The San Francisco call., 1909-04-25
.STUDFBAkER CAR
!. DOING GOOD WORK
Has Trying Times Going Over
Country Where There
Are No Roads

Dashing across long stretches OF
country of fine sand and sagebrush
country which is. absolutely devoid OF
anything that may be classed as roads
climbing hills of grades ranging from
to SO per cent at a pace averaging
20 miles an hour. are almost daily oc-
currences with f. f. Bedichek in his
Studebaker go" roadster The car has
mileage of more than 5000 miles
since last June. Bedichek is regarded
as one of the most remarkable drivers
of the state and his machine as phe-
nomenal in its demonstrations of
sturdiness, endurance and reliability
The Studebaker roadster is used by
Bedichek in making his rounds of the
oil fields in which the company by
which he is employed as division su-
perintendent operates. The engine of
the machine is geared two and a half
to one and there are no roads. grades
or passes in the Santa Ynez or Santa
Barbara mountains that have not been
covered by Bedichek's car A local en-
thusiast who recently was sBedichek' s
guest for several weeks says that such
grades as the Cuesta. the Alasalle and
the treacherous passes of the noun
tains seem to be mere child's play to
the automobile. II have enjoyed auto
mobile touring in all makes for MANY
years and believed that / was a Judge
of motor cars" said the enthusia st
when he returned to this city but |
certainly had my eyes opened while
was Bedichek's guest. His vehicle
beats anything and everything in sight.
Any kind of a grade from a 3 to a 80
per cent the car scrambles UP like a
mountain goat and without a sign of
struggle. If there are roads to travel.
good enough; if not, it makes little
difference to him. One day we were
going from Las Cruces to Orcutt and
had been following the road for about
five miles when all of sudden it ter
minated. / expected to see Bedichek
turn his machine around and start
back. Instead he shot out across the
sand and sagebrush at surprising
clip and did not stop until he reached
Orcutt. have heard of travelling over
land, but l never before dreamed it
was possible for a car to negotiate
such country as we crossed that day.
and the wonder of 1t all is that
Bedicheks car is doing this sort of
thing right along and apparently
shows no sign of the terrible tests to
which it is being put
r. r. Bray. representa- tive at San
Jose for the Overland car. was in this
...-- city yesterday and
Roads Bad in told OF an inter-
- Pacheco Pass esting run to
:. Fresno in 80
horsepower, four
cynnder overland roadster Bray states
that they left San Jose early one morn
ing last week for Fresno. by wav of
Pacheco pass and Los Banos The RIM
down was made in hours and 80 min
utes. Returning, they left Fresno AZ :
p. m, and proceeded home bv wav of
MADEIRA. Modesto. Stockton and Tracv
The run back was made in 10 hours
and during the trip only % gallons Of
gasoline were consumed and three
quarts of lubricating oil BRAY reports
that Pacheco pass is in bad condition.
and he found that within three miles
of the. summit they had been grading
from there TO the top, making the road
almost impassable. He also found some
sand at Turlock Otherwise the roads
were in exceptionally good condition
for this time of the year