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The Ford V8 Super Deluxe "generator car" - sustainable driving with wood

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Created on September 25, 2012

Text:

Bruno von Rotz

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

46

Archiv

22

Bruno von Rotz

46

Archiv

22

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the generator protrudes slightly beyond the contours of the vehicle

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the spare wheel on the roof, which no longer fits in the trunk because of the gas factory

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the "gas factory" is enthroned high on the rear of the car

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - with its large-volume V8, the Ford offered good conditions for a conversion to a wood carburetor

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - from the front, the Ford equipped with the Royal wood carburetor system is hardly noticeable

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the car can run on wood, charcoal or petrol

Bild von Partner Porsche AMAG Mai Foto-Galerie 2026

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - reversing is rather difficult due to the limited visibility

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - that's all you need to drive a Ford with a Royal generator and lots of wood

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the Royal generator has a silo, stove and filtration system mounted in the rear of the car

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the 48 Ford is probably one of the last vehicles ever to be equipped with a gas generation system

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the monoblock carburetor does not exactly blend in with the Ford's lines

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the range of the car in wood carburetor mode is around 120 to 200 km per "tank filling"

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - filled with wood or charcoal on top

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - had to be fired up a few minutes before the start of the journey

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - above you can see the silo, below the stove

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - plenty of space for passengers thanks to bench seat and steering wheel gearshift

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - unrestored and original interior

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - beautiful interior with lots of patina

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - original dashboard

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - largely original and unchanged interior

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the speedometer goes up to 160 km/h, in wood carburetor mode the needle usually stops below 100 km/h

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the beautifully designed clock that matches the overall design

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - Ford emblem on the steering wheel

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - extensive instrumentation

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - large pedals, rubber floor mats

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - additional controls for the gas generator, the additional instrument on the left is a vacuum meter for monitoring the generator

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - additional equipment for operating the wood carburetor system

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - Door panel

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the generator installation looks rather archaic

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - wood or charcoal is filled in here

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - only a few changes are visible in the engine compartment

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the gas produced is fed directly into the carburetor in the engine compartment

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - additional installations in the engine compartment - the gas produced is fed to the carburetor

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the gas produced is mixed with air and fed directly into the engine via the carburetor

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the noblest way to enjoy the Ford V8

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the "8" indicates the number of cylinders

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - not a radiator grille, but a simple ornament

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - decoration on the front end of the vehicle

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - decoration on the hood

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - time has left its mark on the Ford

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the delivering garage attached its trademark

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - lots of chrome on the Ford

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - Rear lights

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - direction indicator via turn signal

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - starting aids on the roof

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) with Royal wood carburetor - the design of the De Luxe still largely dates back to the pre-war years

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Royal - Title page operating and assembly instructions - around 1946

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Schematic of the Royal generator - around 1946

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Royal generator for tractors - diagram from 1941

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Gas path diagram Royal wood gas generator - around 1946

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Diagram of a gas generation system for an automobile - from the 1940s

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Ford V8 (1932) - the new V8 engine at the 1932 Paris Motor Show

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Ford Sedan (1947) - factory picture - retouched

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Ford V8 (1947) - factory picture - retouched

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Ford Sportman's Conertible (1946) - the open version

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) - at the 1948 Geneva Motor Show

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Ford V8 (1946) - exhibited at the 1946 Geneva Motor Show

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Ford V8 Sedan Coupe (1946) - combines the space of the sedan with the body of the coupe

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Ford V8 (1946) - Sedan with two doors

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Ford V8 (1947) - exhibited at the 1947 Geneva Motor Show

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe Club Coupé (1946) - from a contemporary sales brochure

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Ford V8 (1947) - beautifully photographed

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Ford V8 (1947) - four-door sedan

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Ford V8 (1947) - Interior of the V8 model

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Ford V8 (1947) - the chassis of V8 vehicles, e.g. the Super Deluxe

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Ford V8 (1950) - the V8 engine with automatic transmission

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Ford V8 Station Wagon (1949) - all-steel construction for eight passengers

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Ford V8 Two Door Sedan (1950) - more space for passengers than its predecessor, which was built until 1948

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Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - die "Gasfabrik" thront hoch auf dem Wagenheck

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - der Ford bot mit seinem grossvolumigen V8 gute Voraussetzungen für eine Umrüstung auf Holzvergaser

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - von vorne ist dem mit Royal-Holzvergaseranlage ausgerüsteten Ford kaum etwas anzumerken

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - der Wagen kann mit Holz, Holzkohle oder Benzin betrieben werden

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - Rückwärtsfahren ist wegen der eingeschränkten Sicht eher schwierig

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - mehr braucht man nicht zum Fahren, einen Ford mit Royal-Generator und viel Holz

Summary

During the Second World War, driving wood carburetor vehicles was the only way for many people to be mobile on a large scale. In the early 1940s, the gas generators used made enormous progress. Today, hardly any of these converted vehicles still exist, with the exception of the 1948 Ford V8 Super Deluxe portrayed in this report, which is equipped with a complete Royal wood carburetor system and presents itself unrestored but in beautiful original condition. This report deals with the developments and characteristics of mobile gas generation and its use in automobiles, using the example of a 1948 Ford V8 Super Deluxe. The article is illustrated with many current and historical pictures, as well as several brochures and technical documents.

This article contains the following chapters

Mobile fuel production in the car
The heyday during the forties
In the sights of the trade press
Specially organized test drives
The Ford V8 Super Deluxe from 1948
With Royal generator
Elaborate starting procedure - you can't just go to the village to get a quick sandwich
Driving with foresight
Not without danger
Extensive maintenance work
Limited utility value
Reduced mileage
Variable action radius
When particulate matter and combustion emissions were not yet an issue
Further information on the subject of wood gasifiers

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

In the film "Back to the Future" (Part 2), scientist and inventor Dr. Brown collects waste from garbage cans, throws it into his very special DeLorean and uses it to help fuel the flying sports car. Things were not quite so progressive in the 1940s, when "generator cars" came into fashion due to the petrol shortage. However, it was still possible to drive with wood waste or charcoal. Hardly any vehicles from that time have survived, which makes it all the more interesting to come across a Ford V8 with a Royal generator installed. Wood gasification as a way of producing fuel autonomously, so to speak, had already been developed at the end of the 19th century. Around 1920, the first cars in France were powered by suction gas from charcoal gas plants. Initially, this type of energy production was mainly used for tractors and trucks due to its size.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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Images of this article

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - die "Gasfabrik" thront hoch auf dem Wagenheck

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - der Ford bot mit seinem grossvolumigen V8 gute Voraussetzungen für eine Umrüstung auf Holzvergaser

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - von vorne ist dem mit Royal-Holzvergaseranlage ausgerüsteten Ford kaum etwas anzumerken

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - der Wagen kann mit Holz, Holzkohle oder Benzin betrieben werden

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - Rückwärtsfahren ist wegen der eingeschränkten Sicht eher schwierig

Ford V8 Super Deluxe (1948) mit Royal-Holzvergaser - mehr braucht man nicht zum Fahren, einen Ford mit Royal-Generator und viel Holz

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