Editing Bill Lear (section)

==Other notable inventions==
[[File:Eight track.jpg|thumb|upright|[[8-track tape]]]]

Lear developed the [[8-track tape]] music cartridge in 1964. Lear's invention was an improvement on the [[Stereo-Pak#Differences between 4-track and 8-track cartridges|four track]] [[Stereo-Pak|Muntz Stereo-Pak]] tape cartridge, marketed by [[Madman Muntz|Earl "Madman" Muntz]] in California in 1962, itself a version of a 3-track system, [[Fidelipac]]. The 8-track was a commercial success that provided good audio quality and was easily adapted to vehicle and home use.<ref>[http://www.videointerchange.com/audio_history.htm "Vintage Audio History."] ''Video Interchange''. Retrieved April 14, 2009.</ref>  The Lear Jet Stereo 8 Division offered home, auto, and portable versions. A popular theory is that Learjets also included 8-track players.  In 1965, a partnership between [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]], [[RCA]], and Lear offered the first pre-recorded 8-track music cartridges.<ref>Cummings, Alex Sayf (2013) [https://books.google.com/books?id=stF7j_stVYMC&pg=PA83 ''Democracy of Sound: Music Piracy and the Remaking of American Copyright in the Twentieth Century''], page 83, [[Oxford University Press]] {{ISBN|978-0-19-932372-2}}.</ref> RCA released the first Stereo 8 Tape Cartridges in September 1965, issuing 175 titles.<ref>{{cite magazine|date=1965-09-25|title=RCA Fires 175-Title Burst With Release of Stereo 8 Cartridges|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|url={{Google books|HCkEAAAAMBAJ|page=3|plainurl=yes}}|page=3}}</ref>

In 1968, Lear started work on a closed circuit steam turbine to power cars and buses. He built a transit bus, and converted a [[Chevrolet Monte Carlo]] sedan to use this turbine system. It used a proprietary working fluid dubbed '''Learium''', possibly a [[chlorofluorocarbon]] similar to DuPont Freon.<ref>Ethridge, John (August 1972) [https://books.google.com/books?id=NNQDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA116 "PM takes a ride in tomorrow's bus, today."], ''[[Popular Mechanics]]''</ref> A prototype racing car was built to enter the [[1969 Indianapolis 500]], the Lear Vapordyne. The car never entered the race and never ran at competitive speeds.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/was-bill-lears-steam-powered-vapordyne-more-than-indy-racer-vaporware/ |title=Was Bill Lear's steam-powered Vapordyne more than Indy-racer vaporware?| first=Ronnie| last=Schreiber| publisher=Hagerty Media|date=November 9, 2021| access-date=April 30, 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/may-2009/92/we-felt-kings |title="We felt like kings" May 2009| first=Paul| last=Fearnley| publisher=Motor Sport Magazine|date=May 2009| access-date=April 30, 2022}}</ref>