Novel “Driver-Seat Shop” for Motorists’ Convenience

SOMETHING distinctly new in the way of ideas for merchandising automotive equipment is represented in the “Driver-seat Shop,” a steel and glass display cabinet that can be placed in all filling stations for the convenience of motorists who wish to make purchases without alighting from their cars. Read the rest of this entry »

Articulated Bus Shows to Advantage in Traffic and on Narrow Roads

THE size of the motor-bus seems to be limited only by traffic conditions and the roads over which it is to operate. Finding it impossible to widen the German roads or to thin out traffic, a manufacturer of that country has introduced the articulated bus, which permits the largest of the species to wind its serpentine way through traffic or narrow roads.

In this vehicle the driver’s seat is placed immediately over the front wheels, the bus being jointed behind this point.

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Winners in NEW USE for Old Fords Contest

MODERN MECHANICS pays $10 for every acceptable photo and description of the odd uses to which old Tin Lizzies have been put. The machines shown below are all made from old Model T Fords.

DOWN at Iowa Park, Texas, is an old flivver motor which is enjoying a ripe old age puffing and grunting on half her lungs while the other half supply fresh ozone for tires which have lost the courage of their convictions.
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Three Wheel Taxi Built Like Hansom Cab

THE last word in comfort and convenience for taxi passengers, particularly passengers loaded down with bundles from a shopping tour, is provided by a unique taxi now being designed by automotive engineers. With this car, the passenger can step from the curb right into the tonneau without inconvenient squirming and stooping, as in the ordinary taxi. The driver sits in the rear, like the driver of a hansom, from where he controls the door on the front of the car and operates the steering wheel.

The car is provided with only three wheels.

Moto Polo – Mayhem on Wheels

Combine football, soccer and polo with a dash of Sunday driving and you’ve got the West Coast’s newest sport fad.

By Louis Hochman

“PLAY Ball!” yells the ump and six peculiar cars tear into each other trying to bounce a giant six-foot rubber ball into a goal. They collide, turn over, bounce high into the air, roll end over end, spin on their noses, land on top of other cars, fall to the ground and then get right back into the game and start all over again!
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FUN JEEP, above, intended for beach use, touring, camping; seats seven. Farina-built, it features gas-stretching 4-cylinder mill.

New Auto Lock Shuts Off Gasoline and Ignition

AUTOMOBILE thieves are thwarted by a new steering wheel lock which has been invented in England. This lock fits the steering column in the conventional manner, as shown in the photo. When locked it not only makes steering impossible, but also cuts off the ignition and stops the gasoline flow.

Most automobile thieves depend upon speed to accomplish their getaway. With three essential running features of a car shut off it would almost be impossible to drive it away. The time that it would take to pick all three of these safety devices would be more than most car lifters would dare risk.

New ‘Home on Highway’ Has Kitchen, Dinette, Sleeper

MOTOR nomads will find the ideal home of the highway in a new motor caravan which has recently been designed and built by a French engineer for vacation tours. Although somewhat unique in appearance, this odd vehicle, shown in the photo at the left, has a kitchen, dining room and sleeping accommodation for four people. And with all this equipment, which includes also a canoe carried on the roof, the weight of the mobile home is no greater than that of the ordinary automobile seen every day about the streets.

NEW ACCESSORIES FOR ‘59

SWIVEL SEATS will be available on all Chrysler lines, except wagons. Weight-operated seat swings out when you push button, swivel your body. Outside of car, push button, swing it in or out with hand.

MIRROR-MATIC rearview mirror lor Chrysler-made cars has small hole in it (left). When high-beam lights of car behind you strike hole, electronic device on mirror’s back (right) turns it to non-glare position and later returns it to former position automatically.

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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