As we noted earlier in the Class of 1986 series, that year saw the ushering in of plenty of digital-age technology and the ushering-out of plenty of stone-age technology. Case in point: the Mazda RX-7. Introduced for the American market in 1979, the RX-7 made prominent use of the company’s Wankel rotary engines, and that […]

I often say, flippantly, that the industry is just now starting to master the technologies of a century ago. That’s been more an impression than a statement of fact; I recall seeing many things in early publications and thinking, “Wow, I had no idea they did that so soon,” but if pressed, I wouldn’t be able […]

Who doesn’t love the story of a frustrated inventor? In the case of Don Butler’s article in SIA #69, June 1982, the frustrated inventor is Charles F. Jaeger Sr., who turned his attention (as many inventors eventually do) to automobiles. Rather than focus on one specific aspect of the automobile, Jaeger decided to go into […]