“In 1933 Charles Nelson Pogue made headlines when he drove a 1932 Ford V8, 200 miles on a gallon of gas during a demonstration conducted by The Ford Motor Company in Winnipeg, Manitoba using his super-carb system.”

In early 1936 Breen Motor Company, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada tested the Pogue carburetor on a Ford V-8 Coupe and got 26.2 miles on one pint of gasoline (That’s 200+ mpg).. The performance of the car was 100% in every way. Under 10 mph the operation was much smoother than a standard carburetor. T.G. Green, President of the Breen Motor Company did the tests.

There is a certain maximum economy mixture of gasoline and air ( generally conceded to be about 16 to 1). If a carburetor delivers this with the air, this is accepted as the best it can do. Actually, “the best” is possible only under ideal conditions. That is, a one-cylinder engine operating under a constant load-fluctuations in power would upset the entire mixing process.

The matter of gasoline engines efficiency is one which has stumped automotive engineers since the advent of the horseless carriage. Because of the high power losses in the carburetor, in the exhaust gases, and low power factor at which engines work, gasoline has never been delivered its theoretical potential.

What, then, did the Pogue carburetor do to overcome these power losses and offer the mileage claimed?

Basically, the Pogue carburetor heated the gasoline before mixing it with the air. With this system, the inventor claimed that the imperfect mixing of gasoline in air ( which resulted in small unvaporised droplets of gasoline which do not explode, which burn slowly, unevenly and increase internal heat- all bad for performance and mileage ) was eliminated and every possible energy unit in the gasoline was being utilised.

To provide a perfect gas-air mixture for the engine, Pogue believed that a heating chamber was needed to thoroughly vaporise the gasoline before it joined the air stream and entered the cylinders.

Although automobiles do have a heating chamber built into the intake manifold, this chamber heats the gasoline and air mixture only after it leaves the carburetor Although this helps the automobile to start easier and warm up faster, it also creates an expansion of air and consequently, a smaller charge of air-gas mixture is drawn into the cylinder. Pogue decided that the only way to produce a real gasoline vapour was to heat the gasoline and not the air.

Pogue admitted to little difficulty in starting the car however, for the gasoline was not warm until the exhaust gases reached it. So the first charge of gasoline going into the engine was far rawer than those later when it had been heated.

But with the exception of this one minor flaw, Pogue still believes his carburetor is completely practical.

So the mystery of the Pogue carburetor lies not in the devise itself, but in the semi-secret story surrounding its invention, development and eventual abandonment.

“Were you ever threatened, Mr. Pogue?”
“Yes, several times.”
“Were you ever physically attacked?”
“No.”
“Was your workshop broken into and models stolen?”
“Several times.”
“Were you ever the victim of political pressure?”

“What do you think? Say you’re a government official and you’ve got oil stock and my invention came along. What would you do? I had pressure from both Canadian and American politicians. One of your fellows, a big shot in Washington now, was one of them.”

“Will you name him?”
“No.”

“Why didn’t you produce the Pogue carburetor?”
“Firstly, we couldn’t get materials, then distribution, then the war came along, then…”
“There’s a story which says you were bought off. Is this true?”
“No.”

” Don’t you think the public would have bought your carburetor for installation on standard cars.”
“I don’t want to talk about it anymore”.

And that was the unsatisfying end of Charles Nelson Pogue’s first interview in 14 years, perhaps the last time Pogue will speak about his invention to anyone.

Earlier, in the two-and-a-half-hour interview, this information came to light:

Charles Nelson Pogue, tired and frightened, is hiding a great deal of information for no apparent reason that I can fathom. Although visibly moved when confronted with the picture of young inventors who might be aided by his experiences, he would not tell his story. Even when confronted with the fact that many readers would consider his refusal to speak a certain indication of fraud, he merely shrugged. He refused even to pose for pictures and threatened prosecution for invasion of privacy if photographs were taken against his will.

One emotional moment came when he was asked if his invention was dangerous. He leaped up, towered over his gadget-strewn desk and waggled his forefinger: “That’s nonsense. Gasoline will not explode unless it has oxygen. In my invention the gasoline was heated before it mixed with air. Its entirely possible many people misunderstood that, but my invention would never explode. Never!”

He also disclosed that the first rash of publicity brought letters of inquiry from governments of Italy and Canada and personal visits from representatives of Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. He hinted darkly at financial and political considerations offered to him by these governments but, when pressed for details, refused to continue.

In an interview he gave to NBC-2, John Weston states: “It came up to 463 miles a gallon if we had driven in the same manner – a gallon. I drove from here to Fort Myers, and I’m up there keeping up with traffic running 80 mph.” The NBC reporters were even took to a test drive, where the engine stumbled a little bit and John said he put too much vapor on the pipe, so when he lowered the vapors, everything got back to normal.

Some mechanics say that disconnecting the fuel lines and not feeding the engine with regular liquid fuel will eventually ruin it. It may be so, but precautions can be taken and proper oiling can be made so the engine is well-lubricated. The same thing applies to gas-converted cars, and they run smoothly forever (it’s only gas, not oil). I don’t know much about mechanics, but if you find a system that gets you 463mpg, you’re also smart enough to find a proper lubrication system.

John Weston
17481 Harris Ave.
Port Charlotte, Fl. 33948
(941) 380-2138
AVFSman [at] aol.com

I actually had a customer in the other week at work talking about this I was kinda interested in it. He said that lately someone has found and used the design, but before they could sell the design to someone else I guess 2 people showed up at his house and told him "You will not make this, and if you try again you will be shot". I didn't know to beleive him or not just found the whole thing kinda interesting.