Aidan wrote:
I saw Maggie Thatcher (ex industrial chemist) on TV ranting about
catalytic converters, the only time I heard her speak sense. A more
cost-effective method of reducing emissions was the lean-burn engine,
which was both more efficient and less polluting that an un-catted
engine. I believe Rover had done much development on the lean-burn
technology, but that seems to have been scuttled after BMW's brief
period at the helm.

"Europe" followed legislation implemented in California, to
cause a horrendous own-goal re. environmental impact. Catalytic
converters have little place in motoring in the UK.