.Aluminum Car Weighs Only 800 lb.
WITH a total weight of only 800 lb., this new European light car boasts a cast aluminum body, top speed of 60 m.p.h., and high fuel economy—65 miles per gal. The French “Gregoire,” named after its designer, Jean Gregoire, has a convertible top, front-wheel drive, and is powered by an air-cooled, horizontal opposed two-cylinder engine.
.Advertising Invades Taxicabs
ADVERTISING has now invaded the taxicab in the form of a panel which fits above the partition between driver’s seat and the passenger’s compartment.
Thus located, the ad cards, which are fitted in separate divisions and separated from each other by means of wood partitions, cannot fail to get undivided attention during long tedious taxi rides.
Above each card there is a miniature panel bulb, with a reflector running the entire length of the display. The lights are connected with the meter, so that when the meter flag is pulled the lights switch on automatically.
.Portable Auto Jail Houses Fugitive
A NEW style in portable “hoosegows” was set by an Oklahoma police official when he built a steel cage on the back of his passenger auto. The “jail” was used to bring back a fugitive who had escaped from the McAlester, Okla., prison. He had been recaptured by Pittsburgh, Pa., police.
Alex Watson, transfer agent of the prison, drove 1,000 miles to bring back the prisoner. The “jail” was made by ripping off the lid of the luggage compartment of a regular coupe automobile and screwing down an sill-welded steel cage. An awning protected the prisoner from the sun, and a cushion provided the interior “comforts” of the jail. The prisoner was released from the cage for brief exercise periods throughout the trip.
.Meet The New MG
Completely remodeled, the new MG can now top 90 miles an hour!
By Gordon Wilkins
MG-TF with sweeping fenders, angular outline, is one of most popular sports cars.
WHEN the last MG-TF rolled off the production line in the early summer of this year, an era ended in sports car design. The stark angular outline, the long sweeping fenders, the slab-sided gas tank and the spare wheel hung on the back, had their origins in sports cars which made history at Le Mans back in the ’20s. It was a formula which produced a long line of durable, inexpensive sports models and spread an appreciation of sports car motoring into areas where people had long forgotten that cars could be fun to drive. But rising performance standards brought the MG hard up against the laws of aerodynamics and above 85 mph increases in power brought negligible returns.
.NEW for the ROAD
Bump-Air invented by Jeff Corydon of Hush Bumpers, Chicago, extends beyond regular guards and takes the shock of minor collisions. It is installed by drilling new holes or by replacing the old metal guards. Made of inflated Plastisol or rubber.
Caddy Pickup Truck carries motorcycles to race tracks. It is made on a 1949 Cadillac chassis and will take three cycles which are anchored in wells in floor. Windows in the rear corners of cab are Plexiglas. It is painted bright red. cost $5,000.
.Horseless Carriage Cavalcade
THE CARS shown here, all on public display at the Carriage Cavalcade at Florida’s Silver Springs, go a long way toward explaining how antique car bugs get that way. For example, the 1903 Crestmobile was loaded with features that are now regarded as pretty modern: steering column shift, automatic clutch, an engine mounting resembling Chrysler Floating Power, and adjustable steering wheel. The 1925 Rickenbacker had four-wheel brakes—but the motoring public fell victim to a whispering campaign that this great safety advance was unreliable. The Rumpler Drop Car was an attempt to streamline the passenger car (racing bombs had been built much earlier). To people who love cars, these old-timers are automotive history.
.Confessions of a Car Thief
By No. 75149
State Prison of Southern Michigan When the manuscript of this story arrived at the editorial offices of Ml, it created something of a stir. While it warned car owners of the danger of theft and even described specific ways to avoid theft, there was the possibility that some twisted minds might be able to use it as a sort of primer for crime. Well, after careful consideration and some strategic deletions, the editors have decided that the good this story can do far outweighs any possible harm. So, here it is—-advice to car owners from a guy who got caught.
.America’s Fastest Sports Car…’52 CUNNINGHAM
If the U.S.A. ever wins back leadership in international road racing, this is the car that will do it, says Mi’s own auto expert.
By Tom McCahill
THE 1952 Cunninghams have four wheels and a base Chrysler block but aside from this they look no more like the 1951 models than I resemble Fred Astaire on a ballroom floor. The first cars came in for a lot of hard criticism because of their unfortunate showing in the 24-hour race at Le Mans a year ago. But before the year was out, they succeeded in cramming a crankcase full of words down the critics’, throats by running away with the Elkhart Lake and Watkins Glen races. In finishing one, two and four at Watkins Glen, even the sourest observer was forced to admit that they were about the hottest cars ever to run on these shores. And this year the Cunningham is even hotter.
.Basic transportation for the man who hates gingerbread.
Millions of Americans are sick of gingerbread.
Of paying hundreds of dollars for chrome that’s out of date before it’s paid for.
These people want basic transportation. And nothing more.
But they are very, very particular about how they define basic transportation.
So are we.
This car apparently met a sad end in 1970
.MEET THE BESASIE X-2
ZERO to 60 mph in 6.5 seconds is fast enough to scorch the wrinkles on an asbestos-lined bald dome but that’s what the Besasie X-2 can do, claims its designer-builder, Raymond Besasie. The Milwaukee, Wis., inventor spent an estimated 5,200 hours and close to $20,000 building his dream car which features running lights on its sides. The center wheel-steered auto has no doors. You hop in and out via recessed step plates on either side of what would be doors on a conventional car.
