Steinwinter Supercargo 20.40

Trucking is big, old, dirty business. I mean that in the most loving sense, but to be fair, there are terms like "lot lizards" for a reason.*

For some, that's one kind of dirty. But when most trucks on the road turn diesel into smoke and particulate matter at the rate of approximately 33 L/100 km (7 US mpg), it's easy to see why lawmakers, truck manufacturers, and even companies like Wal-Mart have tried to reduce the amount of fuel these big rigs use.

Maybe we should have paid more attention to a small German firm based in Stuttgart with a knockoff Ferrari crest as its logo.

Steinwinter is best known for its Fiat tuning parts and kit cars, but in 1983, at the Frankfurt IAA International Automobile Exhibition—otherwise known as the Frankfurt Motor Show—it unveiled a radical, practical new way to think about transport trucks.

After reading a bunch about what can make heavy trucks more fuel-efficient, there are a few reasons why Steinwinter's approach was so special then, and now.