Evening Star Newspaper, April 3, 1932, Page 48

In the Motor World BY G. ADAM! THREE-CORNERED contest | for supremacy in the low- price automobile field is now on in earnest. From this month on the battle in this important field will be fought out in dead seriousness. It will not be the so-called “survival of the fittest,” for second and places can be honorably attained, and with profit. The participants are General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. These corporations are powerful and well organized and a stirring battle may easily be predicted. Their roducts, or armies as they might e termed in this case—Chevrolet, Plymouth and Ford e destined to fight on, not only if it takes all Summer, but all Fall as well. Fine Cars Represented. The triumvirate represent fine cars, the finest in the history of the automotive industry and at the lowest prices Generally speaking, it can only be the mat- ter of taste as to which car one might buy. No buyer of any one can he disappointed—any one will get his or her money's worth. Competition is the life of trade, and due to the strongest compe- tition ever witnessed this Nation is bound to get auto-minded, and in that trend of thought, and. more important, car-buying minded. It is held most likely that the auto will speed the country back to pros- | erity. At least the car of today s capable of high speeds Last week was a big week in the automobile industry. First the news came of General Motors'| show, which is now being staged in 55 cities throughout the Na- tion, opening here yesterday ah‘ the Auditorium. Then Chrysler brought forth its newest model, | and Thursday Henry Ford public- | ly introduced his newest product. Manufacturers in the middle and high price fields are individ- | ually bending their efforts to make | a good showing. The Spring drive is on. Warmer days have brought| touring days nearer. Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. Buying a new car and seeing their coun- try is certainly a good way. The, roads are good. Use them. Hints for Spring. | If your car is not ready to be| turned in on a new one these hints | are tlmeli'. | The following procedure on put- ting the car in shape for Spring and Summer operation after the rigors of Winter driving is recom- | mended by automotive engineers: Flush the radiator until the| water is clear. | Inspect the rubber hose connec- tions, replacing if necessary. Disconnect hot-water heaters. Check front wheels for proper alignment and steering gear for proper adjustment. Adjust brakes; reline if neces- Inspect strainer. Drain oil from the engine and flush ecrankcase. Refill with a| Summer-grade oil. If the present oil filter cartridge has been in use | 8,000 or 10,000 miles, install a new | one according to recommendations | in_car instruction manual. | Drain transmission and differ- ential grease and replace with Summer lubrieant. Clean and re-oil air cleaner. Inspect wiring; oil generator and check charging rate; check| breaker contact points for proper spacing; replace spark plugs if| used for more than 10,000 mile: if used less than this, clean them and adjust the gaps; clean bat- tery terminals with ammonia water solution; tighten terminals and grease with vaseline; inspect water level and if gravity reading is low, recharge. | Check for correct timin proper valve clearance. ith these simple but highly essential adjustments, a Spring of carefree driving should be en- Joyed. and clean gasoline g and| Police on the Job. | The following report from the Hoosier State shows that no one is asleep out there—at least among police officials Racketeers, hi-jackers, criminals of all classes, keep away from In- 4ianapolis! Your fastest cars will avail you nothing. You can step on the accelerator until it goes through the floor boards, but you won't get away from Chief Mor. rissey’s patrol squad. | For some time Chief Michael F.| Morrissey has had a fleet—yes, they're fleet, all right—of high- speed cars with which to chase criminals. Many have tried to get away by the speed of their ma- chines, but the patrol squad just! pushed a little harder on the gas and the flying criminal found that | surrender was the better part of valor. | Recently Chief Morrissey decid- ed that he needed more speed, more fast cars to meet conditions 8o he added three new cars, all| with speed to burn, and has put them on duty. Two are closed cars, with radio installations to enable the patrol squads to keep in toufh with headquarters. But such cars! Low-slung center of guvu_v, side-bumper steel running oards, massive frames, powerful braking systems and other safety features that make them specially | appropriate for the hazardous work they have to do. Campbell to Race Again. A Britisher is not asleep, either, #ccording to his present inten- MOTOR DON'TS i = | SIGNALS ! HAND SIGNALS SHOULD NQT BE CARELESSLY GIVEN - THE DRIVER BEHIND YOU DEPENDS ON YOUR WARNING BEING ACCURATE AND TIMELY - PROPER SIGNALING PROMOTES SAFETY AND SPEEDS UP TRAFFIC we | | | | development of the automobile. S HOWARD. tions, as he plans going still faster than mortal man has ever trav- eled on land before. The marvel! of the modern motor fuel is stressed by him. Sir Malcolm Campbell will re- turn to the United States next| year to attempt to break his mo- tor speed record of 253.968 miles an hour, recently tablished at Daytona Beach, Fla., according to word received from the world's champion racer, now in England. Greater automobile speeds are possible, he asserts. “At one point in my trip down the beach I was traveling more than 270 miles an hour,” Capt Campbell says. “My maximum record speed one way on the beach was 267.459 miles an hour, or a mile in 13.45 seconds. | ‘Such automotive performance | would have been impossible with- out present-day fuel, which has aided in the establishment of practically every world’s record made by gasoline-burning engines in the past few years.” The racing car, engaged in high speed tests, is a laboratory of au- tomotive science, Capt. Campbell states. Findings resulting from these experiments. he declares, are of interest to the entire auto- mobile world, from the manufac- turer to the motorist. “When combustion is started in the cylinders of an automobile engine by the firing of the spark plug, the portion of the fuel-air mixture which closely surrounds the plug is the first to burn,” Capt. Campbell explains, outlining the importance of fuel in the future “If this compression and heat- ing of the unburned portions raises the temperature beyond a certain point, the unburned gases explode with great violence. High velocity waves result and the ‘knock’ occurs when these waves strike against the walls of the; combustion chamber. “Suitable fuel, by controlling the combustion rate of gasoline, prevents it from burning too quickly, thereby delivering added power and utility, which would otherwise be lost in wasteful ‘knocking.’ With ‘knocking’ elim- inated, gasoline, like a steel spring, gives increasing power as the com- | pression is increased Limitations Ended. _“Although gasoline once imposed limitations on automobile per- formance, since the development of a proper fuel these restrictions have been swept aside. Engines of even greater efficiency must be produced. Recognizing these needs and fortified by the presence of a proper fuel, motor car makers are | now offering new models with en- gines of higher comgression. ‘The principle of high compres- sion in the cylinders of an auto- mobile engine is simple. The harder & ball is thrown down on a sidewalk the higher it will bounce, and the tighter the pis- ton squeezes, or compresses, the| charge of gasoline before firing, the greater will be the power de- livered after the explosion. “Higher compression engines, | scientific tests demonstrate, oper- ate at cooler temperatures than those having low compression. There are only so many heat units in a gallon of gasoline, regardless of whether or not it is anti-knock fuel. Some of these units are con- verted into power by the engine The remainder are dissipated into the cooling system and the ex- haust gases. “The more heat units utilized as power, the smaller will be the number remaining to be dis- charged. By transferring more of | the heat units to power, the pew | fuel reduces the number passing| off as heat and a cooler engine results.” Night Operation. Thousands of motorists have experienced the sensation of hav- ing their cars run better at night than during the day, and have| wondered accordingly if the car| really operated better or if it was only a halucination. This ques | tion was put recently to engineers | and they assure motorists that improved car performance at night often is a fact, and the; explain the reasons why this is so | “A noticeable improvement in! car performance at night usually | occurs when the day has been hot or sultry and there is a material drop in temperature at night,” explain the engineers. “This im- provement Is due to the change in atmospheric conditions. “An Internal combustion engine gives better performance when the gas mixture is under high compression—that is, providing the compression has not been raised to a point where detona- tion will occur. The denser, or| more compre. , the gas charge | is the greater expansion it will| have when it is fired. | “Alr naturally becomes heavier and more dense when cold, ex- panding when hot. At 70 degrees temperature a pound of air will occupy 134 cubic feet of space while at 32 degrees it will only| occupy 12.4 cubic feet. Therefore a larger and heavier charge of gas mixture can be drawn into an en- gine cylinder when the air is cool _ “Another contributing cause of improved engine performance at night is the fact that night air usually is damper than during the day, and the fine particles of mois- ture contained in it slightly slows the rate at which the fuel burns.” | STAINLESS STEEL USE SEEN IN AUTO BODIES No Need Apparent at Present Time, However, Say Manufactur- ing Officia The recent test run of a stainless steel rail-car, which seats 40 passengers, weighs only 13,500 pounds and runs on pneumatic tires, has induced hundreds of queries regarding the feasibility of using stainless steel in automobile body construction. “When the industry is ready for stain- less st-el automobile bodies they can * and will be buill,” offi.ials of & manu- facturing company 1epli-d in_answeor ) thes: questions. “But, 1ight now there is 10 ne-d for bodies made of this | alloy. 1t has many features, such as its | great strength in light gaug>s and its | light weight. When the str¢ line car of extreme light weight arrives, stain- | less steel will come into its own. Durable at Least, Prg the Parien Daily Journel touring car, in fine lh’:. L THE SUNDAY STAR.: WASHINGTON, DOWN THE ROAD—Modern Motorists. . APRIL 3, 1932 — PART FOUR. —By FRANK BECK ouT N'SEE THIS COMFORTABLE, JOHN._ AN' IVE SEEN A PICTURE OF IT IN THE GUIDE r] 'DISTRICT TOURIST CAMP PROVES | FAIR REGULATIONS *4Ecea For VISITING MOTORIST FOR BUSSES ASKED President of National Asso- ciation Urges Development | in Public Interest. BY ANDREA P. SCKOPPEGLIA. With the formal opening of the f | George Washington Bicentennial year. With 45000 communities in the| i tion has been focused by visiting United States withouc rail service and | motorists from all sections of the coun- one-third of the total population de- try upon the Washington Tourist ndent u blic motor ers for | CAmMD. e hufi:ypf,_fin:zug":&mz_l East Potomac Park, always beautiful, tion of interstate bus lines is essential | DY reason of its central location to the development of an orderly and | Within the renowned system of p dependable service parks and grounds of .the National This statement was made last week C®Pital, an ideal spot for this camp.| by Arthur M. Hill of Charleston, |1t is of especial interest to Washing- W. Va, president of the National As- |tonians as well as to the thousands of sociation” of Motor Bus Operators, be- motorists who avail themselves of he ~ | opportunity of visiting the seat of Gov- | fore the Senate Committes on Inter: | oroment. This camp, & unique little city, is one of the largest, if not the lat % | largest, of its kind in the country. It UinleMnterslae bspue: i is owned and operated by the Welfare Sounds Warning. |and Recreational Association of the Mr. Hill sounded the warning that Office of the Public Buildings and bus transportation will terminate if |Grounds, and is under the immed Congress attempts to indirectly tax|control and supervision of Lieut. C busses in the (o;;m of restrictions that | Ulysses S. Grant, 3d. would mean prohibitive operating costs. Expressing sympathy with the eflom! Steady Increase Shown. | The continued and steady increase | of the railroads to solve their own problems, Mr. Hill said. “however, we each year in the number of tourists to do object to the efforts of many of |Washington became so great that it | the rail interests, in their attempted was a matter of national obligation to solution of their problems, to load provide camping equipment and other upon the motor industry, through adequate accommodations to those legislation, onerous burdens, without | traveling by automobile. Consequently, any regard for the need therefor. as| on May 21, 1921, the Washington far as the public is concerned, or with- | Tourist Camp was authorized by act of out any thought to the effect on the | Congress, and during the past 11 years public of the costs they would so|it has grown from a mere camping artificially increase.” ground to a large institution. It has In testimony that bristled with won the approval and acclaim of all facts, the president of the Bus A-uflwho have heretofore had the privilege ciation cited the importance of thel of occupying its comfortable ‘quarters. bus industry in appealing to Congress| Eyery year incident to the conclusion to help it serve the public by elim-|of Lent the armada of tourists begins inating unhealthy conditions. He said: | (o fill the camp. They come at this During the year 1930 there were & time of the year in order that they few more than 46,000 busses engaged | may epjoy the delicate beauty of the in the common carriage of persons in | remous cherry blossoms. Nature hangs both city and intercity service. Of the | yor'® 0 “ea i JONOTE (MG HORES total. 32.500 were engaged in intercily gretched banks of the historic Potomac ervice and of these, according 10 .ng the Tidal Basin with this elegant ctual census, at least 3.000 were in|gitioo®or blossoms when the Japanese | the touring or average Passenger Car| iervy trees, like beautiful : 5 e & . pink clouds, class. These 32500 busses carrled 8P~ |, qur) ~their picturesque tri-colored proximately 504,000,000 passengers and |y ,on. reminiscent of farawa: Ay s y Nagaski, collected some $290,000,000 in fares.” | ju500 . most renowned ~blossom €ity.” Quotes 1. C. C. Figures. This spectacular scene wafts a yearly With reference to the effect: the invitation to the early group of nomads. growth of bus transportation has had Need for Recreation. on the railrords, Mr. Hill quoted fig- = 5 v .| Realizing the need for recreation for ures of the Interstate Commerce Com- its great nui r of tempors S from 1921 U misden I cihm ihei S | pants, the camp officials selected un- 29 th f rail passengers | e e 61131000t To7 - | Questionably the most plcturesque spo | of Potomac Park. inasmuch s it is i = 032.000-—w low of JUAUNDI0LPRMED- | O walking: distance of the many He sontinved | nearby places of interest and the busi “According to most railroad econ- omists. only between 10 and 25 per | Dess section of Washington, Golf linl tennis courts, miniature golf courses, P ributed to e ol iy iogs cBn e NEE | steamboat rides on the Potomac, base the motor bus, the balance of the loss | sleambout tldes on tne Potomac, bae ivatel W SSENgEr | 3 ac 3 3 e O o D ieat The i (6 the | concerts by the famous sefvice bands that {he loss to the CRESS Sy (e | and she tea house at the point of the motor bus did smount to the maximum generally estimated. 25 per cent, it|Speedway are within close proximity to the camp's community house. would seem that only 68,524,000 of the the The community house is the “rendez- state Commerce. which is now engaged in drafting legislation designed to reg- | iWclfarc and Recreational Association of | the Office of Public Buildings and Grounds Opcrators. offered for the convenience of the visitors. Unique in its design, it is thoroughly and fully equipped with all the moaern facilities so essential to the tired tour- ist. It contains 112 cabins, 60 floored tents and an enormous camping space capable of accommodating 350 auto- mobiles. There are hot and cold show- ers, lavatories, sanitary toilets, all of which are inspected daily as to their hygienic condition. Medical attention is provided by a resident physician, and periodical inspection of the camp in general is made by a medical officer of the United States Army. Other Facilities. Other camp facilities worthy of praise are the sanitary laundry, fully equipped, including a drying court which is avail- able for the individual use of the tour- ists. In addition there is a grocery store and automobile repair shop, filling station, a souvenir and novelt: store and elaborate cafeteria, a soda fountain, a barber shop and a specially constructed playground for the kiddies. commercial laundry RESENTMENT SEEN AGANST TAX TREND Public Feeling Growing Over | Pyramiding on Autos, Says A. A. A. 4 | The American Automobile Association | declared recently that injection of high motor taxation into the political cam- peigns of widely separated States is in- dicative of growing public resentment against the pyramiding of motor levies and the singling out of car owners for | taxes to be used for other than road- building purposes. ‘The statement by the national motor- | ing body, issued under the signature of Thomas P. Henry of Detroit, its presi- dent, pointed out that high gasoline taxes and proposals to divert receipts | from motor levies to general purposes are important political issues in at least two States, namely, Florida and Ohio. | 30% Decline Shown. | A decline of 30 per cent in the num- ber of cars registered in Tennessee in anuary, 1932, as compared to a year | ago, largely attributed to the boost in "!he gasoline tax to 7 cents a gallon and | the imposition of an extra fee of $2, as | well as experiment of Arkansas in sell- |ing licenses on a three months’ basis Motors, Ford and Special Dispatch to The St. DETROIT, April 2.—Seven out of every ten automobiles now sold in America are low-priced cars, according to a recent survey. For the last three days Detroit has begun to realize just what this means, and with the rest of the country during the coming weeks this city will learn even more about what it means and the changes it has brought. An Armageddon Fight. In the low-priced field an Armaged- don fight is on to determine the sur- vival of the fittest. It is the culmina- | tion of more than three years during which the big producers’ have been striving to outdo each other by giving more car for less money. The contest is three-cornered, with Ford, General Motors and Chrysler vy- ing for proportionate shares of the available business. With the Ford an- nouncement made, Nation-wide curios- ity has been relieved. The other makers welcome an end to the uncertainty and | the chance for open-field competition. | 'The new set-up, with changes in the |last few days interest. Ford" the first time br division and the | eight cylinders the V-shaped ar- rangement. The V-type engine prin- | ciple, as previously built and sold at | higher prices, has been conceded an V-8 introduction for s into the low-priced edge for smoothness and silent opera- | tion. Some straight-eight engines have been built for which the claim was | made that they equaled V-type in these | respects, but none has ever been claimed to excel it. Less Expensive. The straight eight, on the other side of the argument, has been less expen- sive to build; it is simpler than V-type in operation ‘and less difficult to repair. | For 'high-speed work it has advantages that have been demonstrated on the speedways and the highways, too. | " As between the four-cylinder and six- cylinder engine types, the latter is con- ceded to possess what engineers call | “inherent balance,” which for Chevro- let represents three years of refinement | since first bromght out by General | Motors. Its performance with existing freedom from vibration is a known quantity. Engine power and its varying capacity always batable question among those who drive cars. For simplicity and low cost, the four-cylinder cars have been in & class | application in | has been a de- | in an effort to keep usable cars on the highways, were also cited by Mr. Henry as more evidence of the unhealthy in- fluence of excessive motor taxes. “There is no doubt,” said the A. A. A. executive, “that motorists, comprising by far our largest class of citizens, are ready to cxpress their resentment against unfair levies through the medi- um of the ballot box. Candidates for public office in many sections have been quick to sense this situation and are more and more taking up the cause of the car owners. Fight On in Florida, “In Florida, J. Tom Watson, Tampa attorney, is making the fight against the 7-cent gasoline tax one of the major issues in his campaign for the Demo- | cratic nomination for Governor. He points out that he opposed this tax while serving in the Legislature and announces that he has evolved a plan whereby the 7-cent rate can, and should educed to 4 cents a gailon. “In Ohio, David E. Ingalls of Cleve- land, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Aeronautics and a candidate for Governor of his State, has declared himself to be unalterably opposed to di- version of any moneys arising from mo- tor taxes to any other purpose than that of road building.” iscloses high lights of | 00 range a car with | SEVENTY PER CENT OF AUTOS SOLD ARE LOW-PRICED CARS Three-Cornered Contest On, With General Chrysler playing the Leading Roles. | by themselves, but were subject to pe- riods of vibration, particularly in the lower ranges of speed., that had to be corrected. This the Chrysler engineer- ing group did by introducing “floating power,” which employed rubber mount- ing in such a way as to absorb the power shock and prevent its transmission throughout the car. Further Advances. In this development Chrysler in his new Plymouth has made a further ad- vance following a first year of trial The new Plymouths jump the wheel- base length from 1093 inches to 112 inches, giving the body designers a chance to build in more leg room and greater all-around body dimensions Chrysler also has made an innovation by tacking on the 112-i line an additional ch: | On this there is available one sevs | passenger body type, a four-door sedan |and a convertible sedan. This marks the first time in recent years that any seven-passenger model or body type has been built to sell at a low price. ‘That the Ford announcement makes no reference to free wheeling or auto- matic clutch control of any sort has upset predictions that such features would be included in the new jobs. For both V-eight and four-cylinder models the transmissions have silent second gear and synchronized shifting. T! the new Ford designs stress the idea of saving weight is apparent from official comment which says “Many pounds of excessive weight have been eliminated in the new cars by the use of a hollow drive-shaft in place of the former solid type, which added nothing in strength, safety or durability; by the substitution of rubber for metal in nearly a score of parts, including spring shackles. universal jeints, engine mountings and shock ab- sorber mountings, and by the adoption of one-piece construction wherever bolts could be eliminated by the use of welded joints.” The new V-8 is said to weight only 100 pounds more than model A and the new four weighs less than its pre- decessor. The reduction has been made in spite of an increase in wheelbase length from 103'2 to 106 inches. Ford's Statement. Mr. Ford is quoted as saying that ‘the more a motor car weighs, natu- rally the more fuel and lubricants are used. Weight may be desirable in a steam roller, but not in an automobile. The most beautiful things in the world are those from which all weight has been eliminated. Strength is never just weight—either in men or in things.” Manufacturing savings for the V-8 are also shown in cylinder blocks and crankcase which are cast in one piece New one-piece construction also applie: to valves, which operate directly off the cam-shaft and eliminate pushrods. Thus. instead of doubling the number of pushrods used in the four-cylinder power plant, they are eliminated alto- gether. (Copyright. 1932. by N ewspaper SOAPSTONE FOR TIRES Lubrication Will Give More Mile age, It Is Claimed. You will get more mileage out c your tires if you will lubricate them oceasionally with soapstone, acc.rd n3 to F. L. Krause, manager of a tire ser ice department. “A tire flex:s or bends millions ot times in a few thousand miles, and in so doing sets up a chafing action be- tween casing and tube,” explained Krause. “Unless a proper lubricating medium is used, excessive friction and heat will be generated. These are the two greatest enemies of tires. the North American lliance. Inc.) total of 504000000 passengers carried | vous” of the motorists. He they meet | between cities by motor bus could be considered as ex-rail passengers, the and talk over their sightseeing schedule | remaining 435,476,000 representing traf- | or indulge in the reading of books, | fic developed purely by bus facililles magazines newspapers and whatnot. It from people who either never traveled has a spaclous salon. which is bright und adequately furnished. It has an before or who, prior to the inaugura- tion of bus service, used ollier means open fireplace. & large covered portico and 8 large radio set with four loud | of highway transport. The bus has speakers &l points of vantage. Public | created most of the trafic It is car- rying.” telephones and telegraphic service are | AN AIR RIDE “LAND O N Come for your first flight on the new dirigible BALLOONS [4 * Take off from 1526 Fourteenth Street N.W. any time this week (268-2) NEW Franklin Twelve to be anmoumced soon. Watch for it. YOU CAN NOT MATCH THE THRILLING SMOOTHNESS AND DASH HAT is this new, exclusive feature which helps the Franklin engine to produce more for less? More of the performance you associate with modern airplane and track events for less fuel cost and upkeep expense. in the new Supercharged Airman. By Supercharging, the ingoing charge of gasoline mixture is mechanically forced —literally driven by a hurricane air cur- rent—into every cylinder. Equally and in maximum amount. And it brings to the Franklin new and remarkable results. Thrilling smoothness through fundamentslly even engine impulses. Glorious top speeds that ask for no let up, even on the hottest day. The Instant and effortless acceleration. A new conception All and more are achieved by of engine economy. utmost in power efficiency. combining sensational Supercharged power with the ex- clusive pressure air-cooling and spot-controlled temper- ature developed by Franklin. We invite you to see and try the new Airman. FRANKLIN SUPERCHARGED AIRMAN &——=m= CALLAN MOTORS, Ine. NORTH 2604 OPEN SUNDAY SALES and SERVICE 1529 M St. N.W. All of this is now available to you in the mixture, :: cunhrlcr smooths out and evens up s respon- sive flow of extra power.