Dashboard Keyboard Operates Car-Exhaust Calliope (Nov, 1940)

Dashboard Keyboard Operates Car-Exhaust Calliope
Under the hood of the automobile owned by Leo Feuchter, of Ironton, Ohio, is a homemade calliope which is powered by the exhaust of the engine and played by means of an organ-type keyboard at the right side of the dashboard. Depending upon the speed at which the motor is running, the sound of the calliope can be heard from six to eight blocks away. To start the music, the operator presses a pedal, diverting the exhaust gases into the instrument. The range of the calliope is two octaves. Feuchter, a sixty-five-year-old automobile mechanic, designed and constructed the unique installation, which has attracted wide attention in parades and at conventions.