Charles F. Kettering and the Copper-Cooled Engine

Visitors to the 1923 New York Auto Show were greeted by the following statement in the Chevrolet exhibit area: "Chevrolet Motor Company announces an important development in economical transportation, consisting of a motor embodying new application of established principles governing the efficient control of motor temperatures under all weather conditions."' This advertisement announced General Motors' latest strategic innovation in the fight against Ford: the copper-cooled engine. When development began on an air-cooled engine for Chevrolet in 1919, General Motors sought a light-weight, inexpensive alternative to the Model T. The new aircooled engine promised numerous advantages over its water-cooled competitors: It weighed less per horsepower, neither froze in winter nor overheated in the summer, dispensed with the radiator and other cooling accessories, and achieved better fuel economy. Prospective owners no longer needed to garage their vehicles to insure easy cold-weather starts. All in all, the new automobile seemed the ideal antidote for GM's slumping sales position.2 But Chevrolet's secret weapon was a failure. Less than six months later, the copper-cooled car was abandoned. A dejected Charles Kettering, the man who had directed the project as head of the General Motors Research Corporation, offered his resignation. Air-cooling of General Motors au-