Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-05-30
HOUPT CAR IS
NEARLY READY
JUNE IS is FIXED AS DAY OF
COMING OUT
MONTAGUE ROBERTS GOING WITH
THE NEW PRODUCT
Famous Race Driver Predicts an Even
Greater Success for Latest
Model Than the Her.
reshoff

DETROIT, May 24.-Montague Rob-
erts, the racing driver, who has ham
died the entries of Harry s. Houpt in
nearly all the important races of the
past five years, has been appointed to
the engineering boards of the Herre-
shoff Motor company of Detroit and
the Bristol Engineering Corporation of
Bristol, Conn. He has just returned
to New York after four months abb
sence and will leave this week for
Bristol, where he will superintend the
production of the new Houpt cars.
Since December he has been testing
out the new Herreshoff cars at Detroit
and he will do the same work at Bris-
toll.
Roberts has probably had as wide
an experience in race driving as any
man in the sport in America, and has
taken advantage Of this experience to
study motor car construction thor
oughly. While abroad at the grand
prix last year Roberts visited all the
leading factories in Europe and there
are few automobile constructors in
practical knowledge. AS a driver in
endurance contests where the nursing
of his car counted to the utmost Rob-
erts has always shown up we'll, and
his skill in driving the American car
to Cheyenne was largely ref Aasible
for its victory in the New n to
Paris race.
Roberts in his work at Detroit has
put the Herreshoff cars through par
ticularly stiff PAGES. He drove one of
the light touring cars last month from
Detroit to Pontiac over frozen roads,
averaging a speed of thirty miles an
hour. He drove the car last week over
the fifty miles in less than an hour
with the roads in good shape and
showed fifty-four miles over meas
ured course. fIe brought the first
Herreshoff runabout on to New York
and showed a measured mile in it in
sixty-one seconds, trifie better than
fifty-nine miles an hour. For car
geared low and not built for speed.
that is pretty good travelling. Roberts
says with two and one-half to one
gear he can get seventy miles an hour
out of stock runabout on the track
and expects to turn the trick after his
return from Bristol.
1.-THE new Houpt car will be ready
for the road" Roberts says, "by the
middle of June. We have been work.
ing on the car for more than six
months and the work will go forward
very fast from this time on. We ex-
pect the car to be an even bigger sue
cess than, the Herreshoff car has been
and to nave it take as conspicuous a
place in it's class. Our effort is bent
to produce among the larger cars as
conspicuously classy product and to
take front rank at once.
1.-THE four cylinder car will have five
and one-half-inch cylinders and six
inch stroke, will rate at sixty horse
power and develop much greater
power It's speed will soon be demon
strated in competition with other high
power cars, while In construction and
refinement of finish it will equal any.
The ix-cylinder car will rate at ninety
horse power and will develop even
greater power. 1t, too, will be tried
out in contests.
1.-THE number of cars of the larger
power will be limited, since the car is
built to satisfy the demands OF a linn
tied number of customers who desire
the ultimate DEVELOPMENT of motor
construction. The number of four
cylinder cars will be five times as
great, to appeal to the ordinary tourist
who demands big power and great ca
pacity in his car. The total product
of Houpt cars will aggregate million
and a half dollars, equaling the more
numerous output of Herreshoffs."