Porsche's newly-patented SIX STROKE engine

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Yep, not sperm. Oil from sperm whales.

I thought this sounded familiar. Using George’s favorite search function, I found this, including discussion of sperm whale oil:

Whale oil transmission fluid

‘A few months ago I learned that, as recently as 1972, General Motors was using sperm-whale oil in transmission fluid in its cars. I’m not sure why I was surprised to learn this. It took nearly another decade for much of the world to agree to ban commercial whaling, in 1982. (A handful of countries still ignore the ban.) But the detail about G.M. still struck me as anachronistic. The global pursuit of whales inescapably connotes the romance of nineteenth-century New Bedford and Nantucket: delica…