My point is, if the technology was there, why don’t you reprint these articles? If we do not use these patents we will be even further behind in the world. You can pressure carmakers to build these vehicles and make us less dependent on foreign oil.

Sigh. I’ve been working here at this same desk since the mid-’80s. POPULAR MECHANICS never published any such article. You’ve taken the bait on yet another urban legend. No simple intake manifold modifi cation can improve fuel economy several hundred per cent, as the legend asserts.

And you can’t make a car run on water, as I’ve written about and appeared on US television repeatedly to report. Check the archives on popularmechanics.com to see what I’ve written.

“My father-in-law’s friend”, indeed. This particular urban legend – someone accidentally buys a research vehicle with incredible economy – has been around for generations. GM (or Ford or Chrysler, I’ve heard the same story applied to all of the Big Three) did not buy up the patents and bury them. Carmakers globally are desperate to increase fuel economy. Anyone who had any such technology would have an immediate, unbeatable market advantage. The engineers who design cars constantly look for tiny percentage increases in efficiency to stay competitive. The thought that a car manufacturer would deliberately quash this technology is just ridiculous.

For the straight skinny on these myths and many, many more, try snopes.com