Almost every modern car today has variable valve timing. But who thought it up in the first place? The answer is Corliss Orville Burandt, or just call him Cob, nnd he works at Bendsten's Transmission Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Ham Lake.
Last night, on the way home I was listening NPR. When a show called Living on Earth had a story about Cob (here is the transcript). The story first aired about a year ago and painted a picture of a man who had the world on a string and lost it all due to shady investors and bad decisions.
Cob had 12 patents for things like variable valve timing and variable compression ratio devices in the early 1980s, long before Honda and Toyota started to use the technology. He modified a 1965 Chevrolet Corvair to demonstrate the technology. Why the Corvair? The air cooled flat six wouldn’t leak water when drilled into for modificationsBut, due to a venture capital firm that went belly up, his patents expired and became public property. .
The reporter who did the story was not really too automobile savvy, and he painted a picture of a loser between Cob’s own words and d
ramatic musical fade ins and outs. I think this picture is very far from the truth.I did some research on the internet and I stumbled across some interesting links to Cob in blogs, message boards and forums like this and this. So he is still alive and kicking!
3 comments:
Why couldn't NPR ask you to help cover the story? You obviously know what you're talking about, and might have painted a more balanced viewpoint - not so bleeding heart liberal-ish.
Who is this? Beth?
Excellent article. I have not met Cob, although I know him. It makes me happy for Cob that someone is telling the truth.
Dr. Michael Ward
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