Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-02-14
POLAR AUTO RACE ENTRY.
Facts About tho American contesting
 Car and It's Drivers.

Facts About tho American Contesting Car and It's Drivers. The Thomas car, which Is the only
 American contestant in the New York
 to Paris automobile race, Is to all in-
 tents and purposes the same as the
 regular stock car, with the exception
 that certain parts have been strength
 ened for the long journey, says the
 New York Times. It weighs 2,700 pounds and, with the crew and access
 sories of the trip, will total about $500
 pounds. In racing trim the car covers
 seventy-f1ve miles an hour. With all
 the necessary paraphernalia it is capa-
 ble of making fifty-eight miles. It is
 not expected that this rate of speed
 will be maintained, but Montague Rob-
 erts, one of its drivers, expects to av-
 craze about thirty miles an hour as far
 as Omaha. The speed from this point
 west will depend entirely upon the con-
 dition of the roads.
 Roberts will not have charge of the
 car throughout the entire run. While
 he himself would be perfectly willing
 to go right through with the foreign
 drivers in their trip to Paris by way of
 Alaska and Siberia, he has been nomi- mated to drive the Thomas stock car in the Briarcliff cup event in Westchester county, N. Y., on April A, and after taking the car to Cheyenne he will re- turn to New York to begin practice for the Westchester county contest.
 From Cheyenne to San Francisco and for the rest of the trip the car will be driven by Harold S. Brinker, who for the last three years has been the dem- onstrator for the Thomas cars on the Pacific coast While Brinker is not we'll known to eastern motorists, he has done great deal of hard driving under all sorts of conditions in the far west and has crossed the Rocky and Sierra Nevada ranges more than once, making the run from San Francisco to Chicago, He knows the roads and country thor oughly between Chicago and San Fran cisco.
 American autoists and others who are watching the car will be pleased to know the machine is American made in every particular.
 Tt is an American car even to the said Roberts. T will use American tires exclusively and am re- lying upon the regulation standard makes of both tires and inner tubes, carrying none of the specially designed tubes.'
 When asked how fast he would trav- 7 el Roberts said that no effort would be 1 made at any time to make speed.
 The car carried at the start two gaso- line tanks holding forty gallons each, one placed under the front seats and the other in the rear. Upon reaching Chicago a specially built gasoline tank. in which the four bucket seats are sunk, somewhat after the method en- oloyed in the 1905 Vanderbilt cup racers, will be fitted to the frame. This tank will hold 125 gallons of gasoline. Larger wheels will then be fitted to he car, the thirty-six inch ones with which the car will be equipped at the start being removed and forty inch ,nes substituted. Besides the regula- ion tires, Roberts will carry some steel rims. For nonskidding he has devised some chain grips to clamp lround the rear tires, which can be quickly removed when their use is no onger required.
 To the sides of the car will be at- ached fourteen foot boards re-enforced with metal for use in hauling the car 'ver mudholes and ruts. A winch is itted to the front of the machine, by means of which block and tackle may 'e used for pulling the car up steep nclines or assisting its progress in ifflcult portions of the road.
 The car in every way is of standard obstruction, with four cylinder sixty engine. It Is of the rum bout style. but two passengers will e carried in the rear seats. A wind hield will extend from the dashboard 0 the height of the wheel, and this vill be provided with a removable lass extension. which may be raised , protect the occupants in stormy and Tindy weather. Two mechanics are Tith Roberts.