Green-Friendly Aston Martin Revs Up E85 Engine in The Great Race

The Great Race of 1908 was an epic international competition to showcase the newly-invented automobile. Back then it was an achievement just to finish the New York to Paris route. Now, on its 100th anniversary, The Great Race 2008: New York to Paris will recreate the event and it's drawing some interesting competitors, some who will surely use the opportunity to showcase the use of alternative fuels.

One of them is veteran competitor Dr. Rich McKone of Peoria, Ill., who has converted his 1967 Aston Martin to run on E-85 ethanol fuel for the marathon race. McKone's goal is to dispel myths regarding mileage and emissions after an E85 conversion.

His idea to convert the classic car's aluminum straight six to burn the corn-based fuel stems from growing up with a family of farmers and his access to the U.S. Agricultural Research Lab, considered by many the premiere research facility in the world for E85. The research lab can be seen from McKone's backyard.

When contacting the Corn Growers Association with the idea, McKone learned there hasn't been any research documented on the conversion of standard gasoline-powered cars to run on ethanol. He approached Bradley University, also located in Peoria, to gauge its interest in the project. Together they turned the conversion into a senior class project for the Mechanical Engineering Program.

McKone ran his gasoline-powered Aston Martin in The 2007 Great American Race, finishing ninth overall. Next year, instead of running the historical British sports car in the Schuster Class for cars 25 years and older, McKone has chosen the Innovation Class to showcase E85 as a viable renewable fuel.