Go to an auto parts store and you can look down an aisle comprised entirely of air filters, or one of nothing but oil filters, not to mention hundreds of other items.  Each item within it’s category performs the same function, but for reasons of profit, the auto manufacturer changes to a new design every few years.  When I was a teenager, over 20 years ago I came up with the thought of making my own line of cars, each of which that all used as many of the same parts as possible.

Over the years I came to the understanding of the profit that was made by the parts industry, but in the end they have created hundreds of variations in parts, and made money, but shafted the consumer.  With repetition of the same part, on the other hand, you can actually improve on the original, instead of just spending engineering resources on making it a different size and shape.

My solution – universal parts.  Air filters, oil filters, and a host of other parts could easily be replaced by universal parts.  Take the air filter for example.  This has a circular or rectangular element and air is pulled through it.  The filter could be too small, but could never be too big.  The filter on a big V8 motor would never cause a problem being used with a small 4 cylinder motor.

The issue then becomes adapting a universal part to a particular application.  This could be accomplished with a simple adapter plate or piece that allows the universal part to fit into the individual car.

This concept doesn’t just hold true for air filters and oil filters.  Things like oxygen sensors in exhaust pipes,  temperature sensors, fuel filters, fuel pumps or coolant thermostats are all nearly identical in function, but are only slightly different in size and shape.  Indeed, you could easily use many parts on each and every car on the road, right down to the main computer.  You easily could adapt any wiring harness from most any production car in existence to a universal computer that would just need you know what car it was attached to, and in some cases could figure it out on its own.

This should really happen.  Then take the concept everywhere else.  Air filters aren’t just used in your car.  🙂