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. Read the rest of this entry »

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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.
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Wow, I think this car marks the point when the “trunk” of a car ceased to be literally a trunk attached to the rear.

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.
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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

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. Read the rest of this entry »