New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1911-07-09
AUTO RACING ATTACKED
Maker Says Average American
Won't Ride SkyroCkets.
WOMEN DON'T WANT SPEED
Thinks True Test of a Car Is III
Endurance Runs and Reli-
ability Contests.
WOMEN DON'T WANT SPEED
- George n. wilcox. Assistant General Man
aGcr Regal Motor Car Company.

agcr Regal Motor Car Company.
/ Automobiles are being built fer the aver
ase American. and the average American
I has wholesome respect for the law. He
+ is buy ing a car because tho use Of it will
make him more efficient man. increasing
his business abilities. providing him the ex-
/ hNarating rest that only tho automobile
brings Him, conserving his best energies for
+ tho work at hand when ho reaches the office
or hestens 10 an important appointment.
Women arc the other buyers Of cars. The
average man and the average woman are
not speed mad; the qualities they are ask
/ ing in an automobile are reliability under
all conditions. durability Of construction, ac-
feasibility Of parts. ease and certainty Of
control. anil the average man or woman
is looking for the popular price car now
that he has been taught that sturdy. SER
viccablo enduring cars cen be built honest
! IS ana well at prices within the limits 81
tho average mans thrift-got bank account.
! Riding q skyrocket on wheels makes no
particular appeal TO the average American.
lie has seen too many Of those heroic holt
DAYS. drivers and spectators killed 10 make
a day Of collaborating" sport. lie knows
that he Will never drive that fast; he doesn't
care 10 do So The wool hasn't been pulled
over his ewes IN the automobile racing game
any more than IN the wrestling game; he
knows where tho dishonesty Is. In nearly
every instance that comes 70 his notice the
gar in the race IS a specially made car
ibGilt 10 standard. Of course. but IN every
feesenual special IN construction.
slsNo ordinary automobiles ever drove a
racing car in a big race and nosed out
winner at the finish; the drivers are experts
trained as carefully for their stunts as
acrobats train for some particularly diff
colt and thrilling gyratory somersaults. And
the average man has 10 hankering 70 be
The Al acrobat; lie IS quito sure that lie
would land in hospital after lap or two
AZ high speed IN a racing car To build
racing cars for the average man IS to
whistle 1lgs to a milestone.
The long arm u the LAWN blue sleeves
and brass buttous-has caught too many Of
his fellows by tho neck % induce the com
mouor TO drive lis car into the courtroom
[
itself everywhere. and the wholesome re-
spect for ones personal safety holds that
same man within reasonably safe speed
limits.
Automobile racing proves no moro than
| horse racing Thousands enjoy both; they
have delighted I'm horseracing longer than
tho automobile but only few men breed
racehorses. and they do not see those
! steeds: the best selling and most reliable
automobiles built ere never seen in the big
races The man who buys an automobile
knows that he isn't buying the same kind
OF car that won the twenty-four-h or
the three hundred mile race; that was
specially built car. with an engine OF greater
power and different construction than he
has need OF or desire for.
/ It IS because lie knows that fact that he
/ has been thinking Of the business Of max
ing and selling automobiles as game"
The industry IS too important 10 the coun-
! t-v-to the world--too closely In touch
with the business life and efficiency Of men
and women longer TO be called n game.
| II has reached state where with the
circus tent manufacturer forced from the
field Il must wear the dignity that BELTS
its place In the productive. the creative. life
OF the country. This dignity should no
longer permit extravaganza Of claims I'm ad-
yortising or selling, misleading representa-
tons. anvil chorus knocking Of all other
cars but this one-those misleading and
dishonest claims that the car which broke
worlds speed record is the same car, ex-
lcept for the body that is sold on the sales
room floor
II racing were OF any serious value 90
The automobile owner he would insist on
q high geared. high speed car when he
visits the salesroom 70 make his purchase.
/ No man wants 10 drive at sixty. seventy,
eighty miles speed: the women folk use the
car he drives. The proof of racing value
should appear in the salesroom, but no
! salesman will tell you that his prospects
AK for racing cars He will tell you that
they are very careful 90 ask " the car can
be run with ease and certainty OF control
| within the city and country speed limits.
~ don't want car that runs seventy or
eighty miles all hour: fifteen to thirty Is
good enough for me-" the prospect says
| and the salesman doesn't get the contract
until all these mile annlhilating doubts are
dlspelled.
Here Is tho truth Of the matter Racing
4 is primarily an advertising proposition
The true test Of a car. the proof of reiia-
billtv ard economy and durability, Is III the
endurance run No special saucer tracks
no cement straightaways. but the ever
changing road conditions prove the worm
Of tho car the wearing qualities OF lis parts
the strength and sound engineering sense
in its construction. Automobiles are iiidue
for roads-the roads of the open couI''S-
not saucer tracks. Automobile des'sheiS
have learned more from endurance contests
and reliability runs than from all the al
| legged stock car races ever run. IhS "" M,
asks. what will the car do for me en-, ne
! answer for tho Missourian must coLno 'Vi''
| tie endurance runs