On 21 Dec 2005 16:41:05 -0800, "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,

For late-80s designs of catalyst, and for late-80s Ford-based
predictions of lean burn engines.

Catalysts are much less restrictive now than they were then. The Yanks
put up with rubbish for 20 years and just threw a few more cylinders at
the problem. Europe wouldn't, so we fixed it.

As for lean-burn, then much of the hype over it came from Ford, who were
themselves being hoodwinked by outsourced R&D to a bunch of cowboys. A
particular cowboy in fact who nicked my '50s edition of Ricardo.
*******.