The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-03-01

number S7 were fours and Is sixes
 Th1s would indicate beyond all doubt
 that the low priced six is not gaining
 foothold on the continent
 At the Olympia shows held in Lon don, the preponderance of fours is al- ,aost as striking. Of 139 cars shown but 19 were of six-cylinder design The sixes shown were mainly high powered costly cars, as British makers have found it impossible to pit small six against the more powerful four of the same horse power. In word while American makers are preparing to turn out great quantities of low powered sixes, the condition abroad Is Just the reverse. The London corres- pendent of Motor Age sums up condi- tfons fairly in his review at Olympia as follows
 'Six-cylinder cars are much more prominent feature in England than in any country in Europe. Yet it cannot be maintained that this Is a six-cyl- inder show. In all cases the cars are high class and costly models and are built to meet limited and critical demand No more sizes are being in troduced than a year ago; probably the
 lumber Is slightly less and no single firm with the exception of Rolls Royce has laid itself out to produce sizes only. There are no indications that the six is on the wane. but certainly there are no signs that it is likely to become popular type of car. The great mass nf motorists are quite satisfied with the services that can be got out of a four and fuel economy arguments are quite powerful enough to prevent all desire to add more cylinders.
 This would seem to mirror condi- tions exactly as they exist In the Unit ed States today. Few of us doubt the existence of a legitimate field for six cylinder cars. A few American com panies Including Lozier, have been sup plying this demand for over six years. | It is a striking fact that the concerns who standardized the six in America have placed it exclusively in the high l grade field and have never attempt ed to compete with the moderate priced four cylinder cars. Any designing en . gineer for one of the pioneer six man ufacturers will give you the reason. l At any price under $3000 the four is the preferable car simply because a high grade six cannot be built to sell | under that figure, will probably be his answer.
 1 "Only a matter of year ago sixes were rated as luxuries. Conditions 1 have not changed-the six is still the car for the man of means One proof of this fact is that nine out of ten six cylinder machines are driven by Il accordingly emphasize the luxurious 1 features as we are appealing to the class of men who can afford to buy
 the best on the market. On the other i hand, we endeavor to point out utility I features of our four. its excess power | over sixes of the same horse power
 rating and economical cost of oper- stion. to the man who intends buying I a popular priced car. It is simply a
 matter of salesmanship. giving the buy
 el the best car for the price he is
 aD ole to pay.
 l "The secret for future success for the motor car manufacturer then. would
 seem to lie in a careful study of the buying public and striving to meet
 that demand. As in the past. those
 companies, building one or two mod
 els, with but few changes each season, will receive the greatest financial re-
 ward. A more thorough application of common sense business principles will 1 be necessary in every motor car or
 ganization. Roll call of, the firms still
 doing business five years from toda y will be a sufficient answer as to which | companies saw the light and followed l 1t to lasting place in the business | world"