New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-01-12
.LUXUR|ES HAVE A PLACE
Well Appointed Autos Are Gen.
orally Most Efficient.
LITTLE EXTRAS IMPORTANT
Comfort, Convenience and
Beauty All Outside Realm
of Real Necessities.
By Percy Owen, Chalmers.

Luxury is a comparatively new word
in automobile building. Only among the
very highest priced cars had luxury been
given any serious consideration up to the
last season or so. Now, however. 1t is
generally conceded that all things consid-
cred, the car of luxury is the car of ef-
ficiency.
In everything we possess we naturally
think OF the most luxurious thing as the
best thing The very word luxury"
means that one has gone beyond the mere
necessity The luxurious article contains
more OF quality. comfort or beauty. as
the case may be, than the thing which
is built for purely unitarian purposes
In motor car which, to give salts
factory service must possess all such
qualities as comfort. beauty and conven-
fence, luxury plays an important part
In the matter of comfort, luxury means
more room than is absolutely needed. 1t
means deeper upholstery than is abso-
lutely essential: it means careful atten-
ton to such details as the pitch of the
seats the carpet of the tonneau, the To-
cation of foot rails and all such things.
Convenience in a motor car is almost
wholly a matter of luxury. No one abso-
lutely has to have a self-starter. No one
absolutely has TO have dash adjustment
for the carbureter, an electric lighting
system. a power tire infiater or demount-
able rims. These things are purely lux
uries. but certainly no one can deny that
they are luxuries which make for the
greater efficiency of car.
Beauty. too, is a matter of luxury
Deep. rich colors. high grade trimmings.
nickel and black enamelled hardware, in
conspicuous door locks and all such
things which add to the beauty Of car
are Injuries. At the same time, they add
greatly to a cars efficiency. Certainly
twenty-one coats Of paint and varnish
give a better wearing surface than four
or five coats. Nickel trimmings, which
look best, also wear best and are easiest
TO care for Therefore, luxurious beauty
means efficiency.
There is also luxury of mechanical
construction. This is not so generally
external Injuries. Mechanical luxury
means large bearings. the highest grade
of steel. four forward speed transmission
with ground gears. extra large radiator.
valves OF such size as to insure full
power. These things are not absolutely
essential to the operation of a motor car;
they are really Injuries. But they are
luxuries which make car run more
smoothly. wear better and require less
attention.
1t seems to me that the right Kind OF
Injuries make very materially for more
satisfactory service. OF course, gold In
stead of nickel plating would be a luxury,
but il would be an extravagant luxury
ono which added nothing TO the efficiency
of a car. II is possible to build for about
5000 a car possessing all the essential
Injuries The same car could be loaded
down with extravagances until 1t cost
$40 CO., but II would not because of that
fact necessarily be a better AUTOMOBILE
it would not travel any faster, develop
any more power, run any more smoothly
wear any longer be any more convenient
or carry its passengers with any more
comfort. From a certain point of view 1t
might be a better looking car, but even
that is doubtful.