Norwich bulletin., 1916-01-04
DOINGS IN THE AUTO WORLD
1915 Racing Season an Eventful One and Will Go Down in 300 Mile Course This Year-Cars Being Used More During the WinterFaet. Concerning the Purchase of Second Hand Cars.

The year 1915 will. go down in rac-
 ing history as epochal. Dreams of
 years became reality and in race after
 race drivers drove their cars about
 the big speedways at rate of more than ninety miles au hour.
 In 1915 the best previous record of S7.S miles an hour was raised to 105.4 miles an hour In no year since au- tomobile racing began has there been such rapid stride.
 started the ball rolling at Indianapo-
 lis on Memorial Day by averaging 89.4
 miles an hour for 500 miles. Less
 than month later Dario Resta, at Chicago. eclipsed that record by aver aging 97.5 miles an hour, and on last Labor Day, Gil Anderson made the mark still better by driving $50 miles at the rate of 1925 miles an hour. In match race held early in october at Sheepshead Bay, Resta again raised the mark to a rate of s105.4 miles an hour for 100 miles.
 Eddie" Pullen's Mercer at Corona was siod with a new type of tire, built of two layers of rubber inpregnated rubber covered cables. The new tire had been developed in Silvertown, England, as a type not only stronger but so resilient that 1t would effect economies in gasoline consumption and tire cost.
 Using this tire Pullen averaged SIS miles an hour. At the Indianapolis race this year the drivers turned en masse to the American built tire of this type.
 With these tires Harry Grant trav- elled 500 miles without a stop at Chi cago at rate of more than ninety six miles an hour.
 All credit is not due Silvertowns. There have been perfections in en- zines and in track construction, but | Silvertowns have removed the most | serious mechanical obstacle to great | speed-tire trouble.
 ! The annual IndianapoIis Motor Speedway automobile race will be l 1916, instead of 500 miles, as for the l last five years. The purse for the
 race also has been cut from $50,00o
 to $30,000, the first prize being fixed
 at $12,oOO. There will be ten prizes | the same as in former years.
 Under a new ruling five cars of the
 same make may be entered in the race. In addition to a factory team of l three cars, two additional cars of the same name may be entered by indi-
 tory.
 Obvious factors which operate to | make the purchase of a second hand l automobile attractive at this period of l the year should be sufficient to impel | has in mind more or less definitely | the buying of a used car for. next year. First, he should definitely make
 his purchase during the winter, be- cause this is the time of year when | dealers have the greatest number of I used cars on hand This operates to | the financial benefit of the purchaser. Ies Or still greater importance, how | ever, Is the fact that the intending | buyer of a. used car should make up -s~sk recognized and established dealer in automobiles. The man who makes a l permanent business of selling auto mobiles has a moral obligation to full I fil with his client that has an import
 ant relation to the purchasers invest i;ment. ~ ss77 The used cars can be acquired, to better advantage at this time of year Fbecause the man who acts, definitely, gains in proportion as the tendency of others to wait causes the used car market to stagnate. With the first approach of cold weather many fam | flies trade in their cars on new ones, to be delivered in the spring, thus saw ing storage costs for the winter. Still others, with the summer and fall sea- sons gone. have no future use for the vehicles they used and are willing to sacrifice it.
 | So the family that looks around now
 has a wider field to choose from and | deal than could be made in the spring, when the demand is brisk. You Gon't see many secondhand cars for sale in | the dealer showrooms after May l.
 The few that are available command a perminum price, also, because of the over demand that comes with spring. | While the average buyer is inclined to be skeptical about used car, he need
 not necessarily be to skeptical. There ] are many fine bargains to be had. and | mn odx l tage to himself start in with a less costly used car.
 Many of the cars offered are in ex- cellent condition It-has been said by | engineers that an automobile Is in bet | ter condition after it has been driven ] 1000 or 15.000 miles than 1t was when new, if the use it has seen has been
 anything like the ordinary wear.
 However. the advantage gained I through dealing with an established
 automobile man lies in the fact that | the dealer is as considerate of his l statements to the buyer of used ma l chine as he is to the man who takes | a new car off his floor-possibly more | Statements made by the reliable 1 dealer as to the cars value may be relied upon. 1t may safely be as-
 stunned that he has tested the car and | two definite things relating to any given used car-he knows he can sell
 1t to someone in time and he knows | the person who takes 1t is a prospec-
 tive purchaser of another car. per- haps more costly one, at some lat CT date. Consequently his concern Is not narrowed to the sale of the mo- ment. This is the moral factor of the
 reliable dealers position that reacts | to the purchasers benefit.
 In as much as the tidal wave de- mand for automobiles has been such ! that many dealers in new cars are
 urging prospective buyers to- book or i ders now in order to be certain Of a car next spring. 1t follows that the | intending owner of a used car should
 make a corresponding move, now, and gain for himself the various advan- tages that are available for the man
 who definitely acts.
 | In the early years Of the industry | the motor car was only sunny sum- mer afternoons toy The few mak- CTS who really took the business ser iously and fitted corrugated tires,