The Great Wall of China to be Motor Highway

The plans of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China for converting the great wall into a major motor highway are revealed to the world for the first time in this exclusive story.

THE Great Wall of China, long considered one of the most remarkable engineering feats in the world, may soon become one of the greatest and most unusual motor highways on earth if the plans of the Nationalist government are carried through.
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Elongated Auto Is Moving Signboard

Designed to attract attention to advertisements on its sides, this elongated, six-wheeled auto is being operated profitably by a woman in Jersey City, N. J-

Automobile Traditions Challenged by First Streamlined Stock Cars

Startling Changes in Body Design Are Expected to Boost Road Speed and Cut the Cost of Operation

by Robert E. Martin

AS THIS issue of Popular Science Monthly is published, in automobile shows and dealers’ showrooms all over the country are being exhibited the world’s first scientificially streamlined stock cars. Introduced by leading American manufacturers, they mark a new stride toward a goal to which automotive engineers have been working for years—the development of a car in which fuel economy, riding comfort, and speed are brought about by reducing to a minimum the losing battle with air resistance that has been waged by every automobile that ever was placed on the roads.
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The Story of C.A.M.O.A.H – The Motor Power Thieves

Corona
Abrasion
Moisture
Oil
Age
Heat

“He who robs me of my power steals that which enriches him not but prevents me from starting quickly and going somewhere with such ease and pleasure as never dreamed of in the world before.” -{Apologies to Shakespeare) Read the rest of this entry »

Rubber Cap Prevents Gas Stains
THE latest equipment for oil stations is a rubber cap that fits over the gas tank and prevents gas from spilling onto the radiator hood of automobiles. The device, shown in photo below, eliminates gas stains from the surface of car hoods.

Three Wheel race car can lean on curves. Built by Ernst Neumann Neander, pictured here, of Rolsdorf, Germany, the car has springs that tip with driver’s weight. To stop, you pull up on the steering wheel.

I’m guessing that someone’s last thought as they hurtled through the intersection right in front of a fast moving truck was “Why did someone paint ‘POTS’ on the ground?”

Optical Illusion Improves Visibility of Highway Markers

Optical illusions are now being turned to the cause of highway safety with the recent development by Frank McLaughlin, a Chicago, Ill., industrial designer, of road signs that are said to have a three-dimensional effect, although they are actually stenciled flat on the pavement. Designed according to a mathematical formula that applies to each letter of the alphabet, the sign’s property of seeming to stand up away from the street makes it visible to motorists 150 feet farther away than conventional road markers.

Free Air Costs Nickel Unless—
ANEW device recently patented makes it necessary that motorists either make a purchase at a filling station or pay a nickel for the shot of air they put in their tires. In operation when a coin is put into the slot it releases enough air to inflate five tires. A special lever returns the coin.

Man, you should have seen the Mormon Meteor go! The Jumping Jew and the Leaping Lutheran never had a chance.

JENKINS TUNES NEW SPEED MACHINE

Racer’s engine burnt alcohol, produces 550 horsepower at 8,500 r.p.m. to drive car at 260 m.p.h. Three Winfield carburetors feed 38,000-r.p.m. supercharger; aftercooler, on top of block, prevents pre-ignition. Compression ratio is 24 to one.

Front-wheel drive helps hold the “Mobil Special” on its course. Front wheels are individually sprung, with torsion bars replacing ordinary leaf springs. Tires’ rubber tread is only 3/32-inch thick.

Bud Winfield, who built the engine, examines completed car. Tail, narrowing to a thin line, is designed to stabilize machine while it races over a 10-mile circle on the hard-packed natural track.
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Farmer’s Car Pulls Plow over an Acre in Three Hours
Instead of hitching up a horse or tractor, one farmer harnesses his automobile to the plow. One man drives the sedan, keeping the car wheels on one side in the previous cut of the plow; his partner handles the plow. In that way they turn an acre of ground in less than three hours. The plow is attached to the rear bumper with a chain at the side toward the furrow being turned.

Driver Rides High in New Bus
THE driver of a new German stream-lined bus sits high above the motor, in a little compartment located between the two floors. Steering rods and controls are all lengthened. Long tiers of windows give passengers on both floors a clear view.
The unusually high windshield gives the driver a clear view of the street ahead.

Jap Clockspring Car Runs 40 mi a Winding

THE Japanese have never gained any notable degree of fame for their mechanical capabilities, but undoubtedly their reputations along this line will get vigorous boost by their invention of an automobile that runs by clockwork.

Very little mechanical data is available on the construction of the new car, but it is said to have British car dealers doing business in Japan somewhat worried. This would indicate that the machine is more than just a freak that originated in the mind of a visionary inventor.

Reports state that the car will run 40 miles at one winding. Further developments may see the invention of an eight-day machine. A Modern Mechanix and Inventions artist has caricatured the contraption above.