How time can catch up with things was proven by the purchase we made this weekend during the cultural weekend in Doesburg. In 'Het Winkeltje' (curiosities, books, CDs dinnerware, clothing etc) we found, next to a few books that we were still looking for, Het Autoboek '88, author Ted Sluymer. And we read about catalysts ...
Ted Sluymer
Ted Sluymer was one of the hard-core auto journalists at the time, he was a pioneer in the field of cost calculation software for private drivers and so he made those 'car books' at a time when making books and selling advertisements on them was still the most normal thing. Sluymer is currently the director of SelectDrive bv.
Ted Sluymer is still active in the car world. He is a serious automotive trend watcher and still a man who still has very clear opinions.
In that Car Book 88 book, of course, all cars available at that time were described. But in the front is an editorial article that we would like to share with you. So from Autobook '88, by Ted Sluymer:
Catalyst cars may soon be unsaleable
When the trees started to shrink a bit here and there and a handful of people started to worry about it, a number of European ministers wanted to get a white foot from those usually difficult environmental fanatics. If even then the car could be bombed as a scapegoat, then you are doing it very well as a couple of environmental ministers.
We are now a few years later and insiders know that the environment ministers have not done so well at all. After that follows a bit about how 'we' of course pay the citizens for the costs again, but that the environment is very important to us. We go on:
Then why aren't things going so well with all those clean engines, catalysts and modified fuels and things like that? This turned out to be the result of poor mutual communication between the countries. Cars with catalyst were sold, but there was not enough unleaded gasoline. Car manufacturers therefore recommended that the catalytic converter be removed during holidays abroad because leaded gasoline is deadly for catalytic converters.
It was also not clear how long such a catalyst would last
And when studies showed that under certain circumstances a catalytic converter was 'dirtier' than the emission of combustion gases from a car fueled by lead-containing petrol, more questions and doubts arose.
In 1988, there were already name and reputation car mechanics who said the catalytic era was coming to an end. The engine makers could make power sources that were 'clean' enough to work without a cat. And in that year the existence of such engines was already reported.
Honda was mentioned as a shining example in that story
And for engines running on LPG, the flag was also raised from an environmental point of view. In the meantime, researchers had also extinguished that catalysts are carcinogenic. Just like the amounts of benzene and toluene in the then modern fuels.
In 1988 it was clear: "So we are not out of it yet"
We have to live with more cars and more catalysts for the time being. With unleaded gasoline. There is a chance that the consumer will eventually become the victim of the cat antics again. Because there are indications that cars with a catalytic converter will soon be difficult or impossible to sell. Will the catalytic converter be the big miss of the auto industry?
year of production 2018
In 1988, catalysts were by no means the norm. Now it is. And for our classics we can just buy aftermarket cat kits ...
