April 18, 2008

Automatic Food Cooker Runs by Exhaust Heat of Car (Jun, 1930)

Filed under: Automotive, Kitchen — @ 11:44 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1930

Automatic Food Cooker Runs by Exhaust Heat of Car

MEALS can literally be cooked on the run through the use of the automatic cooker shown in the photo above. The cooker is mounted on the rear bumper of the motor tourist’s car and an extension from the exhaust pipe connected up with it, as shown in the insert. The cooker contains a steam pressure kettle which is heated by the hot exhaust gases. An hour’s drive is quite sufficient to thoroughly cook meats and vegetables. Total weight of the unit is so slight that running qualities of the car remain quite unaffected. Motor tours are much more pleasant when one is assured of a well-prepared meal at the end of the trip.

April 17, 2008

License Tag in Miniature Identifies Auto Keys (Oct, 1939)

Filed under: Automotive, Useful — @ 9:33 pm
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Oct, 1939

I think this is a great idea. Though I’m sure that Bruce Schneier could explain to me why this is a bad idea, I’d still love to have one. I can never remember my license plate number! Here is an awesome gallery of similar key chains.

This guy sells them, but they don’t look nearly as nice.

License Tag in Miniature Identifies Auto Keys

A metal tag stamped out as a miniature reproduction of your automobile license plates is attached by a chain to a novel key ring designed to hold car keys. Tiny copies of any individual license plate of any state may be obtained. The identifying tags are especially useful where a number of sets of keys to different cars are kept in one place, as in a public garage.

Giant Truck Will Carry “Mail Order” House (Jun, 1935)

Giant Truck Will Carry “Mail Order” House

For the delivery of complete prefabricated houses to all parts of the United States, a special tractor-trailer unit is planned. The trucking arrangement is intended to serve a house manufacturing company in which Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors and other industrialists are interested. According to plans, each of the 1,500 proposed vehicles will carry one complete house ready for assembly, two drivers, a master mechanic and a building supervisor. Sleeping accommodations above the seat will enable the crew to travel night and day, speeding up the movement from one site to another. Local labor will erect the houses, supervised by the crew from the factory or distribution point. The houses, which will be low-cost, modern residences, can be completely assembled, ready for occupancy, in two weeks.

Hitch-Hikers Get a Waiting Room of Their Own (Oct, 1939)

Um… This doesn’t seem like the greatest idea.

Hitch-Hikers Get a Waiting Room of Their Own

Performing the role of the good Samaritan to the nation-wide fraternity of automobile hitch-hikers, the owner of a service station in Albion, Mich., recently established a hitchhikers’ depot hard by his row of gasoline pumps. Nailed to a tree, a large sign visible to approaching motorists at a good distance, identifies the spot, while a painted hand, with the thumb outstretched in the traditional manner, does the spade work for tired hikers.

April 16, 2008

Baby Cyclecar Speeds at 80 Miles an Hour (Apr, 1923)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 11:25 pm
Source: Popular Science ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Apr, 1923

Baby Cyclecar Speeds at 80 Miles an Hour

A DIMINUTIVE one-man sport car, said to attain a speed of 80 miles an hour and combining the advantages of larger cars, is equipped with a three-speed transmission and a powerful four-cylinder air cooled engine.

The clutch is controlled by a pedal and gear shifting by a short lever. The transmission drives to a jackshaft and thence by side chains to the rear wheels. Brakes operated by lever act on the rear wheel drums.

The entire car weighs 800 pounds and clears the ground by only six inches.

April 15, 2008

Steam Carriage Ads (Apr, 1902)

EXCLUSIVE EXCELLENCE.
The 1902 Winton product is the finest creation upon the automobile market. A combination of all structural advantages. Thoroughly reliable under all conditions of service.
Our Catalog may help some.

THE WINTON MOTOR CARRIAGE CO.,
486 Belden Street, Cleveland, Ohio, U. S. A. Branches in New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia.

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April 11, 2008

Crash Absorber Thrives on Bumps (Jun, 1930)

Filed under: Automotive, Origins — @ 9:36 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jun, 1930

Crash Absorber Thrives on Bumps

SHOCK absorbers for road bumps have long been equipment within the reach of all, but Captain Franz Carl Schleiff, former German ace, has perfected a shock absorber to take care of head-on collisions. This is but one embodiment of Schleiff’s revolutionary principle for killing living force in moving bodies. The bumper is made of solid rubber backed up by powerful shock absorbers.

April 10, 2008

Automatic Trap Door in Car Roof Prevents Head Bumps (Feb, 1933)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 10:34 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Feb, 1933

Automatic Trap Door in Car Roof Prevents Head Bumps

HAVE you ever bumped your head while getting into or out of an automobile? If so, you undoubtedly will be greatly interested in a recent invention coming from England.

The Riley Lincook cars so popular in Britain, are now equipped with automatic trap doors in their roofs, as shown in the photo on the right.

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April 9, 2008

Windshield Cleaned by Jets of Water While Driving (Nov, 1936)

Filed under: Automotive, Origins — @ 11:10 pm
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1936

Windshield Cleaned by Jets of Water While Driving

Controlled by a button on the dashboard, an automatic windshield washer will keep the glass clean while driving. Two small chromium-plated nozzles mounted on the cowl just in front of the windshield wipers are the only external parts, the glass jar used as a reservoir for clear water being mounted under the hood. The fountain is operated by vacuum, two jets thrown against the windshield removing dust, rain spots, mud and insects.

April 3, 2008

New Volkswagen 1500 Will Hit 81 M. P. H. (Jul, 1961)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 9:34 pm
Source: Popular Mechanics ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Jul, 1961

81 miles per hour? That’s ridiculous. Who on earth would ever want to drive that fast?

New Volkswagen 1500 Will Hit 81 M. P. H.

FROM THE specifications it appears that the new VW 1500 is based on the chassis of the familiar, beetle-shaped ‘61 model. Wheelbase is unchanged at 94.5 inches, although the new car is six inches longer over-all at 166.3.

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April 2, 2008

Builds Turret-Type Midget Racing Car (Sep, 1938)

Builds Turret-Type Midget Racing Car
BELIEVED to be the smallest electric-powered type in the world, a streamlined midget racing auto built by William Dube, of Worcester, Mass., is 31 inches high, 36 inches wide and six feet long. The novel car features a turret compartment for the driver and is said to be capable of a speed of 55 m.p.h. Four springs on each wheel provide knee-action riding.

TRAILER LIFE LURES MORE THOUSANDS (Nov, 1936)

Filed under: Automotive — @ 10:41 pm
Source: Modern Mechanix ( More articles from this issue )
Issue: Nov, 1936

TRAILER LIFE LURES MORE THOUSANDS

Tin Can Tourists’ Reunion in Sandusky reflects growing boom in business of escaping rent by house car dwelling.

NEW impetus has been given the boom in trailer travel by the exhibits and meetings of the Automobile Tourists Association at Manistee, Mich., and the reunion of the Tin Can Tourists of the World at Sandusky, Ohio.

Thousands more are turning to life on wheels and a dozen additional automobile makers are planning to add house cars to their lines as a result of the interest displayed. The Sandusky gathering gave birth to a new organization of builders, the Coach Trailer Manufacturers’ Association.

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