Three batteries, just for the radio?

Radio Equipment for Autos Brings Broadcast Programs to Motorists

RADIO, it seems, is destined to be installed in everything that flies, runs on wheels, or floats on water. The fast moving auto is the latest vehicle to be invaded by radio’s onward march.

Equipment has recently been placed on the market for installation in automobiles. As shown in the photo below, the control dials are installed on the dashboard, while the apparatus occupies a small space up under the cowl. The location of the loud speaker is optional, the space under the cowl being preferable. The antenna is ordinarily strung up in the roof, but many cars are equipped with built-in and invisible antennas, especially in the de luxe models of expensive makes.

Hanging by an Eyelash!

The Fence Held A few thin bands of iron were all that saved this delivery car from a twenty-foot plunge over the brink, when it skidded and waltzed across icy pavement of a viaduct at Jersey City, N. J. The rear wheels tore a section of the iron fence from its foundation and went clear off the edge. There the car teetered precariously above the street — but the fence held.
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Car Driven Without Gears to Revolutionize Motor Industry
ANOTHER step forward to greater automobile efficiency has been made with this gearless motor car, invented by a young Australian engineer. The car, shown in illustration on right, promises to revolutionize motoring throughout the world. Read the rest of this entry »

Big Sidecar Will Tote a Small Crowd

An overgrown sidecar turns this motorcvcle into a family affair. Put out by a London manufacturer, it’s a snug fit for five: three adults in the sidecar itself, and two on the motorcycle.

A roll top and hinged windshield (with twin wipers) can be opened for air.

Toy Car on Moving Road Tests Driving Skill

Accurate tests of the ability of automobile drivers are made at Iowa State college with the aid of a dummy car and a toy auto beneath which a miniature highway moves. The person tested sits at the wheel of the dummy car and looks into a miniature stage across the front of which is a bar with a toy auto attached to it. Read the rest of this entry »

The FLYING Automobile is Here

THE “flying auto,” a combination airplane and automobile which negotiates roads and air lanes with equal facility, has at last appeared in the aeronautical world.

Designed by two German engineers, the craft is a development of the autogyro. A great advantage, however, is that no propeller for the drive in the direction of flight is necessary. The little vertical fins on the gyro blades give the necessary force to drive the car forward in the air.
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New Uses for OLD FORDS

Rescued from a grave in the junk heap, Tin Lizzie dons working clothes and makes money for the ingenious man who thinks of new ways to use her cheap and ample power.

Have you a new use for an old Ford? For all ideas published the editors of Modern Mechanics will pay five dollars—with a bonus for photos. Send in your ideas, giving full details.

SINCE the Ford Motor Company has ceased production on the universally known model T Ford car, millions of which are to be found in every corner of the world, many of these cars have drifted prematurely to vacant lots and garage junk heaps as an expectant public floods the Ford plant with a deluge of orders for the successor to the old design.
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Auto Triumphs Feature Texas Centennial Show

EXHIBITS showing automobile advances in speed and safety are almost half of the dollar value of the $25,000,000 Texas Centennial display now attracting visitors by the thousands to Dallas, Texas.

Largest exhibitor at the celebration marking the 100th anniversary of Texas freedom is Ford with a $2,250,000 display. General Motors has a building and display valued at $950,000. Chrysler is present with a $500,000 exhibit. The event continues through Nov. 29.

The Ford show includes 15 major exhibits in the air-conditioned Ford Exposition building. A replica of the company’s by-products plant, complete to railroad sidings, attracts model railroad enthusiasts. There is a service exhibit showing the development of auto service from the blacksmith days to the present.
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Truck Convertible Into Tractor

IDEAL for negotiating muddy roads is a new auto-car which is quickly convertible into a caterpillar tractor. Ordinarily the caterpillar treads hook to the rear of the car and are carried as extra baggage. When the truck is to be made ready to traverse muddy terrain or do duty in the fields the rear of the truck is jacked! up and the treads set in place. A special mechanism shifts the power transmission to the caterpillar.

The machine is found ideal for farms where caterpillar tractors cannot be afforded. When plowing is to be done, as well as when some light hauling is necessary, the truck is ready for duty on an instant’s notice.

The Store on Wheels ~ What’ll it Be?

THE day of the traveling baker, butcher or candlestick maker has arrived in full glory. Today, the peddler who formerly went from door to door has “gone specialist.” By motor truck —yes, and by airplane—every known human need and desire is appeased by regular door to door service.
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NEW on the ROAD

Autoliner may some day cross oceans, according to Karle Moench of Berlin, Germany. This is a small version of a sea-going car which operates on the road, left, or in the water, right, with equal efficiency. Note the fin-like tail on the amphibious vehicle. Moench plans to visit the U. S. but won’t say whether or not he’ll risk the long-distance trip in his own strange craft.

Autocycle is a motorcycle that worked its way up. Cyclist August Paul got tired of shouting to his wife in the open sidecar every time he had something to say. So, being a mechanic, he went to work and developed a deluxe convertible sidecar. He liked it so well that he added a steering wheel, gear shift and other controls, threw away the saddle and now rides about in it himself, too.
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MI’s All-Aluminum MULTICAR

Interchangeable bodies on a low-slung chassis make this a real all-purpose vehicle.

By Chuck Smith

ALMOST every time a family goes out to buy a new car the same husband-and-wife argument comes up. He wants a snappy sports job that bowls along at 100 per, while she demands a nifty station wagon that will carry half the neighborhood.

Sometimes the answer is two cars but oftener you just make do with one boat that is pretty good at a lot of things but outstanding at nothing, so three years ago I got an idea for a car that would solve all such problems, a true all-purpose vehicle which not only looks like but is several different cars. The secret is interchangeable bodies that fit one universal chassis and can be changed quickly. MI now presents the result of my design project as the Multicar. Read the rest of this entry »