Our Motor Resume and Forecast

Gossip of the Past Three Months and a Guess or Two on the Next Three

GEORGE W. SUTTON Jr.

THE American automobile industry is settling down in more ways than one. It is showing a tendency to resolve itself into fewer and more competitive manufacturing units. At the moment, prices seem to have reached a level where they will remain, probably, until they start upward againThe greatest evidence of "settling down," however, lies in the matter of body styles.

First, let us delve a little into this question of motor car design. It was formerly the custom for each company to build cars of such distinctive shape and features that there was little difficulty in telling at a glance one company's product from every other car made. Automobiles were known to the casual motoring public by the shape of their hoods, their radiators, their cowls and other prominent parts. Peerless was distinguishable by its hood with sharply rounded corners; the Apperson, with its rounded radiator; was unmistakable; Premier had its peculiar pointed radiator; throughout the entire industry there were innumerable examples of originality and personality of lines. Then the long straight line from front to rear began to become popular.

Today the only distinct trend in American motor car styles, so far as it applies to the lines of bodies, is toward the assumption by practically all standard cars of exactly the same type of design, so that it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell one make of car from another except by such minor details as nameplates, hub caps, headlamps and other things which have practically nothing to do with automobile styles.

This condition may be due to the decision of the motoring public to accept in profitable quantities only those cars which conform to a certain standardized taste in appearance. It may be that the desire for the expression of individual personalities, through the medium of motor car bodies, has disappeared except among those people who have their cars made to order. And here, too, in the field where you would expect a preponderance of cars of great individuality and originality, the same tendency is being felt. The custom built car of today, which is in any marked degree different in appearance from the great run of cars, is the exception.

It may be, however, that the manufacturers are following the line of least resistance. They see that certain cars have attained enormous popularity, that the public has shown a decided preference for one general style of automobile body. What more natural, then, that one after the other of them should convert its designing room and factory machinery to the production of cars which are so similar to those turned out by successful competitors as to be distinguished from them only with difficulty?

It may well be that the forthcoming shows will reveal some startling innovations in automobile bodies. The probabilities, however, are all the other way. There may be some daring and beautiful novelties at the Annual Automobile Salon at the Hotel Commodore in New York. December 3rd to 9th, and at the Hotel Drake in Chicago, January 27th to February 3rd. If sc most of them will come fron Europe where motor cars are no yet standardized. The salon i where the American and foreigr custom body designers meet for a display of the style progress made during the previous twelve months.

The other shows, those of the standard cars, beginning with the National Automobile Show at the Grand Central Palace, New York. January 6 th to 13th, and at the Coliseum, Chicago, January 27th to February 3rd. will undoubtedly show a great deal of mechanical progress.

It has been said for several years that the development of the internal combustion engine has gone ahead at a considerably faster pace than the rest of the chassis. This has been true all over the world wherever cars are built. Engineers, recognizing this fact, have spent busy months bringing various chassis units up to the standard of the engine itself and we shall see many interesting evidences of this at the forthcoming expositions, especially in regard to increased economy of operation, better lubrication, better steering and, especially, better braking arrangements.

It is impossible, of course, for anyone to anticipate the march of automobile prices, but I have a great belief that prices are going to advance within the next six months, especially in the realm of cars selling for $3000 and over. We have just gone through a rather hectic little flurry of price cutting, which was explained by manufacturers as due to a suddenly increased efficiency of production methods and the lowering of labor costs, thus creating a saving which the makers altruistically passed on to the buying public.

Looking at the automobile industry through a long-range editorial telescope, it appears to me, however, that the midsummer price cutting had quite a different raison d'etre. It seems entirely possible that the whole thing was an attempt on the part of powerful financial automobile interests to scotch Mr. W. C. Durant before he gets under full headway and thereby becomes a menace to some of the biggest organizations in the industry. Of course, this is only my personal opinion, but it is based on a knowledge of Mr. Durant's former achievements and the fact that he seems to be on the point of bringing out . a complete line of automotive transportation to parallel the products of those who would be glad to see him in a more quiescent state.' He now has the little Star, the Durant four and six cylinder lines, the Flint (formerly the Chrysler Six), the Locomobile and the Mason truck. You can figure out for yourself the probable effect on the industry if he becomes highly successful with all of these cars.

As to the reductions inaugurated by several enormous companies which do not seem to be involved in this situation, I think that was due to the fact that these companies could not possibly stand the probable depletion in their business caused by price cuts in competitive cars.

The past three months have been' a strenuous period .for companies whose financial foundations were not of the soundest. A few have vanished from the automotive world; a few others have gone into receivership but show signs of returning life. If the latter can weather the intense competition that is coming within the next six months, they may again become prominent features of American motoring.

It was formerly the custom to bring out new models only at show time. This has not been true for several years and is less true this year than ever before. The summer has seen the debut of new lines of cars from a majority of the manufacturers. Readers of this magazine will be particularly interested in the new Stutz sport roadster and in the latest designs of Peerless, Mitchell, H. C. S., Winton, Wills Sainte Claire, Jordan, Cole. Kissel, Marmon, Buick, Anderson, Chandler, Cleveland, Packard, Single Six, Moon, Davis, Earl, Haynes and Liberty. The Steams-Knight six cylinder cars should come in for special consideration.

WE have talked considerably in recent issues about the welcome change in motor car styles as typified by the sudden deluge of attractive sport roadsters and touring cars. It is true that these sprightly little machines have added a pleasant note to the drabness of the daily automobile parades on our highways. But the sport cars do not, really, represent anything new in motor car styles except in colours and accessories. We are grateful for the variety that their colour schemes bring and for the added comforts and conveniences represented by their remarkably complete equipment, but their bodies, for the most part, show no radical change from the accepted style of standard cars of the open type. It may be that the manufacturers, since they have found that people are willing to buy sport cars, will do a little experimenting in body lines and that the shows will reveal some forward thinking suggestions in sport bodies.

A short time ago Mr. D. McCall White, one of the best known engineers in the motor world and the designer of the Cadillac and Lafayette cars, gave out a statement predicting some of the features of the car of the future. Among other things, he said: "Air cooled engines will be employed in greater numbers"; "brakes will be applied to all four wheels"; "lubrication will be entirely automatic and it will only be necessary to fill one chamber to lubricate the entire "maximum weight of cars will be from 2500 to 3000 lbs; "engines will develop i h. p. to every 2 lbs. of engine weight"; "from 35 to 40 miles will be obtained on a gallon of gasoline"; "economy will reign in designing of cars for first cost and operation"; "chassis, frame and body will be of one piece construction"; "Transmissions will be improved to promote ease in gear shifting and silence in operation"; "overhead valves and overhead camshafts will dominate engines of the future."

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Some of the things which Mr. White predicts are already accomplished facts in Europe and others are on the way toward realization in this country. In England, France and Germany the quest of engineers for the past few years has been toward economy of operation and some splendid results have been achieved. Comfortable, reliable, light cars, which can go from 40 to 50 miles per gallon of gasoline, have appeared with considerable frequency and it is only a question pf a short time when the American public will make an insistent demand for similar economy cars over here. And as soon as the demand is made, the cars will appear. Four-wheel brakes will also, undoubtedly, be a part of the standard car of not long hence. At present the only American car so equipped is the wonderful eight-inline Dusenberg, but this feature will come in shortly for general acceptance. It is understood that General Motors is investigating this subject very thoroughly.

Mr White is certainly right in his forecast concerning a*r cooled cars. With Franklin and Holmes both bringing cut smaller four cylinder machines in the $1000 to $1200 class, with General Motors on the point of producing its "copper cooled car," and with the beautiful Fox car attracting increasing attention, the subject of air cooling is sure to be a vivid one during 1923.

THE introduction of an entirely new Franklin six-cyinder engine is a thing of importance in the motor world. From a design standpoint, the Series 10 Franklin introduces some entirely new ideas in air cooling, which are the embodiment of work started by Franklin engineers as far back as 1915. The cooling apparatus functioning on the new motor and called the pressure system, develops a current of cooling air which is fully 2 1/2 times that of the former Franklin system. The new Franklin engine takes the air in at the front and forces it over the cylinders. This is the direct opposite of the method formerly employed in which the air was drawn in by a fan set in the flywheel at the rear of the motor. A blower, or fan, of the Sirocco type, is mounted at the forward end of the crank shaft and encased in an aluminum housing. From a performance standpoint, a 20% increase in hill climbing ability is claimed for the new Franklin and a 10% increase in speed, without involving any change in the size of the motor but registering a worthwhile reduction in fuel consumption. A number of other important changes are embodied in the new Franklin.

Among the new models of new can, there is only one which shows any marked originality of lines and this one is truly remarkable. It is the Dagmar, made by the Crawford Motor Company, and its photographs are shown on the first page of this article. Here is an honest attempt to produce something different in motor car bodies. It has quite a number of interesting body features which should make it of considerable interest to the motoring public.

There is quite a little discussion going on with regard to motor car names. Early in the year the Society of Automotive Engineers revised its list of automobile body names which had been in force since 1916 and which had grown quite obsolete. For the most part, the S. A. E.'s selections of names coincided with public usage, but two of the terms chosen have been given a good tryout by the industry with negligible results. One of these was "phaeton", which was to be substituted for the term "touring car"; the other was "berline" which was to take the place of "sedan-limousine."

It is improbable that the American public will ever come to look upon touring cars as phaetons, but in the matter of the berline the public doesn't seem to care much and if it simplifies the ponderous terminology of the motor car for the body builders, the average motorist will probably make no objection. It is equally probable, however, that he will continue to think of the "sedan-limousine" as a "sedan" and so term it whenever he has occasion to refer to it.