Talk by Lloyd Leo Withrow, given on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of General Motors Research Laboratories. A pioneer in combustion research, Withrow began his career at General Motors in 1926 and continued working there until his retirement in 1963. He describes his eight-year collaboration with Gerald Rassweiler, starting in 1931, during which they studied spectral emission of engine flames formulating basic information on engine combustion. He focusses on problems of financing industrial research during the Depression. Also mentioned are T.A. Boyd, Charles F. Kettering, and E.J. Martin.