, but "is now playing the waiting game." "I've had offers recently" he said. "But I don't know, I don't want to be obligated to anyone."

Seven Stage Pump

Outside the meager electrical portion of the system used to start the motor and run the lights and horn, the power plant consists of a seven stage pump and a "converter."
The pump, as he described it, is used to move the oil, under pressure, from a storage area to the converter from where the energy is converted into enough power to turn the motor, move the oil back to the storage area and power the pump, which in turn continues the cycle.

One hint as to the contents of the converter is "it acts like a turbine but isn't a turbine" in the normal sense of the word, Clem said.
He said his car has "some bugs in it," but said it has been driven as fast as 103 miles per hour. And when he gets the bugs worked out, he plans to take it on a test trip 600 miles to El Paso, Texas.

The success or failure of that trip might decide if vegetable oil is good for more than frying potatoes.

And here's a look at an earlier iteration of the Clem Car: