The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-05-09
Engineers Encounter Much
!. Difficulty in Designing
Light Weight Low Price Car

Il themselves the VARIOUS PAL y ~
come thoroughly coated with Oh anc
Now you will notice. that your r1cn
nesxrbor, when he buys car turns
it over TO his chauffeur. The latter
has been taught that he must not
(! drive 1t at high speeds until II mas
had a chance 10 Timber UP. ana ne
\ has had a chance 10 see that no err
/ ror has been made at the factory II
!; assembling or otherwise.
/ FIRST Cost Greatest Cost
We have mentioned the item OF
maintenance To the buyer OF low
priced car this is the one big con-
/ sidera1ion. Design with maintenance
cost as your first consideration, says
J. President Flanders 10 our engineers
/ when they began 10 design the Max
! well ..25." for the class of buyers
who must consider the purse and
therefore the original cost OF the car
when buying. must CONSIDER still more
! carefully the maintenance cost after
ward:
what is the problem set to an en-
! zineer, eGen? Design not only a car
! OF ample power and IN proportion TO
1 weight, OF ample seating capacity and
1 eooc riding qualities; and TO sell 1t
I for fraction OF the price OF the big
! ,-ar; moi only Jnese. but he must also
! SOISe the pTOOIeuS itdl . IES OAS
/ viii not solve for himself.
| Must anticipate the abuse he viii
! tinwfttingfy subject-ft TO. Must an:ici-
| pate his, carelessness-nu make 1t
so it viii practically intricate itself
! and be fool proof in every other part
! and when it comes to getting the
strength in every part OF the car. the
designer OF the low priced car cannot
Iadopt the expedient of the man who
designs the big one. and simply add
more metal-that would make the
weight prohibittye. the power made
! quate. and, -inasmuch as every extra
pound OF metal costs so much more,
land costs so much more again to ma
chine. il. ii would run the price up to
! a prohfbitiye figure
Much Steel Used.
So the problem must be solved in
ianotker way. Instead of casting the
dffficsIlt body paris out of aluminium
he must make expensive dies and
] s+amp them ont in steet-vastiy bet
] ter-and when made in enormous
quantities with the proper facilities,
vastly cheaper, of course.
And when an axle shaft, connecting
rod, crank shaft or other part needs
STRENGTHENING. he must do il not by
adding weight, but by putting in bet.
ter material. Here Is where the sci
ence of metallurgy enters in. Great
er care. greater skill and greater
steeis is necessary in the making of
! a low priced car than in the making
OF a high priced one-that is to say.
| IL the low priced car is to be low IN
ma:ntena nce cost as well as in first
fcost.-
! 1t Is a fact that makers of low
priced cars have developed the sci
ence of metallurgy, the treatment OF
steelS. to a degree that never before
was achieved. Ask any steel expert
and ne will tell you that in the last
six years greater advances have been
made in the science of metailurgy in
the making and treatment of steels
than were made in the 1890 years
previous 10 that And il ne knows any
thing, he viii tell you that II was the
necessity for the use of better steels
than ever were known before for the
making OF low priced automobiles
that resulted in this developme nt.
Make $4,000 Cars Annually.
The Maxwell .25'' model can only
be made as IL is made, and sold at
the price it is sold for, by making II
in vast Guantities-not less than Co.,
{ o0e cars per annum.
Now, the maker who has the capac-
:ty for 10000 cars per year IS able
not only TO buy the best commercial
steels, but he can so further and nave
every. ounce OF steel made TO MS own
specifications. Such a maker does
not use the same steel IN a connect
ing rod as in a transmission gear,
nor the same in a cam shaft as ne
does IN front axle. He can order
mis- steel made in 1900 ton lots, and
have each steel exactly suited to the
service il VIII be called upon 10 per
form.
i turning out a few hundred nigh priced
( cars can do this Nor can he go out
into the market and buy such steels-
/ He mas 10 take what he can get, even
! though he pays q high price for it
as he must 90, buying in small guam
titles. He cannot get the quality, as
can the manufacturer of the low
1 priced car whose requirements are
! Tor hundreds of thousands OF tons OF
! steel per year, as against his few
THOUSAND pounds, so 10 speak.
! Many Companies Fail.
Z There have been many low priced
/ cars protected IN the past, and mas
much as there is an unlimited demand
\ for such a car, some may wonder why
1hey have not succeeded. When you
look them over they seem TO be
! cheaply made-so there ought 10 be
a margin of profit-and yet the max
ers went broke.
i Fact was. they were cheaply made
/ in one way, but very extensively made
IN another. Doubtless the men who
i backed these concerns realized that
when 100 late-realized the all i'm
portaat fact that a car IS not sold by
statesmen but by the owners and US
ers of that car And X those owners
! are not satisfied the car will not sell:
! The result is-no matter how great
the demand. the manufacturer soon
finds he must keep the car running
after It gets into the hands of owners
or his demand will disappear almost
4 q