Hello and welcome to my website

 

I’d like to briefly introduce myself: My name is Alberto Keel. I was born on April 2, 1968, in Chur, a small town in Switzerland. I grew up there and completed an apprenticeship as a mechanic. After graduating, I moved to Grabs (Canton of St. Gallen) for professional reasons, where I lived for 28 years and worked in various fields of mechanical engineering, including as a CNC machinist, plant mechanic, plant installer, and design engineer.

A milestone in my life was the invention of a variable valve control system for the traditional American V8 engine, which I patented in 2002 and eventually had protected by U.S. Patent 7,171,930.

Since the invention was ignored by both the American automotive industry and the aftermarket industry (Edelbrock, etc.), I decided to develop it to market readiness myself and subsequently market it on my own. The result was the Vari-Lift rocker arm system, which I intended to establish on the American automotive market from Switzerland.

The Vari-Lift rocker arm system was meticulously designed down to the last detail. Nothing was left to chance, especially not the reliability of the rocker arm system. Nevertheless, not a single unit was sold. At the time, the advantages of the rocker arm system were simply not understood or were ignored by the majority of the target audience. There was also a lack of trust in the product. The invention was, in some cases, torn to shreds in various forums. To make matters worse, there was the language barrier. Back then, Deepl didn’t exist yet. So, a proper translation of my website into English wasn’t feasible for me at the time.

It all came to an end in 2007. Depleted funds, the lack of success, and the lack of energy to continue led me to take my invention off the market. In November 2007, I gave up my self-employment and took a job as a plant technician again.

I had to learn to accept that I couldn’t make my invention the success I’d hoped for. The U.S., as the home of the V8 engine, clearly had no use for my invention. The invention and the product were brilliant, and I wouldn’t let anyone take that away from me. So this supposed failure opened a new door for me. At some point, I realized that—precisely because of my failure—I would be the only person in the world who could one day drive around in this invention. I could suddenly laugh again and say, “If the world doesn’t want this invention, then too bad for it. I’ll gladly take it.”

Driven by this thought, I began my new project: my own Pontiac, equipped with my own invention. One of a kind.

Buying this car in July 2008 marked the start of my new project. The Pontiac project required a tremendous amount of work. It was a part of my life for many years—just like the Vari-Lift rocker arm system was back then. And it turned out great.

I’ve been driving my V-TEC LeMans Sport Cabriolet on the roads for 16 years now. I’ve garnered a lot of admiration and even amazement. And most importantly: I’m still alive. I’ve been lucky enough to never have been involved in an accident or even caused one—thanks to my guardian angel.

I’m not getting any younger, and everything comes to an end. For me, the time has now come to finally bring this project to a close. By selling my life’s work, I want to give someone else the opportunity to experience the same joy and to feel and enjoy the uniqueness of this beautiful vehicle as well as the uniqueness of the invention hidden within it.

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Enjoy this website. Thank you for your interest.

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