.THE CAR THAT FLIES
Here’s a perfect solution to traffic jams: Drive to the nearest airport and take off.
DEWEY BRYAN and his auto-plane contraption are equally at home on the highway or in the air. When the Highland, Mich., inventor becomes annoyed with Sunday drivers he simply pulls into the nearest airport, rigs his wings and takes off into the wild blue yonder, just as easy as you please.
.NEW for the ROAD
Alarming Glasses set off a buzzer near the ear of the motorist as soon as his eyes remain closed longer than normally. Thin steel wire is attached to the frame and remains in close contact with the eyelids. Spectacles were exhibited at the Frankfort Automobile Show in Germany.
The Hot Rod was actually known as Green Monster #2. Art Arfons eventually built the J79 jet engine powered Green Monster #5.
.NEW for the ROAD
ROAD BUG designed by famed German Willy Messerschmidt, has 2-cylinder. 9-hp engine. 55 mph top speed, reported 100-mpg gas consumption. Car weighs 385 lbs., costs $550. Top lifts for entry.
AIR CONDITIONER straddles front floor hump on adjustable legs. Blower and pump are powered by pulley power take-off from fan belt, controlled by dashboard switch. Idler Prod.. SL Louis. Mo.
.NEW USES for old Fords Contest
This contest is growing more popular each month! Readers of Modern Mechanics are invited to enter by sending in pictures of odd uses to which old Fords have been put, and, as a tribute to the versatility of old Tin Lizzie of fond memory, Modern Mechanics will offer $10 for every photo accepted for publication. Contest runs until further notice—no closing dates, so send in your photo now!
.Butter Trucks Have Complete Refrigeration Plant
A FLEET of 12 refrigerated trucks, the first of their kind in the United States, are now delivering butter, meats, eggs, and other perishable goods into the city of San Francisco from points in the Sacramento Valley 125 miles distant. Each unit of the fleet consists of a ten ton truck and a five ton trailer, as shown in the photo below.
.Chrysler Builds a Locomotive
JUST in case MI’s cover caused some worry among American Locomotive Company officials let’s reassure them. Chrysler is not going into competition with them! The locomotive and tender on these pages is strictly a miniature—one-third regular size, nearly 27 feet long.
.Super JAG
BACK in 1948 the first few Jaguar XK-120 roadsters were shipped to this country from merry old England. This was shortly after a prototype model had clocked a speed of more than 130 mph in a test run. In the years that followed this sleek sports car proceeded to make quite a name for itself, both in competition and on the road, topping off the whole thing with two spectacular wins in the famed Le Mans races of 1951 and 1953. The latter Le Mans cars were actually modified versions known as XK-120 C Jags and now there is an entirely new model of the fabulous “C”—truly a super Jag.
.Fibersport
THAT necessity is the mother of invention has been proved once again by John Mays and John Burmaster, proprietors of a garage in Bloomington, Illinois.
Three years ago, Mr. Mays, with his partner’s assistance, began running a Crosley Super Sport in competition. Months of tedious work were devoted to modification of the compact little power plant and the results were encouraging. After what amounted to a trial run in a race at Vero Beach, Florida, the car took a first in its class in the Janesville Airport Race. Next came Elkart Lake and the hot Crosley turned in another good race but not quite good enough.
.Racer Designed to Carry Fuel for 5,000 Miles
How would you like to make a motor trip across the continent and back in less than three days? Automotive engineers in Europe are toying with ideas no less fantastic since breakdown tests with a Hotchkiss motor have shown that this engine is capable of such a performance if the car can be built to go with it. This motor on the test block ran for fifty-two hours and forty-six minutes at 4,000 revolutions per minute, a speed which would have carried a car about 5,000 miles.
How would they get a car from the back of a row? There is an small automatic parking garage in my neighborhood and it’s pretty complex.
.HOTEL for AUTOS
Traffic congestion in New York City has become such a serious problem that a special parking garage, or more properly a hotel for automobiles, is now being erected near Times Square alter the design pictured above. Cars are handled automatically—all the attendants have to do is drive the automobile onto the elevator, press the proper button, and the car is whisked to the correct floor and stored in its individual stall, all without the need of human assistance.
