Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-03
F1eUREHEADs FOR MOTOR CARS.
One Suggestion for Improving Appear
ance of the Autos.

From the Saturday Review.
Can the artist ever make anything of
motor? The attempt In this years Acad-
envy is not encouraging That there really
is deficiency on the beauty side motorists
are all of them uneasily conscious. In point
of beauty the horselessness is all loss. They
have always felt this. At the beginning
they meet one In the frankest way. Show
us any other form the motor can take that
would look better than the carriage" And
boat shapes were suggested and swan motors
and fishes. But fishes and boats on land
would be as bizarre the self-moving
coach; and swans ashore are not graceful
anyway. 1t could not be done; the horseless
carriage had to be- And Ii remains; not
funny, nor foolish, nor necessarily ugly,
but certainly no beauty.
Can nothing be done for 1t? Why not a
figurehead? Why not have something
pretty something that at any rate repre-
sents something, in place where the beauty
of the thing, the horse used to be? What
good would 1t be? Well. good. to a
man who has no eye. What good was a
figurehead to ship? Yet for appearances
sake a car wants a figurehead more than
ship, for the ship form naturally con-
yerges in front to a beautiful finish. The
cIumsiest ship, even the homely fishing
smack. has none of the unpleasant effect
produced by the abrupt, cutoff, straight
line that makes a motors front, motor
suffers from having no physiognomy- But
every ship, as every locomotive engine. has
a distinct physiognomy. And a figurehead
would make up for this deficiency In the
motor. But figureheads, somebody may
say, were not merely ornamental In ships
they helped description and identification.
Precisely, and they would do the same for
motors, consideration which will perhaps
aol RI 10 ~
torist
But think what field this opens up for
heraldry. Arms and crests. which now have
none but antiquarian significance. become
alive, they might almost be useful. There
would be quite good sense in a mans motor
carrying his crest a figurehead. What
an opening for the new snob. What glory
to be able to mount life-sized golden eagle
contemplating the sun. or rather the clouds
In England. Or a golden lion erect ranlpag-
Ing fiercely In the air. There Is the danger.
The rich cad would SO ffaunt his figurehead
that gentlemen would be shy OF showing
one. But for once let the decent people mold
their own and decline to be pushed off the
road by the vulgar hustler. A standard of
good taste would grow up and become
tablished
From the point of view of appearance
fgureheads artistically wrought and fitted.
would be capable of great things. An eagle,
wings full spread, a brilliant butterfly,
winged griffin, paradise bird, Valkyrie-
there is room for endless variety of design.
The emulation among motorists would be
great. We could have shows of figureheads.
Think of the work for artists to design
them, and the Industry their making would
stimulate. Would they interfere with
speed? That should depend on their fitting
to the car; they should not. OF course. IL
a man in his zeal to be conspicuous puts on
q colossal golden elephant his speed viii be
retarded; but reasonable Pegasus say
with wings drawn back at the right angle
to cut the air. would be no encumbrance.