Another far fetched Studebaker "fact"?

[41 Frank]

Ran into a guy tonight at a cruise night who told me that a Mr Olive Kettering, according to him the same engineer who designed and sold the rights to the '49 Cadillac overhead valve V-8 to GM, sold the rights to a similar design to Studebaker which became the new V-8 for 1951. I did not argue with the man because I did not have the facts, but said I seriously doubted his story. What say you all? I did tell him the two designs have similarities.

[avantilover]

Frank, I don't believe this can be true. I seem to recall our engineering staff looking at the Cadillac engine and using it to guide their thoughts, nobody sold a design to us, it was our work. Seems to me that all automakers took note of what competitors were doing and adopted useful ideas.

[63 R2 Hawk]

Actually, the 289 motors in Studebakers were Ford motors, many people have told me so.. Here's a link that MAY clear up the mystery.

http://www.studebaker-info.org/text3/studenghist.txt

[jimmijim8]

Actually, it was Ollie Kettering who was the engineer that sorta like designed the 51 Studebaker V8 although it was initially intended to be a V6. He had a crack head step brother by the name of Arlo whom had stolen the plans and then sold them to the son of a then company foundry employee by the name of Ralph Wittleski. Jason Wittlesk, the son, was an engineering student at MMI {Motor Cycle Mechanics Institute} whom was employed by Studebaker Corporation as a part time T.J. during the summer of 1949. He actually presented the plans to the board of directors scribbled down on a few sheets of toilet paper. The Studebaker Corporation added 2 more cylinders so as to avoid any complications from a law suit. I ain't LION cheers jimmijim

[Lothar]

I just read the linked article. Do any of the 199 c.i. prototype V-8 engines still exist? Were they just bored out to 232 ci, or was a separate prototype made for the 232 V-8?

[48skyliner]

On the subject of stealing other people's ideas, some of the folks on this forum may be old enough to remember that Harvard math professor, who told us to always call it "research":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4vWJbwmqM

[tomlewis]

Tom Lehrer

[Dick Steinkamp]

I thought maybe the cruise night guy was referring to Charles Kettering who was head of research at GM for quite some time and holds many patents...so I looked him up on Wikipedia.

He was not responsible for either the Cad or Stude V8, but coincidentally his wife's name was Olive. Go figure.

[DEEPNHOCK]

Charles Kettering invented hundreds of things (140+ patents), but was best known for inventing the starter motor.
He was a founder of Delco...

I searched for Oliver Kettering, but didn't find anything automotive...

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/charles-kettering-receives-patent-for-electric-self-starter

[StudeRich]

The Studebaker (SDC) Bluegrass? Band made a record that included mention of the STUDEBAKER Engineer responsible for the Stude. V8.

[Roscomacaw]

The first WCFBs were crafted from walnut burl. Innovator Herkimer P. Turdworthy was an expert whittler who tinkerd with wood bits from Studeaker's kiln scraps - his real job being a security guard at the plant. Early petrol was iffy stuff and Herkimer's brother, Hardly, had patented an aftermarket, in-line fuel conditioner with a core of walnut burl. Herkimer took the idea one step further and devised a fuel dispenser carved from the close-grained timber. The acronym : WCFB stood for Walnut Carved Fuel Burlifinator - "Burlifination" being a word that Herk's brother had coined to describe what the wood did to the fuel.

[41 Frank]

Thank You for that detailed explanation Bob! I knew we could count on you to chime in with your expertise. lol

The first WCFBs were crafted from walnut burl. Innovator Herkimer P. Turdworthy was an expert whittler who tinkerd with wood bits from Studeaker's kiln scraps - his real job being a security guard at the plant. Early petrol was iffy stuff and Herkimer's brother, Hardly, had patented an aftermarket, in-line fuel conditioner with a core of walnut burl. Herkimer took the idea one step further and devised a fuel dispenser carved from the close-grained timber. The acronym : WCFB stood for Walnut Carved Fuel Burlifinator - "Burlifination" being a word that Herk's brother had coined to describe what the wood did to the fuel.