New-York tribune., 1911-02-25
AUTO NEWS OF THE DAY
Three. Wheeled Motorette Starts
on Ocean to Ocean Trip.
GOES OVER SOUTHERN ROUTE
Howard Coffin Thinks That
Makers of Trucks Should
Form Contest Association.

The first three wheeled automobile which
has ever attempted the transcontinen.a
trip left City Hall at a few minutes after
noon yesterday The car is three-wheelsd
motorette, made by the c. w. Kelsey Man.
ufacturing Company. and is headed for San
Francisco.
The little car, which is only about h,y
the size OF an ordinary automobile, carrie,
a crew OF two men and their luggage. Tn.
men. who will alternate at the steer,,,
wheel of the car. are Ward Sharwood an
experienced driver and Otto Krause. who
I'D to Yesterday had never driven "a,
before in his life. The men carry letter
from Mayor Gaynor to Mayor Mccarthy.
No special licenses have been obtained. a,
the operators will rely upon the courteslsa
of the different state and city officials 10
pass them along. The car carries a Con.
necticut license plate with the number
81" Everywhere the car goes Il will be
known that it halls from Hartford. a,
clear across the continent the sign "Mads
in Hartford" will be conspicuously dis.
played.
On the cars red body is painted the
names OF the other cities 1t will pass
through The route which the car will FOL.
low is via Philadelphia. Baltimore. Wash.
ington, Richmond, Atlanta, Birmingham
Dallas. Fort Worth FL Paso. San Diego
Los Angeles and San Francisco. As the
route from FL Paso 10 Los Angeles Is prac.
tlcally untried territory so far as automobih
routes are concerned, it is thought tha,
| lo, ra. f,,t,,~ .rt~- x-,t l.
obtained.
While no attempt at speed will be mada
the little car is capable Of twenty-five miles
an hour, and its crew expects TO cover the
five thousand mile route laid out for them
in two months.
Howard f. Coffin. the Hudson designer.
who recently was elected president Of the
Manufacturers Contest Association. has
outlined some highly important work for
that body to do within the next few weeks
The first big Job will be to get all the max.
ers Of motor trucks into the Manufacturers
Contest Association.
Motor trucks are going TO be a tremen-
dous factor in the life of the country from
now on" says Mr.. Coffin. This year the
truck makers will be holding great man-
contests. and unless they affiliate with ths
Manufacturers Contest Association, draft
adequate rules and support the impartial
administration Of those rules by the con.
test board, they will soon find commercial
car contests In the same chaotic condition
as the pleasure car makers found them
selves before the Manufacturers Contest
:, Association was established.
Last year the few motor truck contests
held were run under local rules and by
people inexperienced in the handling Of
such matters. The Manufacturers Con-
test Association has a membership Of sixty
big manufacturers, and through their sup
: port Of the organization the jurisdiction Il
the contest board has been recognized az
final in all types Of pleasure car contests.
THE leading commercial car makers will
be asked to cooperate as members Of ths
rules committee of the Manufacturer Con-
test Association in the formulation OF an
adequate set Of rules to govern the various
kinds and classes Of commercial car con-
tests"
A great many Of the truck makers TO
whom Mr.. Collins plan has been outlined
have signified their eagerness to get the
commercial car contests within the iurisde-
ton of a responsible body such as the
Manufacturers Contest Association.