Charles Nelson Pogue

For other people called Pogue, see Pogue (surname).

Charles Nelson Pogue (15 September 1897 - 1985) was a Canadian mechanic and inventor who in the 1930s filed a series of US patents for a miracle carburettor (sometimes called the Winnipeg carburettor^[who?]) that would enable a car to attain 200 mpg, and described as a vapourising or sometimes a catalytic carburettor. But the 1936 (or 1932?) announcement was not followed by any verifiable tests or demonstrations.^[1]

The carburettor is described in several publicly available patents which have now expired, and there is no evidence that the patents were ever suppressed or that the rights were bought up by the oil industry, the motor industry or the government. The patents included: U.S. Patent 1,750,354, U.S. Patent 1,938,497, U.S. Patent 1,997,497 & U.S. Patent 2,026,798.

However a recent (2003) version of the story from Cornwall, England has the original blueprints supposedly turning up in a secret compartment in a retired mechanic’s toolbox. The story claims that the Toronto Stock Exchange “was rocked” in the 1930s (although no date or year is given), and that Pogue was given a job as manager of a factory (unnamed) making oil filters for the motor industry. ^[2]

See also

• Fuel saving device#Urban legend

References

1. ^ Snopes.com: 200mpg carburetor
2. ^ "Oil Industry Suppressed Plans for 200-mpg Car"

• fr:Charles Nelson Pogue (in French; refers to him as born Winnipeg, but calls him an inventeur américain)
• fr:Thomas Ogle (in French); (Tom Ogle (1953–1981) followed on from Charles Pogue)

External links

• Chapter III from The Fish Carbureter Book by Michael H. Brown (1982)
• 1936 photo of Charles Nelson Pogue (and interview, in small print)

Persondata
Name	Pogue, Charles
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	15 September 1897
Place of birth
Date of death	1985
Place of death