Los Angeles herald., 1910-02-06
LUXURY
IN LATE MODELS
AUTO MANUFACTURERS MAKE
RAPID PROGRESS
OF CAR FOLLOW EN-
CINE PERFECTION
Special Designs by Particular Owners
Give Factories Chance to Ex=
pertinent and Please
Artistic Sense

In point of progress it is a long cry,
in point of years a short one, to the
time when the automobile took up but
little more room in the streets than the
fruit peddler's cart. It would be only
by ranging models of the first cars
manufactured in this country alongside
the luxurious road coaches of 1910 that
the greatest difference could be re-
allied.
In the early days the principal idea
of the designer and manufacturer was
to build a chassis that would run. BODY
questions troubled him but little. IL
he could assure the buyer that there
was a reasonable amount of certainty
that he could get there and back-the
there and back meaning in TINS IN
stance a matter of a round trip OF ten
miles or so-he was fairly well satished.
The motor and chassis were the things.
1t was a small matter to put on BODY
to hold two persons after the mechan-
ical design had been completed.
Then came the reconstruction period,
and someone coined the word refine
ment' as applied to cars. That refine
ment has been going on ever since, ana
will continue as long as cars are made.
But with the beginning of its era man
ufacturers began to pay more attention
to the comfort Of passengers. They re
allied early that to make the car q
great commercial success they must re-
move it from it's position as something
of utility and possible pleasure Tor til9
hardy and few and make 1t the lndls-
| pensable method of transportation for
the more critical and ease loving thou
sands. Body designers and mechanical
engineers began working hand III hand.
The chassis was designed with view
to accommodating the greatest numDer
of passengers possible commensurate
with the power of the motor, and TO
give them the largest amount of COM
fort conformable with spring strength
for all road conditions.
Artistic Demands Satisfied
About this same time the custom
was, when a buyer wanted a BODY tol-
lowing his own IDEAS to sell chassis
and have the body built by one of the
firms that had made name for ltset
in the carriage trade. AS soon as they
could catch up with the mafch OF
events the manufacturers of the high
est grade of cars placed themselves
in A position where they could not only
satisfy the wishes of almost any own
er but could also experiment along
new but necessary lines OF body con-
struction. Working on the improve
ments in bodies with the same energy
that had enabled them to bring about
the present high state of mechanlcal
nerfection, it was not long before the
manufacturers found themselves in a
position where they could cater to the
most practical as well as the most
artistic demands.
Color schemes and upholstery, once
bodv designs were brought to the point
of highest efficiency, We're the hrst 10
attract the serious attention of the
factory managers. One company mas
cone so far as to establish an art de-
6artment. which not only searches the
markets for the finest of feathers,
broadcloths and whipcords, but makes
n specialty in body finishing, of work.
ing out desirable color schemes ana
designs for the interior decoration OF
its inclosed cars and the designing OF
bodies other than those known as reg
ular stock models.
one of the first signs of tho times IN
this direction was the show in 1908,
when the pierce Arrow company eX-
hibited a car finished in CordoVan
hand-tooled leather. This car met
with instant approval. Encouraged by
this the next show saw the company
exhibiting a car finished in the in
terror in Louis XVI style. The recep-
tion accorded to it was in no way less
striking than that of its more mod
estly decorated predecessor OF the year
before.
At the Madison Square arden show
lust concluded the company went a
step further and combined the artistic
and the utilitarian qualities to
marked degree. 1t had on display a
touring landau seating seven people
and which shows it's adaptability for
long tours in every detail Of its con-
struction. Toilet accessories that fit
it for every emergency that might be
encountered on the road, luncheon
kit and thorough protection from all
varieties of weather mark it as en-
abling it's owner to cut loose from
base Of supplies.