Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-10-22
WHY MOTOR CARS COME HIGH
Biggest Part of Cost Goes Into the
Making.
A LOOK INTO THE FACTORY
Hcsides Material and Labor, Consid-
cradle Drains Doses Into the
Quality aud Marketing
of Machines.

sent say. s7J00Oo.00O that has been re-
ceived for them by the various manu-
facturers. and that this sum Is being In
creased at the rate Of from one-quarter
90 one-half billion dollars annually These
are figures that might make even our
modern Aladdns pause TO consider the
profits" that must lie In the production
~ motor-cars, but after a preliminary
Investigation they would be brought 10
realize that no more Of this sum IL vel
vet than is 10 be found in any we'll
conducted manufacturing business. The
fortunes that may have been made In
tho automobile industry arc due more
10 the immense volume OF business done
than 70 any hundred per cent. profits,
and competition nowadays II 50 keen
that manufacturers are forced TO sell
their products at as close a margin as
is possible.
In order 20 realize that the largest
part Of the cost OF motor.car " put
INTO the machine itself, and not into the
makers profit II Is necessary TO know
some Of the elements that 20 10 make
up the modern automobile. First and
foremost. OF course. Is brains, for the
motor-car is the product OF number Of
years before the automobile oven In its
crudest form, was ever seen on our city
streets While the manufacture OF the
motor-car IN commercial quantities has
been in progress but little over a de-
csde, its fathers and forefathers have
been tho subjects OF experiment trial,
success, and failure for three times that
many years and we are now reaping the
benefits OF the ideas and researches OF
the pioneers Of those days
Royalties ON Patents.
But u is not the salaries OF these pion-
GERS or the royalties on their patents
20 which we contribute when we pay
from one 20 six thousand dollars for n
four-wheeled, Sslf-propelied vehicle, for
one Of tho best known and most
Vital patents ON motor-car yields
its owners AZ the most but SIS
for each automobile on which II is
used. The purchaser OF a modern motor
car gets what he pays for, for Il Is tho
tangible elements OF material. workman
ship and design that form by FAR the
greater part OF the cost OF an automobile,
and there IL iess OF a charge for the
dealers name-plate than the public seem
10 think. The makers reputation helps
90 sell the automobile, but Il docs not
furnish sufficient excuse for raising
the price OF the machine above the
amount for which another car OF equal
actual value Is sold.
In order 20 know just what In put In
to- car. we must 80 to its birthplace,
tho factory and there sec what multi
tude OF wheeis-spoaking both literally
,t.A (latsr Ia, y
the production OF even the cheapest auto
mobile. "A deal OF . fuss required for
the manufacture OF Sne ear" you will
say. Yes. but II requires no moro "fuss''
20 produce a hundred or thousand
times that number and Il must be re-
membered that every motion or opera
ton that we see there Is repeated con-
tinuously throughout the day and year
on the succeeding brothers OF the car
whose growth we are Following
Now, besides brains, what Is Il that r.
put into q motor-carY To be practical.
We might say from two thousand five
hundred pounds 20 two tons OF iron and
Eteel--besides the aluminium. copper,
bronze, and other metals and alloys.
That ls true; but remember that each
ounce OF these two thousand five hun
dred odd pounds OF metal receives in
dividual attention from one or more ma
chimes and workmen, and that conse-
quentiy we cannot say that we are pay
ing one. three, or six thousand dollars
for lump mass weighing from one TO
two tons. II Is not raw material that
forms the major item OF the cost OF con-
structing an automobiie-although that
amounts 90 from six 20 sixty cents a
pound-but rather is II the intricate work.
inanship required by each piece. large
and small. Tho wonderful development
during the last few years OF automatic
machines and tools that seem TO do all
but talk has greatly reduced the number
OF times that each piece must be han
died. but the most up date automobile
factory Is stIll far from being like the
sausage-mill Of the burlesque stage that
popular opinion would have tia mill
into one end Of which iron and steel can
be placed. while from the opposite end.
when a crank has been turned. the COM
pleted car Is Withdrawn Such SINH
larity might be the impression received
by any one watching only the raw stock
receiving room at one end and the ship
ping department al the other. but Il is
what goes on inside, between these ex-
tremities. that Is the making OF the car, |
and II is here that the greatest item OF
expense will be found
ConceaIing Parts.
The tendency OF modern design ls 10
conceal as great a number Of the working |
parts as Is possible and In looking az
many a motor the layman might see
only one or two piece iron casting
having but very few visible moving |
pieces; but II he drives car or is at
all familiar with it's construction he win !
know that. hidden In the inner recesses
Of the machine. are pistons for harness
ing the explosions. eonnecting-rods for
transmitting the power to the crank !
shaft, and valves Tor controlling the ad. |
mission and election OF the gases some
Of these parts, such as plstons, cylinder
castings, and the cranE-case. are COM
rarativeiy large and Il Is consequently
difficult 20 realize that there are APP
proximstely fifteen hundred separate
..iaaze IN a modern automobile motor.
but this number includes parts Of the
magnetic aud earbureter as these are
vital members OF the power-plant or
course some OF these fifteen hundred dis.
tinct pieces are in duplicate. such as
Vaive-stemE bolts. nuts and cpnnecftpe.