Then there were the other "sponsors" Cyclone claimed.
Now, you have to remember, the Land Speed Record attempt was all Chuk's baby --- he'd had the idea, sprung money from his own wallet, built the chassis and so on. Cyclone JOINED Chuk's program, as they clearly announced in press statements at the time, it was only later that the Cyclone-dementia popped up and they tried to spin it as though the program was their baby.
Now, along the ways, a number of people contributed to Chuk's car -- a majority of these probably being fellow members of the Steam Automobile Club of America. After Chuk split off and Cyclone formed their own team (wildly claiming they spent $500,000 on the machine) they then posted a bunch of sponsors which, miraculously, were identical to Chuk's. Even more miraculously, a number of them came forward stating that they had never given the Cyclone team a thin dime. As memory serves, Harry and Frankie claimed they were doing these people a favor by listing them as investors because they would be backing "modern" steam power. Modern apparently being an adjective for "fantasy". It also seems to be under the misconception that Chuk's project was theirs, by extension.
At least one so-called sponsor demanded his name be removed because he would never have given money to Cyclone. The really sleazy thing about this whole episode is that Cyclone didn't 'give' anyone a freebie. What they did is tell the world that these bogus sponsors supported their efforts, when many did not. Call it a form of identity theft. It would be like saying that some public figure backed your political candidacy when they didn't … or even opposed you violently.
It's a small thing on the scale of other Cyclone shenanigans but once again underlines the ethics employed.
AI
