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.

Floating Fuel Station for SEAPLANES

IN THE future, when airplane travel comes to be as commonplace as automobile travel, we may expect to see floating filling stations, such as shown in the drawing above, dotting the airplane travel lanes of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. This is by no means a fantastic project of dreamers, for already just such floating service stations are to be seen scattered along the Pacific coast; and a west coast oil company, looking to the future, has announced its intentions of establishing a chain of 99 such stations for the accommodation of planes journeying up and down the seaboard. Read the rest of this entry »

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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 »

NEW for the ROAD

Motorcycle Car was built by automotive engineer Theron Huish of Los Angeles in one year’s spare time. The body is a reinforced aircraft drop tank; engine is the motorcycle type with a fan for cooling. Top speed is about 60 mph.
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Auto-Boat Speedy on Land or Sea

YOU may take your choice and call it a sea-going auto or a road-boat, but whatever it is, the vehicle shown in the photo below performs nicely on land or water, developing 25 miles an hour in the liquid element and 40 per on terra firma.

The land-boat (or sea-auto) was invented by Peter Prell of Union, New Jersey, presumably for the purpose of beating the jam on both tube and ferry while commuting to New York.

Where Do They Keep The Towels?

THIS new foreign limousine has a hot and cold water folding wash-basin of aluminum built into its right front fender. Beneath the hood is a 2-compartment tank holding two and a half gallons of water. The hot water section is heated by exhaust gases passing through a spiral pipe. The two faucets give water of any desired temperature. The basin is automatically emptied when it is folded into the fender.

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SAN FRANCISCO FIGHTS FOR ITS CABLE CARS

“Save our cable cars,” say Frisco’s citizens. But the City Hall boys have other ideas.

By Louis Hochman

SAN FRANCISCO shakes again! In 1906 it was Nature that rocked the infant town into a mass of ashes and rubble. Today it’s human nature that is giving this Golden Gate City the shakes with a wave of public sentiment that has spread far beyond the city’s own boundaries. Once again the people of San Francisco have gathered in force to go fight City Hall. It’s a battle between practicality and sentimentality and the object of this latest uprising is once again the dinky little cable car—that ding-dong relic of the Gay Nineties that continues to clang its merry way up and down the precipitous hills of San Francisco in blissful defiance of modern science and the forces of progress. Read the rest of this entry »

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UNDERSEA SPIES

BY JAMES NEVIN MILLER

BACK in December, 1944, Lieut. Earl E. Cook of Seattle, won the Navy Cross for a unique achievement. First, in a successful effort to locate three enemy depth bombs known to be in immediate danger of detonation, he dove deep inside a patrol bomber sunk in a vital channel off Oahu, Hawaii. Then for three never-to-be-forgotten days he directed a six-man team of divers which finally recovered the death-dealing weapons.
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Trailer Saves Return Haul Costs

A GREAT saving in the return trips of trucks used for the transportation of automobiles from factory to dealer has been effected as a result of the development of a new type of trailer. Built with rear extension that can be folded back, the trailer can be shortened so that one truck can be hauled by another on the return trip.

Triangular truss frame construction of the trailer makes possible a combination of maximum strength and minimum weight. The photo below shows the manner in which one truck is carried by another, without danger of accident on road.

Exterminating Rats With Deadly Automobile Exhaust Gas

“IF THE fumes from an automobile exhaust can kill humans, they should have the same effect on rats,” said the head of the Department of Health of Highland Park, Michigan. And so onto the exhaust pipe of a dilapidated Model T Ford discarded by the police officials, the health officers rigged up a rubber hose and established themselves as modern pied pipers.

The “hunters” first seal all the holes of the building to be operated upon, leaving just two openings. The hose is then inserted into one of these, the engine of the Ford coaxed to wheeze a bit, and the carbon monoxide does the rest.

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The Mercedes-Benz 190 SL

Fine workmanship and splendid roadability are the top features of this sports rig, says Uncle Tom.

By Tom McCahill

THE NAME Mercedes-Benz, like Tiffany, Morgan & Company and Diamond Jim Brady is known from pole-to-pole and over the border and into Finland. Mercedes-Benz has had only one rival through the years for the title of Prestige Car Of The World—and that is Rolls-Royce. Actually, from a quality standpoint and longevity, Rolls gets the nod, but from a performance and accomplishment standpoint no one can touch Mercedes.
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