The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-03-01
'S|X-CYLINDER MOTORS
/ BECOMING MORE IN USE

A striking feature of the automo-
bile shows of the year, and upon which
many visitors have commented, Is the
remarkably large number of six-cy-
Under cars. A careful count OF the
exhibitors at Chicago shows fifty
seven represented. OF these no less
than forty-nine makers are producing
SKIES. In cars at Fl 500 and up the
skies again lead, the figures being
sixty-five six-cylinder modes ana only
thirty-seven cylinder models.
Twelve of the skies come at prices
below $4,000. Five skies are to be
had at prices less than $500, And
these low-priced, lightweight skies
are amoung the biggest sellers Of any
cars on the market.
The swing to skies Is unmistakahle.
And among the sixes the lightweight
cars at prices below $4,000 attract
interest In 1905 there were 1876 exhi-
bitors at the automobile show or that
year. OF these sixty-eight makers
showed one-cylinder and two-cylinder
cars Those sixty-eight makers argued
that the "fours'' were merely fad:
that they were too complicated; too
costly: that they would never last
And that weight, cost. fuel consump-
ton and repair b.. would drive own
Two years later the one-cylinder and
two-cylinder models had dropped out
of sight. and have not been heard OF
since.
Progress the Order.
Something very similar is taking
place now. Progress Is the order Of
the day. Automobile engineers, while
recognizing the advance made by the
four-cylinder motor. were not salts
fed They realized that there still
was a loss Of power. And they set out
to find a motor that would run
smoother, with greater efficiency.
type that by virtue of construction
would deliver more units OF power per
gallon of fuel to the driving wheels
They sought auieter and more fiex-
ibie motor one with less strain on It's
own working parts.
The solution was the six-cyiinder
motor. It was found that the desired
ideal effect could be obtained by utI-
izing the continuous toque of the six
cylinder motor And that throught
this steady application of power came
such desirable results as lowered fuel
consumption. lessened tire wear, more
pleaSureble driving and control.
by using motors OF smaller bore
and longer stroke Ii was found posi-
bic to greatly tighten the material
weight. One prominent maker Of
light six uses a motor that is sixty
pounds lighter than was used IN a
four 10 produce the same horse
power improvements in machine
tools have enabled makers to drill
and bore six cylinders at no more
expense than four. Multiple drills
bore six holes Just as cheaply ana
rapidly as they bore four: Considera-
tlons such as these have been active
In turning the attention of car. own
ers, as well as engineers and manu-
factarers, to the six-cylinder motor.
A proof OF the merit OF the six lies
in the fact that every standard maker
who started as a pioneer to market
this style some years ago has con-
tinued with it. Whereas numerous
other features Of automobile design
have been offered to the public, tried
and later abandoned.
Demand For "Sixes"
OF the forty makers producing
skies today only nine built SKIES in
1910. a short four years ago. In that
year every maker but two built fours
and skies. To-day eighteen leading
makers build skies only. There is,
therefore, nothing in the slightest de-
gree ephemeral or experimental about
has indeed been rather slow. De-
s!gners encountered many difficulties
in its production.
First skies were heavy. costly. ex-
pensive to maintain. But automobile
engineers learned finally the secret of
the six And. today the six Is very
different to what IL was few years
ago. Now II Is lighter. economical to
build and economical to run.
1t IL TO this engineering achieve
ment that must be credited the re-
markable wave Of popularity that has
swept the ssx-and particularly the
nght-weight six--into its dominant
position as the leading feature of the
shows.
II has been the custom to designate
the shows OF the year by some name
typifying their salient feature, Thus
we had the year OF the fore-door. the
year OF the self-starter, and others;
lsf4 may well be characterized as
'sthe year of the six-cylinder."