The Plastic automotive engine has its origins in the late 1970s with research and work done by Matthew (Matti) Holtzberg of Polimotor Research and his associates. Since then Holtzberg and others have done steady work in the field. Holtzberg's early work Matti Holtzberg first attempted to make polymer pistons for an Austin Mini engine in 1969. The pistons ran for only 20 minutes until failure. Holtzberg remedied this by fitting the pistons with aluminium crowns and he sold these pistons to racing builders during the early 1970s. Polimotor research Matti Holtzberg founded Polimotor Research Inc. in 1979. It was based in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The company, in cooperation with its suppliers and sponsors, created and raced engines consisting of a large percentage of polymers in the 1980s. Version One Version one was based on Ford's 2.3-liter Pinto engine and weighed (vs. for its cast iron counterpart). It was designed to produce at 9200 rpm. It was composed of metal cylinder sleeves, metal combustion chamber tops, metal piston crowns, bearings, valves and seats, and a stock 2.3L Pinto crankshaft. Nearly everything else in the engine, including the block, rods and piston skirts, were made of glass reinforced Polyamide-imide thermoplastic resins manufactured at the time by Amoco Chemicals Co. The engine was never installed in a vehicle. Although sources claimed that Ford had been a partner in creating the engine, Holtzberg was later quoted as saying that "Ford was not involved at all". Version Two Another engine, supposedly based upon the Cosworth BDA and YB series engines, weighed , half the weight of its metal counterpart. Plastic parts included the engine block, cam cover, air intake trumpets, intake valve stems, piston skirts and wrist pins, connecting rods, oil scraper piston rings, tappets, valve spring retainers and timing gears. The engine was raced over two seasons. It was raced in a Lola T616 HU04 and competed in the International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) Camel GT Championship in the Camel Lights (Group C2) category in 1984 and 1985. The car earned several top 5 finishes including its best finish of third in class at the 1985 Lime Rock 2 hours. Holtzberg patents Throughout the 1980s, Holtzberg was granted 10 patents for composite engine parts and their methods of production. The patents were issued between 1983 and 1988 and are elaborated on in this section. The first patent issued was for ignition cables, citing