The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-03-12
AUTOMOBILE TESTS
 DOUBTFUL IN VALUE
George A. WeIdely.)


 How much does 1t cost he special ized stunt How much good does the private owner of the car derive from factory tricks of great publicity when the object attained has not the slight est bearing on the matter which con- cerns him znost--the actual efficient operation of his personal car Spec tacular autoxnobiIe events of any na- ture attract the attention Of the great CT part of the general automobile pub lie. and, sad to relate, the general pulp lie does not always take the trouble to properly anaIyze the conditions sur- rounding the great deed A car may win race Of great newspaper impor- tance. A certain class of buyer rushes into the home town agents store with the family purse, and shoots out again with a car Of the same make that won the grand plug"
 If his car is an exact duplicate, if the race was won by a stock car he probably has made good trade if he needs that kind of car, but if the car that won the race costs che poor rnanufacturer $25,00o or sso,00O, and resembles Mr. Private Owners car on lY in that it has four round wheels and the same nameplate. 1t would seem that the only thing really gained is the possible practical results to the car as stlrdiIy as he did the special Tacer-comfort, economy of fuel and tires, beauty of exterior appearance and upkeep being entirely forgotten in the shuffie More likely the ex- perience gained will be just good old experience.p
 The special engine tests in the hands of the factory experts might be Hken- ed to the wealthy baby patient in the hospital in the hands of nineteen trained professors; one watches the thermometer, one the hot water bot tie. one the slide rule specially ad-
 Justed milk carburetor, another the attitude Of the totally unbiased news paper men. God bless them. etc., etc., etc. Great excitement reigns. an au- tomobile engine is proving that it can perform the duty for which it was de- signed-run!
 Of course, nobody is ever going to admit that never in its short but eventful life is the engine ever to be called upon to duplicate this special performa nee, because to make money and to make automobiles go, engines have to be placed in cars and there is no room in the average car for the 400 or more gallons Iubrfcating oil which was shot through the poor machine to keep it going for weeksi And the record economy mileage test-with michronometer adjustments-the bil- Hard table roads, the sliding down hill. everybody holds his breathi Ridicu- IousI
 | 1n0Se are not aCIudI SII1Cl6Ucy IeSLS. | The private owner can never duplicate nor approach results gained under l these conditions. Put the tests on a l commercial basis proposition How l much does it cost the owner to run 1 He is the fellow who pays the freight. I Get the data on actual cost per unit l of power, whether horsepower of foot I pounds. per unit of performance, or l the cost per mile travel
 I Automobiles are built to run and l keep running. Proof of this is un- necessary, but proof to the effect that l a certain machine will run easier. I quieter, more economica1ly-in word 1 more efficiently than the other feI- l lows under actual service conditions l will prove beneficial to the man who l pays the freight, and he is the man II to please.
 I He should not be interested to the i extent of being influenced in a pur-
 chase, in the fact that some engine Fl runs like the very deuce on the block ] or that a stranger bearing his cars
 name flew over the country at 200 \ miles per hour, or that a striped cai
 rolled thirty miles on one gallon o1
 gaso1ene, under specially prepared ex-
 traordfnary conditions chosen for the
 purpose.
 What he wants to know is how Ions his engine is going to run in his car
 how fast his car can go, if he wishes to go fast, and how far he can go or a gallon of gasoline, how it will climt grades, how long the tires are going to last on his machine. and all whel driven by himself his family hii paid repr He may bt Fl proud to own a car bearing the name 1 nf some speed monster. but what goot