New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-03-01
Thousands Will Reach Mar
ket Within the Next
Six Months.
FAIRLY INDICATIONS
PRESAGE BIG SALES
v,w Vehicles Will Be Used to
SrrpIement Large Machines
BY Many Owners.

~houcb The small car has progressed
,evond the stage OF a FAD in Europe
s,,,rc in this country Is a matter OF
.,t and automobile builders and users
~.a with expectancy the period OF
,u.d rise or these vehicles I'm order 10
...as inst what they will amount to.
-. nudge from apparently reliable reports,
lass than 5o.cno. possibly double that
.,,her have been ordered by dealers for
,.u,sry as soon as they can lie pro-
dueed.
p.troit. which Is the hub Of the minia-
- automobile and the cycle car trade
,s il is Of the normal sized machine Is
,svsrisbly preparing the ways for the
,s,,rcbing OF thousands Of small vehicles
I, ono type or another. according TO r.
:, snooner who is possibly better posted
-.goydinC the situation tnan any other
- !, the country. The former New
vo-tsr came over from the City OF Straits
-. week 10 see what real snowstorm
looks like.
production for the market has hardly
,srun." spooner said few days ago.
INT all preparations have been made by
,nmber of companies. Wait until mid
.rnner when the craze for these little
machines will be AT its height. Just now
the average man may think he wou'd
look ridiculous riding in half-sized
car but they will come so fast that this
ceiling will die out i'm short order.
The new small cars and cyclecars are
comins in all sizes. A demonstrating
machine seen on Broadway last week had
a,parently no greater than St-incL
.rced. and a body so narrow that only
one passenger could sit in either of the
sests This. Of course. gets close to the
minimum i'm size unless some concern
brings out one-man car of the shortest
possible wheel base.
On the other hand the new crop brings
OFT such cars as the Saxon and the Lin
coin. which are not only Of normal tread
at of long wheelbase, and built in a
manner 10 make their success appear
certainty. The normal tread small cars
spoear TO find the strongest favor with
thu public. but this may be because they
are SO closely aligned with the smaller
machines that are already well known.
The speed. comfort and durability of the
ryclecar have not been demonstrated. and
while there are those who will buy them
because they offer motor propulsion at
very low price. the great bulk of possible
buyers must be shown. Particularly is
tbs so because of the almost general
ADOPTION OF the belt drive, which, on its
face, appears to be a weak feature.
The matter of strength in belt is. how
ever. one OF the biz claims put forth by
those who have tested the various forms
Of final drive for lightweight vehicles
one Of the Detroit concerns claims 20
have used a belt in tests extending over
400 miles with wearing down Of Only
one sixteenth OF an inch. Based on this
experience the designers express the be-
LIEF that this type of belt will give service
for ie.g00 or 1900 miles under ordinary
conditions Of use.
The manufacturers OF the small car and
the cyclecar have found their early de-
mand principally from the class OF people
TO whom the low price appeals-from the
class not able to buy even the cheapest
Of the machines heretofore on the mar
ket They anticipate, however. an enor-
nous demand from present day users Of
large cars. who will use the smaller edi-
tons for station work. shopping, in trips
10 the golf links. etc.
For the man accustomed TO motoring in
large car OF popular make the employ
nsnt Of a miniature edition, it's size pro-
claiming It's low price, may at first prove
blow at his pride. and he may for a
time feel II necessary to make explana-
tons. The reverse Of the situation, how
ever, is the matter OF expense.
II Is claimed for these little cars that
they are good from twenty 10 forty miles
On gallon ~ gasolene, that their time
expense Is amazingly low; that they do
not call for the use OF a chauffeur. and
that they are easily handled in traftlc.