March 11, 2008

Movie Mechanics Rebuild 13-year-old Car Into Ultra-Modern Limousine (Aug, 1933)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 1:52 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Aug, 1933
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Movie Mechanics Rebuild 13 -year-old Car Into Ultra-Modern Limousine

HOLLYWOOD was set agog recently when an automobile of startling, ultra-modernistic design appeared on the streets. The creation, shown below, was the work of Hollywood carriage-makers, who built it from an old bus that had been prowling the streets since 1920. The “chariot on wheels,” as the bus is called, is to be used in a movie telling a fantastic story of events in a mythical kingdom. Though the car seems to represent a fabulous cost, in reality it cost less than the price of two small cars.

March 10, 2008

New Thrills from Freak Spills of Auto Ball (Apr, 1933)

Filed under: Automotive, Sports — @ 1:52 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1933
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New Thrills from Freak Spills of Auto Ball

by ED HARLAN GIBSON

SPILLS! Thrills! Smashups! Constant danger. Daredevil drivers strapped in odd looking, speeding cars, bouncing a huge ball about the race track.

Spills? Sure there’s one! Dust clouds rise as a little car does a crashing “barrel-roll.” Then another, farther up the track, fairly leaps into space as it turns over. The air about the grandstand has the tainted odor of burning rubber from spinning wheels—wheels spinning first back and then forward. Cars skid, slide about, swap ends like a wild bucking broncho.

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March 9, 2008

Shades for Auto Lights Cut Glare (Apr, 1933)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 3:01 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1933
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Shades for Auto Lights Cut Glare
A SHADE for automobile headlights recently invented greatly reduces glare and the percentage of accidents resulting therefrom. The shade is drawn out over a set of auxiliary lights by pressing a button on the dash, the procedure being entirely automatic. The device is ideal for city driving.

BEWARE The Gasoline DOPE Racket (Nov, 1936)

Filed under: Automotive, How to — @ 3:00 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1936
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BEWARE The Gasoline DOPE Racket

“FIVE More Miles per Gallon!” “Removes Carbon!” “Stops Oil Pumping!” “More Power with Pep Tablets!”

When you see signs like these, stop, look and beware! Magic fuel elixirs and cure-all compounds that are sold in tablet, powder, pill or capsule form to motorists comprise a wide-spread highway racket. There are hundreds of such preparations on the market that you can buy for a dime or a dollar, but few of them are any good. Some are actually harmful to motors.

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March 8, 2008

Efficient Antenna for Auto Radio (Feb, 1934)

Filed under: Automotive, Radio — @ 5:38 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1934
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Efficient Antenna for Auto Radio

A MANUFACTURER of radio equipment has designed a novel antenna for auto radios. As shown below, the antenna is attached to the underside of the running board where it is out of the way.

March 7, 2008

Largest Car Replaces the Kings ‘Orses (Sep, 1935)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 1:54 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Sep, 1935
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Largest Car Replaces the Kings ‘Orses
KING GEORGE and Queen Mary of England—whose state and ceremonial appearances for a quarter of a century have been made in the traditional horse-drawn -carriage—have become motor minded. For the first time in history the king and queen are making their state appearances by car.

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March 5, 2008

Drive Movie Bus from Crow’s Nest (Jun, 1935)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 1:55 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1935
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Drive Movie Bus from Crow’s Nest
UNIQUE in design is the multiple-wheeler shown below, which was designed for a film now being made at the Paramount studios. The 36-passenger vehicle is operated by a driver who sits in a glass-enclosed crow’s nest jutting out from the 15-foot roof. The road liner has an oddly-shaped tail fin which extends high over the rear observation platform. The bus has four rear wheels and a circular vent in front in order to cool the radiator.

March 2, 2008

Washing Machine Motor Drives Midget Auto 12 M.P.H. (Oct, 1932)

Filed under: Automotive, DIY — @ 2:55 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1932
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Washing Machine Motor Drives Midget Auto 12 M.P.H.

IT MIGHT be small and funny looking but it goes places, does the little midget car built by Stanley McCrary, of Seattle, Washington.

In building his somewhat diminutive auto, Stanley waylaid an old washing machine and made away with its motor. When he came to the problem of providing a clutch and steering gear, he simply made them in his own workshop. As to the gas tank, well you can see for yourself in the photo at the left.

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Milady Can Now Make Up in Auto (Feb, 1933)

Filed under: Automotive, Personal Appearance — @ 2:03 am
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1933
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Milady Can Now Make Up in Auto

HAVING in mind the feminine weakness of always desiring to look pretty, inventors have devised a special accessory for automobiles which permits milady to do make-up jobs right in the car. The device consists essentially of a mirror which may be detached and brought up close to the face, as illustrated in the photo below. A cord which winds off a drum and which follows the light delivers juice to a bulb mounted above the mirror so that good illumination is provided. The device may also be used in case of an emergency at night as a trouble light. The receptacle fits in the dash of the car.

February 29, 2008

DRIVER’S SCARF HEATED BY CAR (Jul, 1934)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 2:00 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1934
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DRIVER’S SCARF HEATED BY CAR

An electrically heated scarf for the comfort of open-car drivers on cool evenings has been devised by a Los Angeles, Calif., inventor. An electric heating element is woven into the fabric, and a flexible cord attached to one end of the scarf is plugged into an outlet in the dashboard and connected with the electrical system of the automobile, exactly as a cigarette lighter is worked.

February 24, 2008

Will Gyroscopic Wheel Shatter Speed Records? (Apr, 1923)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 1:07 am
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1923
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Will Gyroscopic Wheel Shatter Speed Records?

DOWN the track of a motor speedway a wheel 14 feet high whirls at such a dizzy speed that racing automobiles traveling at top speed—115 miles an hour—seem almost to stand still. So fast does the giant wheel travel that the details of its design can scarcely be distinguished. This is a possibility prophesied by Prof. E. J. Christie, of Marion, Ohio, for an amazing gyroscopic unicycle of his invention, now being constructed in Philadelphia, Pa. The 2400-pound 14-foot model of the speed wheel is almost ready for a trial spin and Christie confidently predicts that it will develop a speed of at least 250, and possibly 400 miles an hour!

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February 23, 2008

AUTO BODIES MADE OF FABRIC END SQUEAKS AND RATTLES (Mar, 1924)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 3:54 am
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Mar, 1924
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AUTO BODIES MADE OF FABRIC END SQUEAKS AND RATTLES

Fabric, which holds its shape, is durable and is washed or dusted easily, is being employed successfully in place of metal in the bodies of a French automobile, celebrated for its silent-running qualities. With the car windows, held in rubber grooves, and the panels manufactured of the leatherlike material, squeaks and rattling common to bodies of steel construction are said to be entirely removed.

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