email author of himac website J Bruce McBurney.

The Tom Ogle Story

Tom Ogle says it wasn't a hoax. He insists there were no hidden fuel tanks or other alternate fuel sources used to power a two-ton automobile for 205 miles Saturday on only two gallons of gasoline fumes. Ogle isn't alone in his no-hoax statements.

Carl Wright, for example, has been working on internal combustion machines for 35 years. He is a certified teacher of auto mechanics and is currently shop foreman at Peck's Automotive Service, where Ogle built his controversial energy-saving fuel system.

"It's no hoax." Wright said in straight-forward fashion. "There were no hidden tanks." Wright, who has no vested interests in the invention, said at first he was skeptical of the young man's invention.

"I've watched the thing from the time they built the fuel tank to the very present," Wright said"It looks to me like it'll do what Tom said it would do."

Wright said any secret fuel compartments would have required many extra man-hours by Ogle to install in the car body.

"He only worked on the car during office hours," Wright said,"and he didn't have a key to the door" to get into the automotive shop during off-hours or weekends.

Experts Probe Ogle Fuel System

"He has not been here working on the car at nights, and the car has been locked up here every night." Wright said.

James Peck, who owns Peck's Automotive, has a 50-50 partnership on any royalties from the invention. And he said he would stake his 30 year professional reputation in northeast EI Paso on the fact that there was no hoax involved in Saturday's test drive.

"I personally believe he (Ogle) had some help some-where along the way developing the system, although he will not admit to that. But I can vouch that the system works.

It's no hoax. It was my car hr converted. We built system in my shop. I'll put my name on the line. It definitely works.

Peck said he provided financial back for Ogle's invention after he and Ogle met about a month ago and discussed the system.

Frank Haynes Jr. is registered state engineer with degrees from the University of Texas at Austin and Southern Methodist University. He was at Peck's Automotive Saturday where he looked the system over and talked with Ogle.

"From what I saw, there was no hoax." Haynes said, adding that he learned of Ogle's invention in The Times. " I decided to venture out and see what was going on," he said. " I'd never even heard of Tom Ogle before.

But I'm familiar with combustion from previous work and wondered what the kid had come up with.

"What I saw was very convincing," Haynes said. Haynes said he felt the only chance of a hoax might have been in the amount of fuel that actually was in the tank.

Prior to the test drive Saturday, reporters and onlookers witnessed a mechanic at Peck's empty the special,pressurized gas tanks, and pour two gallons of fuel into the tank after it was empty.

Haynes said he was additional convinced of the system's authenticity by the fact it was difficult to start the car before heading to Deming.

" The car had to be primed quite thoroughly in order to run. That gave me the idea that there weren`t any fumes in the system after drainage.

"That was quite convincing for me personally. If there had been hidden fuel, there wouldn`t have been any difficulty in starting the car,according to how he (Ogle) described the system to me,"Haynes said.

Haynes described Ogle as an "open, earnest" young man "who convinced me everything he said should be true." Ogle all along has maintained nothing but simple trust in his invention.

"It works,"he said frankly."There is no hoax." He described his Saturday test drive,in which a times reporter participated as a "beautiful performance." Ogle added with a chuckle that the return to El Paso from Deming was made with one pint and two ounces of fuel left in the fuel tank.

"We did pretty good though.We made 205 miles on less then two gallons," he added. He said he maintained constant 55 to 60 mile per hour speeds.