TIME-OUT : WHO Invented VTEC ?

Honda's VTEC is renown all over the world.

So here's a little VTEC trivia. Who invented this incredible technology ?

The answer comes from a very interesting article that was published in the Honda Malaysia's new newsletter, With DREAMS. I just received the inaugural issue, volume 01 December 2006, which comes with a very nice photo of the legendary 1st generation B16A with its individual parts all laid out featured on the cover. A scan of the cover is shown on the left (click on it to download the full size, 1200 by 1654 image).

In the newsletter, the article titled 'A Breath Of Fresh Air' takes a look at 'Honda's ground-breaking VTEC system (which) is a creative solution to an old delima'. Like a true breath of fresh air, this article deviates from the numerous and tired old standard formula of describing the VTEC mechanism and takes a refreshing look at the human aspect of it. A walk back in history, to the fateful day when a certain Honda R&D engineer in the famous Tochigi R&D Center designed what was then a new series of Honda engine. The engine went on to become a legend : Honda's 1.6l DOHC VTEC B16A. The person unfortunately remained relatively unknown.

That is set to change forever today. What's in a name ? Ikuo Kajitani. The 'Father' of VTEC !

A high resolution scan of the article follows. Enjoy the story. Like VTEC, it's a truly a real and deep breath of fresh air !