GMR (General Motors Research Laboratories, now GM R&D Center) has a history of improving the internal combustion engine, especially as it relates to automotive use. During the quarter century from 1950–75, considerable effort was devoted to evaluating alternative powerplants based on thermodynamic cycles different from those on which the established spark-ignition and diesel engines are founded. Two of these, the steam engine and the Stirling engine, incorporated external combustion. Research on those two alternatives is reviewed. Both were judged to fall short of current needs for commercial success as prime movers for conventional automotive vehicles.
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