NEW MOTORCYCLE CAN ATTAIN SPEED OF 100 M. P. H!

RECENTLY the Ascot Paulhan Co.. of London, announced a new model motorcycle that is attracting wide attention.

This machine is of the conventional type but has been vastly improved both in appearance and in mechanical make-up. The most noteworthy of these changes is the new panel of instruments that is placed neatly between the handle bars. The windshield is formed as a part of the front panel and is divided into two parts. The upper half can be adjusted to fit the height of the rider. A windshield wiper is standard equipment.

Pad Relieves Motorist Eye Strain
A SPECIALLY designed eye pad, recently introduced, needs only to be moistened and worn over the eyes to give relief from eye strain due to long motor trips or sun glare. The pad comes in a convenient form for carrying in a small
space and can be applied easily.

Punctured Auto Tube Seals Itself

A NEW tire tube contains specially compounded plastic rubber which flows into a puncture, quickly closing it and preventing loss of air.

Unlike previous devices of this nature, the new tube gives unusual comfort in use and is light in weight. It can be used on the smallest car without jolting the passengers.

In a recent test an awl was driven repeatedly into one of the tubes; but the plastic rubber effectually sealed each of the holes with virtually no loss of air.

World’s Smallest Auto Demands Traffic Equality

TRAFFIC regulations have made no qualifications concerning the size of a car. Here is the world’s smallest car taking the right of way in Brooklyn, N. Y. Officer Thomas Hallman was rather surprised when Master Bernard Muller and his playmate, Miss Adele Wallack, rolled up to the corner. An approaching street car was far the biggest but the tiny car had the right of way, so the officer held up traffic for it.

This miniature automobile was built by Isidor Lubin of Brooklyn. Mr. Lubin is a mechanic by trade and used old parts for the major portion of this car. The actual size of the car can be gathered from its measurements. It is 28 inches wide, 58 inches long and 36 inches high.

Mechanically the car is right. The little motor will get from 70 to 80 miles on a gallon of gasoline.

Novel “Driver-Seat Shop” for Motorists’ Convenience

SOMETHING distinctly new in the way of ideas for merchandising automotive equipment is represented in the “Driver-seat Shop,” a steel and glass display cabinet that can be placed in all filling stations for the convenience of motorists who wish to make purchases without alighting from their cars.

The top of the cabinet is a glass display case carrying necessary equipment and accessories. Reserve stock is contained in lower part of the cabinet so that the display will not be disturbed when a sale is made. An illuminated sign on top calls attention of motorists to the handy shop.

Articulated Bus Shows to Advantage in Traffic and on Narrow Roads

THE size of the motor-bus seems to be limited only by traffic conditions and the roads over which it is to operate. Finding it impossible to widen the German roads or to thin out traffic, a manufacturer of that country has introduced the articulated bus, which permits the largest of the species to wind its serpentine way through traffic or narrow roads.

In this vehicle the driver’s seat is placed immediately over the front wheels, the bus being jointed behind this point.

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Winners in NEW USE for Old Fords Contest

MODERN MECHANICS pays $10 for every acceptable photo and description of the odd uses to which old Tin Lizzies have been put. The machines shown below are all made from old Model T Fords.

DOWN at Iowa Park, Texas, is an old flivver motor which is enjoying a ripe old age puffing and grunting on half her lungs while the other half supply fresh ozone for tires which have lost the courage of their convictions.

The front two cylinders have been manifolded off from the rest of the motor by the simple expedient of hack-sawing them off where they were not needed, and bunging the ends with welded plate iron.

The intake valves of the rear pair of cylinders were loaded with springs to keep them depressed, and the exhaust valves were brazed in tightly. The spark plug hole was fitted with half-inch pipe and this in turn led to check valves after the air stream had passed by relief or globe valves installed to care for extra high pressure. Once past the check valves the air was conduced by pipe to a storage tank.

A special boiler full of water was provided for the thermo-siphon system, as doing this kind of work was impossible without some adequate means for cooling. If you don’t think the motor works to pump air, you ought to see the water steam!

This novel use for an old Ford keeps a garage supplied generously with compressed air.

HYBRID STEAM ROLLER OWES ANCESTRY TO HENRY MR. G. H. DACY, one of our readers who lives in Maryland, sends us these two views of crazy but useful wrinkles for making use of old Ford car carcasses.

Down at Augusta, Georgia, there is a country club which has extensive acres of greensward running east- ward from the piazza of the club house. To keep the grass in good condition it is necessary to roll it. These rollers, one of which is shown in the accompanying shot, were made from old Elizabeths of the vintage of Model T. Six were made at the cost of one ordinary tractor. The conversion is a simple one and the machine performs satisfactorily.

SERVICEABLE TRACTOR MADE FROM TIN ELIZABETH ANOTHER Maryland tinkerer put the elements of a tractor around his faithful old brass radiatored Ford. Equipped with sunshades, with gas tank out afront, this flivver is now doing hearty, willing work pulling a disc drag. It is said to be able to pull a “single bottom”—that is, a single plow, with comparative ease. The reader will note that the usual Ford rear axle and housing, together with the usual single spring, are employed to drive the machine. The auto wheels are removed, the frame with the bull wheels put on, and gears intermeshed with the big gear by use of small spur gears on the regular axle.

Three Wheel Taxi Built Like Hansom Cab

THE last word in comfort and convenience for taxi passengers, particularly passengers loaded down with bundles from a shopping tour, is provided by a unique taxi now being designed by automotive engineers. With this car, the passenger can step from the curb right into the tonneau without inconvenient squirming and stooping, as in the ordinary taxi. The driver sits in the rear, like the driver of a hansom, from where he controls the door on the front of the car and operates the steering wheel.

The car is provided with only three wheels.

Moto Polo – Mayhem on Wheels

Combine football, soccer and polo with a dash of Sunday driving and you’ve got the West Coast’s newest sport fad.

By Louis Hochman

“PLAY Ball!” yells the ump and six peculiar cars tear into each other trying to bounce a giant six-foot rubber ball into a goal. They collide, turn over, bounce high into the air, roll end over end, spin on their noses, land on top of other cars, fall to the ground and then get right back into the game and start all over again!

It’s mayhem on wheels—polo played with cars. Dreamed up in a feverish moment by the Goodman brothers, B. J. and Bill, of Bakersfield, Calif., Moto Polo cars cost $2,500 each to build and are basically ‘35 and ‘36 stock Ford chassis powered by 85-hp Ford V-8 engines. They’re fitted with welded, tubular steel frameworks.

Within the very near future, the Goodman brothers plan to build a whole string of cars and start Moto Polo games in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

So, whether you like it or not, it looks like mayhem on wheels really will be going to town.

FUN JEEP, above, intended for beach use, touring, camping; seats seven. Farina-built, it features gas-stretching 4-cylinder mill.

New Auto Lock Shuts Off Gasoline and Ignition

AUTOMOBILE thieves are thwarted by a new steering wheel lock which has been invented in England. This lock fits the steering column in the conventional manner, as shown in the photo. When locked it not only makes steering impossible, but also cuts off the ignition and stops the gasoline flow.

Most automobile thieves depend upon speed to accomplish their getaway. With three essential running features of a car shut off it would almost be impossible to drive it away. The time that it would take to pick all three of these safety devices would be more than most car lifters would dare risk.

New ‘Home on Highway’ Has Kitchen, Dinette, Sleeper

MOTOR nomads will find the ideal home of the highway in a new motor caravan which has recently been designed and built by a French engineer for vacation tours. Although somewhat unique in appearance, this odd vehicle, shown in the photo at the left, has a kitchen, dining room and sleeping accommodation for four people. And with all this equipment, which includes also a canoe carried on the roof, the weight of the mobile home is no greater than that of the ordinary automobile seen every day about the streets.

NEW ACCESSORIES FOR ‘59

SWIVEL SEATS will be available on all Chrysler lines, except wagons. Weight-operated seat swings out when you push button, swivel your body. Outside of car, push button, swing it in or out with hand.

MIRROR-MATIC rearview mirror lor Chrysler-made cars has small hole in it (left). When high-beam lights of car behind you strike hole, electronic device on mirror’s back (right) turns it to non-glare position and later returns it to former position automatically.

Taxi of the Future as sketched by industrial designers Martial and Scull, will maneuver more easily in city traffic and be cheaper to use. This one holds 4 or 5 people and has sliding doors, and outside indicator to show when it is not being used. Another marked improvement is a shorter wheelbase, giving it a narrower turning radius.

Zero to 60 in 7 Seconds!

WHEN Donner Denkler of Southampton, N. Y., purchased a Nash-Healey a while back he was impressed with the lines of the car and with its fine handling characteristics. But something was missing; in the acceleration and top speed departments his “bomb” just wasn’t fast enough in its class for racing. He decided to add a shot of jump juice but the question that remained was how to go about it. After due consideration he concluded that instead of souping up the old power plant he would add an entirely new one—a Cadillac V-8.

So Denkler took his car and a brand-new Caddy mill to Jim McGee, an old hand in the racing-and-sports-car field, then stepped out of the picture while Jim went to work. The original engine was taken from the car and after a little switching of manifolds, generator, clutch and battery the big Caddy engine fit into the Healey’s engine compartment like a charm. When acceleration tests were first run on the completed Cad-Healey it conked out; turning the carburetor around to eliminate gas splashing fixed this and Denkler ended up with a real tiger that could accelerate to 60 mph in 7 seconds and hit 140 mph. •

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Interview with a Rolls-Royce

Mechanics love the motor, ladies adore the elegance. Every year 250 Americans pay $10,310 and up to own a Rolls. And one potentate has sixty in his garage!

BY JOHN KOBLER

The vast majority of humankind plod through life without once setting foot inside a Rolls-Royce automobile. This is not astonishing, if only because barely 30,000 Rolls-Royces have been assembled during the half century since three Londoners founded Rolls-Royce Limited. So it may be imagined with what delusions of grandeur this Plymouth-bound reporter in one day rode in two Rollses and drove a third, thus enjoying a fleeting intimacy with approximately .0001 of all the Rollses ever built.

I experienced this heady sensation as a result of a long-smoldering curiosity about a minor phase of the company’s activities—its School of Instruction in London. There, so I had always understood, any gentleman who owns a Rolls and/or his gentleman’s gentleman can obtain thorough training not only in the care and handling of the car but also in Rolls-Roycean etiquette. When I requested permission to visit the school, the management offered to send a car for me at my convenience. And so, a few days later, I emerged from my modest digs in an unfashionable section of London to behold a huge, black, gleaming, postwar Rolls—this model is called the Silver Wraith—standing majestically at the curb, a uniformed chauffeur holding open the door.

The Chauffeur’s Eyebrow Raises

The chauffeur, Stone by name, was clearly an old-school graduate, summa cum laude. He raised an eyebrow when I insisted on sitting up front with him. The school is at a considerable distance from the center of London, where I was staying. It is located in Scrubbs Lane, a remarkably inappropriate address for one of the world’s toniest concerns, and I had almost an hour in which to gape at the car’s numerous wonders. Gradually, Stone unbent far enough to explain some of them.

“Take a look at this, if you please, sir,” he said, pushing a button beneath a dial on the dashboard. An indicator swept halfway around the dial. “Gives the oil level. Saves soiling one’s hands.” He was wearing immaculate black leather gloves. “Now, here, sir,” he went on, “one has a warning light. If one’s petrol supply falls below two gallons, it flashes green.”

“Why the extra emergency brake?” I put in, pointing to a shaft next to the steering wheel.

“Ah, that’s no brake, sir. That’s a grease pedal. When one pushes that, one automatically lubricates the entire car.”

One need not exert oneself very much when changing a tire, either, I learned: The car can be raised on power-operated, built-in hydraulic jacks. The cylinders are chrome-plated and seldom require decarbonizing. To recharge the battery, it is unnecessary to remove it. It can be plugged into the car’s electric circuit through an outlet on the dashboard.

The Silver Wraith was slipping through the London traffic as noiselessly as a fish in water. “Not much vibration,” I commented.

As though he had been awaiting a cue. Stone instantly halted the car, got out. and opened the door on my side. “If you please, sir,” he said, “a little demonstration.” I followed him to the front of the car. “Have you a coin I may borrow, sir?” he asked me with the air of a conjurer. I handed him a dime. He stood it on edge behind the radiator cap. It didn’t budge.

“You’ve cut the motor,” I said accusingly.

“Not a bit of it, sir. She’s purring away quite as usual. Fact of the matter is, sir, when our testers at the factory make their final check for any untoward sounds in the engine, they have to use a stethoscope.”

I was still digesting this information when we arrived at the Scrubbs Lane branch. It consisted of a whole complex of hangarlike structures, which surprised me until Stone explained that besides the school they embraced the Rolls-Royce service headquarters for the entire world.

A guard led me to the office of the head of the school, one William Elwin Mad-docks, or W.E.M. (All Rolls personnel, from Lord Hives, chairman of the board, down to the humblest apprentice mechanic, are known to each other by their initials.) W.E.M. is tall, broad, gray-haired, and heavily spectacled, a figure of boundless dignity. With the exception of four years in the RAF during the war, he has been a Rolls employee since 1916, when he started as an “improver” (grease monkey).

“So you’re interested in our school,” he said. He has a big. deep voice and teeth like piano keys.

I said I was, and he proceeded to guide me through it. “The course lasts twelve days,” he said, “and is open only to owners of Rolls-Royces and their drivers. We charge a nominal tuition fee of ten guineas [$29.40]. Since the war, we’ve graduated about a thousand drivers and a hundred and fifty owners.”

He showed me into a room full of disemboweled engines. Some twenty students and an instructor were clustered around a blackboard. I tried to distinguish the gentlemen from the gentlemen’s gentlemen, but failed miserably.

“Correct method and adjustment of tappets,” W.E.M. whispered.

If the student is a driver, a report goes to his employer. No weaknesses are glossed over. “Meadows,” reads a typical report, “is young, and, taking his age into account, he is likely to develop into a useful servant. His roadwork is very fair, but he lacks experience in London traffic.”

“We retain a copy of every report in our permanent files,”-W.E.M. added. “If there’s trouble with one of our cars, we like to know whether the driver has been to school here and what sort of showing he made.”

No student, however adept, receives a diploma when he graduates. Such recognition comes only after he has driven a Rolls at least three years and 30,000 miles. A serviceman calls on every owner once a year during the life of the three- year unconditional guarantee, and if he uncovers no blots on the graduate’s record during this time, W.E.M. awards the driver a “certificate of merit.” So highly prized are these certificates that when I asked W.E.M. to let me have a blank one as a souvenir, he drew a line through it and wrote “canceled.” “In case it should be mislaid and fall into unworthy hands,” he explained.

It was lunchtime, and W.E.M. led me into a cozy little dining room. We were joined presently by a brisk, stocky man whom W.E.M. addressed as S.B. He is Stanley Bull, the chief service engineer, and he. too, has grown up in the company.

A Mecca for Ailing Rollses Although Rolls-Royce repair service is available in almost two hundred cities scattered throughout the world, many owners will permit none but headquarters to lay a wrench on their car. Thus, many an ailing Rolls arrives in Scrubbs Lane after a voyage of thousands of miles, costing thousands of dollars. (In the garage, I later counted thirty-four license plates in as many different foreign languages. I S.B. sees that they are restored to their owners cured.

S.B. has also been known to respond to cries of distress from customers far from home, where no local service was available. Not long ago, a Rolls owner broke a spring on a mountainous road in Spain. The company flew down two mechanics, who promptly repaired the damage. When, months later, no bill was forthcoming, the grateful owner wrote asking for one. “We do not understand your letter.” came the reply. “Our springs never break.”

Old Rollses, according to S.B., never die. Specimens as old as the company with half a million miles on their speedometers, are still functioning. In fact. S.B. has yet to receive a Rolls that his department cannot resuscitate. It maintains 30,000 bins of spare parts.

W.E.M. and S.B. fell to reminiscing about some of the more unusual orders the company has been called upon to fill. “Nearly every Rolls is unique.” W.E.M. declared. “After all, when a chap spends that much on a car [the lowest basic price is $10,310. the highest $16,000], he wants those additional touches that set it apart from the other chap’s.”

The least inhibited in devising such touches are India’s princes. The Gaekwar of Baroda, for example, has a Rolls upholstered in hand-embroidered brocade. The exterior is painted a specially created shade of scarlet to match the Gaekwaree’s nail polish. After the war, the Maharaja of Patiala bought thirty-five Rollses with fur upholstery and gold-plated dashboards. The Maharaja of Mysore owns all eleven of the most expensive Rollses ever built. Each cost S28,000 and has gold door handles and a built-in cocktail bar. The maharaja owns thirty other Rollses.

But both the Maharaja of Patiala and Mysore are underprivileged compared with the Nizam of Hyderabad, who is frequently described as the richest man in the world. His garages shelter sixty Rollses. His favorite one has a silver chassis, a domed roof, lace curtains, and a gem-encrusted throne instead of a rear seat.

A Chamber Pot in Her Rolls

Eastern potentates, of course, have no monopoly on eccentricity. An English lady fitted her Rolls with a washstand and chamber pot. An English business magnate ordered a built-in safe for his loose cash. An English art collector had the interior decorated to duplicate in miniature his study, with hand-painted cherubs and half a Chippendale table attached to the back of the driver’s seat.

Americans, who now buy more Rollses than any other people (an average of 250 a year), show, surprisingly enough, a conservative taste in decor. No very startling fripperies decorate the Rollses of such American nabobs as Myron C. Taylor. Byron Foy. Tommy Manville; of such Hollywoodians as Jack Warner, Norma Shearer. Clark Gable, Irene Dunne. A possible exception is Mrs. Jessie Woolworth Donahue. Her Rolls contains a vanity case and electric clock together costing $5,000.

Occasionally, the company rises in all its majesty and rebuffs a would-be purchaser. It refused recently to honor an order by a Middle European dignitary because the numerous gingerbread accretions he requested would have unbalanced the body of the car. “We draw the line,” S.B. said, “at specifications incompatible with our engineering.”

Rolls-Royce Limited is not snobbish. It views with equal unconcern each customer’s social standing. Al Capone was a valued customer.

Delivery of a Rolls in England at present takes two years; in the U.S.. whose dollars England so desperately needs, it’s six months. (The handwork on the body alone takes two months.) But delivery of one Rolls model is limited to a rare few. This is the Phantom 4. Because of its lofty dimensions, which raise the occupants above the common herd while permitting them to be clearly seen by all, the Phantom 4 is reserved for heads of state. Only one American President ever used a Rolls in office. He was Woodrow Wilson, and then Rolls was a gift from friends. “I expect,” W.E.M. reasoned, “most Americans would take poorly to the idea of their President favoring a foreign car.”

Queen Elizabeth’s Phantom 4, although by no means the most expensive in existence, is the most advanced technically. It is nineteen feet long and six feet high, and can develop 190 horsepower. “Quite a feather in our cap, really,” W.E.M. said. “The royal family, to be sure, has always preferred the Rolls for private use, but this is the first time it has been chosen as the official state car.”

Because of its longevity, the average Rolls passes through many hands, and the company tries to keep a record of its vicissitudes. If a Rolls has been in a serious accident, such details as may be gleaned from the owner, insurance company, or police go into the dossier. “Should you ever contemplate buying a used Rolls,” S.B. advised me, “you would do well to check with us. There are unscrupulous dealers who will patch up a damaged car that ought to be off the road altogether.”

Most Rollses wind up as hearses or mourners’ cars. “It is their natural destination,” S.B. said. “A cortege of them, silent, dignified, aloof, presents an immensely impressive spectacle. No doubt about it the Rolls has popularized funerals. Every successful undertaker has a fleet of them. The British Cooperative Funeral Service alone has three thousand with which to bury its members, and at least two thousand others are owned by undertakers in this country.”

“Give the poor bloke a splendid last ride is the idea,” said W.E.M.

After luncheon, W.E.M. offered to take me through a condensed version of the lesson in etiquette, and I thus entered my second Rolls since morning, a Silver Dawn.

As I approached the front seat, he observed casually, “If you were a chauffeur, that would be improper.”

“What would be?” I asked, appalled.

“Walking in front of the car. A chauffeur who knows his place always walks around the back. . . . Here, suppose you take the wheel for a bit.” He added helpfully, “I can always tell whether a driver has been properly trained or not. If not, riding with him is painful to me.”

I had scarcely touched the wheel when to my utter bewilderment W.E.M. murmured, “Bad stance.” He tapped my hands, which rested on the wheel more or less parallel to each other. “They should grip the wheel in this manner,”

he said, placing them on a diagonal line, left hand a little below the right. “What we call at twenty to four.”

Although I have been driving cars for some twenty-five years, I felt, under W.E.M.’s glacial scrutiny, as if this were my initial experience. “Now, let’s drive out the main gate,” he directed.

I shifted into first, and the gears emitted a faint sigh. W.E.M. winced. “The only noise permissible in a Rolls-Royce,” he said, “is that made by the passengers’ conversation. Our’ students spend three days just learning how to shift gears.”

I offered him a cigarette and started to light one myself. “We do not approve of smoking at the wheel,” he said. “Now. turn that corner, please.”

Dropping my cigarette, I placed one hand on top of the wheel, the other near the bottom, and swung it to the left. I knew it was wrong the moment I did it. “No, no,” said W.E.M. “Don’t alter your stance. Thread the wheel through.”

A man stepped into the road half a block ahead, and I gave him a blast of the horn. “Softly, softly,” my mentor chided me. “A Rolls-Royce horn should give a gentle warning, never an imperious command. Stop here a moment, will you?”

Before coming to a dead halt, the car lurched slightly. W.E.M. had been expecting it. “A skillful driver so handles his car,” he lectured me, “that a passenger dozing in back should be totally unaware of any change in speed or direction. Do you follow me? The correct method of stopping so that no lurching will occur is to let the foot brake off slowly at the very instant of rest. Try-it again.”

We lurched.

“Assume we’re getting out here,” he continued, passing over my dereliction in pained silence. “Pull your emergency brake.”

I pulled. It made a ratchety sound. W.E.M. lifted a long finger to his lips. “Quietly, man. That’s the kind of distressing noise we want to avoid.”

I managed to drive the two blocks back without distressing him further.

It’s the Driver Who Gets Aligned “To sum up,” he said, as we descended. “We try to line the driver up with the rest of the car.”

I felt like a worm.

Stone was waiting for me at the main entrance in another Rolls, and after thanking W.E.M. and S.B. for their hospitality, I boarded it. I sat in back this time. My sense of inferiority evaporated.

“Where to,, sir?” Stone asked.

“Home, Stone,” I said.

NEW TRUNK RACK FOR SEDAN

AMONG the models seen in the great automobile show at Olympia, England, was a Jowett fabric sedan. This car, as seen in the photo below, is completely covered with Jowett fabric.

Instead of equipping the car with a trunk rack and trunk, the luggage space was built within the body. The panel, in the back of the body, lifts out and upward on hinges. The opening thus exposed is large enough to hold a man and not unnecessarily crowd him.

The English motor car indicates the trend of European design.

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NEW IMPORTS FOR ‘59
JAPAN is leading with a heavyweight in its first attempt to sell cars in the U. S. Now on sale in California and soon to be available throughout the country is the Toyopet, made by the Toyota Motor Co., Tokyo. Both four-door sedan and station wagon are offered with the boast: “Big car comfort with little car economy.” The Toyopet has a four-cylinder, OHV engine with 88.66 cu. in. displacement. Maximum hp is 60 at 4,-400 rpm. Delivered with heater, white walls, dual sun visors, set of tools, etc., the price in L.A. is $2,222, plus tax. •

There’s Still Room For The Fireman
WARTIME scarcity of gasoline, or “petrol” if you’re English, has caused Britain’s inventors to work overtime perfecting cars which will run on other substances. This car, seen in Worcester has been adopted to run on anthracite. The car is first started with petrol, and after about two minutes running is switched over to the anthracite. Consumption, it is claimed, is about 120 miles to a bag of anthracite.

NEW on the ROAD

Cycle Rickshaw is a novelty motorcycle cab which is becoming popular in Germany. Its main virtue is economy—it can make 60 miles on one gallon of gas. Top speed is 31 mph. It was recently exhibited at the Hanover (Germany) Trade Fair and will probably cost $700 when it hits the American markets.

Ruby Austin is the latest tiny auto turned out by Britain’s famous Austin Motor Company. This one, however, is really for babies—it has no motor. Youngsters have to provide their own pedal power. These kiddie vehicles are being made mainly for export and will sell for about $100. Austin Motor Company, 250 West 57 Street, New York, New York.

Auto Tent is a handy portable hotel for sportsmen. It’ll also solve the sleeping problem for ordinary tourists. A ten-foot platform is mounted on the roof of the car with a tent covering which can be folded up, left. It can be fully opened within a minute and a half, lower left. Inside are two regular-size air mattresses, below, for peaceful (and inexpensive) sleeping. Robert Bickel, 1627 Grand Ave., Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

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Cars That Fly

YOUR car of the future may have no wheels. It may not even touch the road as it races along the turnpike at speeds well above 100 mph while you and your family sit back and enjoy the ride—without fear of accident or injury.

This revolutionary new mode of travel was recently unveiled by the Ford Motor Company in the form of the Glideair—a wheel-less vehicle that rides on a thin film of air a fraction of an inch above the road.

Says Andrew A. Kucher, Ford’s vice president in charge of Engineering and Research: “We look upon Glideair as a new form of high-speed land transportation, probably in the field of rail surface travel, for fast trips of distances of up to about 1,000 miles.” A gas turbine or turbojet engine would supply the power to both levitate and propel the Glideair. Instead of wheels the vehicle would employ “levapads,” a Kucher-coined word. Tiny jets of air would stream through holes in the levapads, supporting the vehicle. It is significant to note that levapads have already been designed to fit around a standard rail. They raise the vehicle from the rail and keep it away from the rail sides.

There are also others with their fingers in the wheel-less vehicle pie. Noted designer Carl Reynolds recently showed off his concept of a car without wheels which he forsees by 1978. Mr. Reynolds says, “The highway cruiser, or large passenger car will float, or literally fly a short distance above the road supported on air compressed by turbine-driven ducted fans.”

“In the wheel-less car,” Reynolds goes on to say, “the driver’s controls will be automated to simplify safe and effortless driving. . . Inter-city expressways will have electronic equipment for driver information as well as for traffic control and guidance… The car without wheels will negotiate fairly rough terrain, even travel over smooth water!”

Piasecki Aircraft Corp. has a Sky Car in the works for the not-too-distant future. It will be an offspring of their 59-K, one of two Flying Jeeps being developed for the Army. The 59-K, which is “well ahead of schedule,” according to the Army, is designed to combine the utility of ground jeeps with the hovering capabilities of small helicopters.

The Sky Car will be the civilian version. It will have no wings or conventional propellers and will be pow- ered by two horizontal three-bladed rotor-props, one at the front and one at the rear, which will support the craft on two columns of air.

Both rotor-props will be shielded for safety and the Sky Car will hold a driver and three passengers. It will be able to fly down narrow streets or get above heavy traffic. It will also have powered wheels to drive it in and out of the garage or congested areas.

According to Piasecki, the Sky Car will cost little more than a high-priced motor car of today.

Ford also envisions what it calls an aero-car. Dubbed the Volante, the vehicle would be powered by means of three fan units arranged in a triangular pattern to provide lift and thrust somewhat like a helicopter.

That’s the story of tomorrow’s vehicles. How soon they’ll appear above the roads is anybody’s guess. Scientists are currently experimenting with the means to power such vehicles. One thing is certain—cars that fly are on the way; you may be parking one in your backyard in just a few short years. •

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Mechanical Flying Goose Decorates Radiator Cap

For novelty in radiator ornaments, you’ll have to go a long way to beat this mechanical flying goose. As you speed along in your car, an ingenious arrangement of mechanism in the bird causes it to straighten out and flap its wings to simulate a real live goose in flight.

WHILE your car is standing still this wild goose isn’t so wild. He perches sedately upon the radiator cap surveying the world with a glassy eye. But as soon as you start up and shift into high he flattens out his tail, stretches his neck forward and begins to flap his wings as if he were going somewhere, and going there in a hurry.

There is not a staggering lot of work on this bird, but it is important that all moving parts operate freely. With the exception of small brass rod, a short piece of tubing to fit over it and some sheet duralumin or aluminum, all materials can be picked up in your work shop.

Start with the body. The original was made from a block of sugar pine 1-1/2 in. thick, 2-1/2 in. wide and 4-3/4 in. long. The general shape and inside carving is shown in the underside view in Fig. 1. In hollowing out the body an expansive bit, hack saw and chisel will do the work nicely. A certain amount of fitting will be necessary later when you install the mechanism of neck, wings and tail.

As the wings are first in importance, make and install them before the other parts. The phantom view, Fig. 3, shows how the wings are installed. Cut the wing plane or blade as per the squared diagram, Fig. 3, from sheet duralumin. Tin will do if you have not the lighter material, but it won’t function as smoothly. On the underside secure a section of 3/32 in. brass rod by means of fine wires. You will not be able to solder to duralumin.

Now make a universal joint of a short section of brass tubing soldered to a piece of tin cut as indicated in Fig. 3 for the wing to operate in. This fits into the slot in the side of the body, and is fastened to it by means of the bent ends of the elevating axis driven into the wood. I The principle of operation of the flapping wing is known as “feathering,” and is practically the same as the movements of a sculling oar used at the stern of a boat. This action is illustrated in Fig. 1. Note in the first position that the wing tip is down, but the leading edge is elevated. Thus the air current causes the wing tip to rise. When it reaches the top limit of the second position, or rather while approaching it, the crank arm inside the body is brought against a wood st^p, which tilts the leading edge down, and thus the air current forces the wing tip down again. This flapping operation continues as long as there is a fair wind. The rubber band snaps the wing into proper position as soon as the crank-arm passes the center line.

It is necessary to have the brass rod, or crank-arm shaft, fit nicely in its tube bearing and also to have elevating axis work without much play. Tension of the rubber band will be determined by experiment, as will the location of the wood stops. Bind the rubber bands to the crank-pins with thread and apply model airplane cement also.

Tin will not do for the tail on account of its weight. So large an area must necessarily be above the axis that either duralumin or aluminum must be used. Even at that it must be counterbalanced with a good-sized piece of lead, for this weight must also keep the head erect when at rest, in spite of the fact that the latter, as well as the neck, is made of soft balsa. Added weight can be had by using a fairly heavy wire or brass rod for the connecting link, as illustrated in Fig. 2. It is necessary to swing this link low to clear the wing mechanism. Light piano wire is used for the link between head and body. This is a necessary feature, for otherwise the head would merely lop down in lifeless fashion when the neck is pushed forward. Loops in the piano wire are made by twisting two or three turns around a small nail driven into the workbench.

Use pins or long brads for the axes of head and neck, and be sure the holes are large enough for the parts to move freely. A neat counterbalance weight for the tail is made by rolling a cylindrical piece of lead in an extension of the former, as shown in the drawings. When air currents force the tail to a horizontal position this weight moves up into a recess of the body shown in Fig. 1. Set your goose on a standard of galvanized wire to clip around the radiator cap, and give it a try-out before painting. If the wings flap too high or too low, or both, make the necessary adjustment by using thicker wood stops. You may need to change the tension of the rubber bands for smoother action.

After tests are made, by all means give your goose the very best paint job you know how. Give all wood parts a white ground-coat, and sandpaper smoothly when dry. The bird should, of course, be taken apart for the painting. Next, with a comparatively dry brush—that is, without paint dripping from it—touch in the brown feathers until only the wing tips are left white. Also leave the breast white, as well as the underpart of the body, a portion of the neck and a spot on the side of the head, as shown in Fig. 3. Black, glass-headed pins cut off to about 1/4 in. are used for eyes, and they certainly give this lively fowl a determined look.

With a first rate paint job this radiator ornament will cause much comment.

Jivin’ Up THE JEEP

THE front seats of the jeep are tolerably comfortable, but the shallow, flat rear seat is a notorious back-breaker. It can be improved considerably by installing two pieces of1/2in. plywood, (photo 1, above right), hinged to the bottom of the seat frame. Position the back board to about the angle shown. To the front of the bottom board, attach short wooden feet (photo 2, right) about 10 inches long. The back board can be pushed forward, (photo 3, below) to give access to the hand crank mounted against the rear wall of the jeep.

The original spring bottom seat can be used again (photo 4, below). For back support, use old sofa cushions, or, better yet, life-preserver cushions.

This is the last of a series of four articles dealing with jeep modification. The others appeared in the October, and November, 1946 and April, 1947 issues of Mechanix Illustrated. These articles illustrated a number of ways of improving the utility, appearance and general comfort of this rugged little vehicle.

The Jeep illustrated at the top of the page was further enhanced by the addition of plywood top and sides. The windows are made of plexiglas. •

Car Owner’s Name on Foot Plate

WITH so many cars on the street just like the one you drive, it is convenient to have some little individuality on yours to make it easily identified from the rest. One way to do this without altering or detracting from the car’s beauty is to use a little foot plate with your name on it. The plate is made of white rubber and is easily installed on the running board, as shown in the photo. This forms an attractive, inexpensive accessory that makes identification simple.

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MI Tests the 1950 Studebaker

“One of the best dollar values today,” says Tom McCahill. They’re not the fastest cars on the road but they’re tops in comfort and quality.

THE new, needle-nose Studebaker gives the boys of the Big Three something to shoot at. Back in ‘46, with the introduction of the 1947 Studebaker designed by Raymond Loewy, this first real post-war auto stirred up the populace. And now, once again, Loewy has set the pace with the 1950 Studebaker.

To this writer, however, it looks like the Studebaker people did a bit of borrowing themselves for a change. Most of us knew it would be just a matter of months before the Tucker “turkey” was laid on the Thanksgiving table for carving. Well, it appears as how Studebaker has started the dissection rolling by slicing off the Tucker nose as their helping. When I was first asked by a Studebaker executive what I thought of the new car I told him, “Though it’s not exact, the front looks as though Tucker must have passed through South Bend on a bicycle.” He quickly pointed out that I was wrong and said he could prove how it varied. But I’ll stick to my guns and say again that, to my eyes anyway, it looks like the turkey is on the table.

Don’t think for a moment I disapprove of the Studebaker beak. With the Tucker out of the picture, I think this new Studie is the best looking car in its class. It certainly proves that the boys of this independent company are wide awake and still way ahead of the competition in design. This is no small feat for any outfit to pull off four years in a row.

There have been other changes in the 1950 Studebakers, such as an increase in the wheel base (one inch on all models) and much better front-end suspension. The rear of the car has undergone some modification too. There’s a large, new tail light and a general refinement of all hardware All four fenders are individually bolted on, so that in the event of a minor crash, an entire new side is not required. Today, this is a feature well worth considering. The horsepower has also been jacked up. Taking everything into consideration, the new jobs are better cars than previous models. And, as most Studebaker fans know, there was very little wrong with them before.

The dash or instrument board is several inches further forward than in the past. Incidentally, the Tucker dash was way forward too. Enough of this small talk, though, let’s drive the car!

Undoubtedly the unhappiest man in South Bend was Bill Ay res of the Studebaker public relations staff on the day I arrived. Usually, I drive to the factories for tests but this time I elected to go by rail. My train pulled into South Bend just after six in the morning [Continued on page 140] and there was poor Ayres, waiting to greet me. We discussed company plans and particularly Studebakers version of the automatic transmission which will make its debut on the Commander and Land Cruiser in early 1950. Then we made arrangements for me to test these cars in California next winter. Until then, I have sworn to make like a sphinx. So for now, back to little needle nose.

We drove to the 850-acre proving ground, one of the best in the country. I was offered my choice of cars, all thoroughly broken in. I selected the four-door Champion which is the low man on the Studebaker totem pole.

Before I had made more than two laps of the three-mile track, I realized the new Champion has a lot more punch and handles much better at high speeds than its predecessors. The horsepower has been raised to 85 from the former approximate 80 and this has made a considerable difference.

Improved performance was also noticeable when I drove into tough curves at 80 mph and got around without any effort. This was a near impossibility with previous models which had looser front-end suspension. In all, I drove about 50 miles at high speeds on the track. Then I headed for a short half-mile dirt course.

On the dirt, I spun around corners with all wheels screaming but had the car under full control at all times. When this was over, I made several dry side skids doing about 70 and found I could snap it out at any time. The Champion is a remarkably fine handling car.

From the dust track, I headed for some rough South Bend roads which could snap the neck off a Japanese beetle. About ten miles of this proved to me that the Studebaker is probably the finest riding car in its price range made in America today. The car I tested was equipped with a standard three-speed transmission. Overdrive is available at extra cost and would add a mile or two to the top speed. In conventional range (always lower when overdrive is used) acceleration figures would drop anywhere from a half-second to a full second on each run.

I headed for the water trough for a grand finale. Cars are tested there not only for leaks but to find out if they can stand a good dousing. The Studie passed with flying colors.

I like the Studebakers and I like the company that makes them. They are not the fastest cars on the road but that feature is not too important to many buyers. They are, on the other hand, tops in comfort and quality. They’re rugged, reliable, good looking and one of the best dollar values in a car today. •

Related posts

• The Mercedes-Benz 190 SL (Nov, 1949)
• MI Tests The Triumph TR-2 (Nov, 1949)
• McCahill Drives The Austin Healey (Nov, 1949)
• The NASCAR Story (Nov, 1949)
• MI Tests the New Crosley (Nov, 1949)
• Inside Uncle Tom (Nov, 1949)

NEW for the ROAD

Motorcycle Car was built by automotive engineer Theron Huish of Los Angeles in one year’s spare time. The body is a reinforced aircraft drop tank; engine is the motorcycle type with a fan for cooling. Top speed is about 60 mph.

Stiltmobile carried the mail out of Texaco, Illinois, for seven years and the mail went through come hail, snow and mud. The chassis is a Model A Ford and the rear wheels are truck type. Front wheels were homemade to fit tractor tires.

World’s Lowest Car probably is this tiny German Recklinghausen single seater. It stands about three feet high. A small Ilo engine wheels it along at a top speed of 53 mph. It’s economical, getting over 72 miles per gallon.

Auto-Boat Speedy on Land or Sea

YOU may take your choice and call it a sea-going auto or a road-boat, but whatever it is, the vehicle shown in the photo below performs nicely on land or water, developing 25 miles an hour in the liquid element and 40 per on terra firma.

The land-boat (or sea-auto) was invented by Peter Prell of Union, New Jersey, presumably for the purpose of beating the jam on both tube and ferry while commuting to New York.

Where Do They Keep The Towels?

THIS new foreign limousine has a hot and cold water folding wash-basin of aluminum built into its right front fender. Beneath the hood is a 2-compartment tank holding two and a half gallons of water. The hot water section is heated by exhaust gases passing through a spiral pipe. The two faucets give water of any desired temperature. The basin is automatically emptied when it is folded into the fender.

Trailer Saves Return Haul Costs

A GREAT saving in the return trips of trucks used for the transportation of automobiles from factory to dealer has been effected as a result of the development of a new type of trailer. Built with rear extension that can be folded back, the trailer can be shortened so that one truck can be hauled by another on the return trip.

Triangular truss frame construction of the trailer makes possible a combination of maximum strength and minimum weight. The photo below shows the manner in which one truck is carried by another, without danger of accident on road.

Exterminating Rats With Deadly Automobile Exhaust Gas

“IF THE fumes from an automobile exhaust can kill humans, they should have the same effect on rats,” said the head of the Department of Health of Highland Park, Michigan. And so onto the exhaust pipe of a dilapidated Model T Ford discarded by the police officials, the health officers rigged up a rubber hose and established themselves as modern pied pipers.

The “hunters” first seal all the holes of the building to be operated upon, leaving just two openings. The hose is then inserted into one of these, the engine of the Ford coaxed to wheeze a bit, and the carbon monoxide does the rest.