Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-01-12
LIGHT WEIGHT CARS
FAVORITES THIS YEAR
Banner Business Predicted by
Duryea and National
Managers

Automobiles of lighter weight and a
big year for the automobile industry was
forecast today by two men who are prom
incntly Identified with the automobile
business Prosperity Is inevitable for the
automobile industry, according TO George
the National Motor Vehicle Company. and
who has been in the automobile business
for more than Is years,
Mr. Dickson said:
AT the National Motor Car factory
this prosperity has been evidenced by
n T3 per cent. Increase in car sales for
the calendar year 1915. as compared with
1. "A. This has made 1t necessary to In
crease the size of the National factory and
two new additions, built this fall, were
completed in December, and all of the
additional space is now In full opera
tion.
"'The new National buildings and equip
ment cost more than sl250Oo and greatly
increase National operations The new
buildings total 6TS feet in length, which
is over one and one-half city blocks. All
of these new additions are two stories
high. They are built of reinforced con-
crete and steel One building Is 400 feet
long and 80 feet wide, the other Is 2iS feet
long.
Having added greatly to its ori:inal
plant. established 10 years ago, the Ma
than n solid city block, with railroad fa-
cilitles on two sides. With the new addi-
tons, the factory is one of the most COM
plete manufa cturng establishments, as
they can operate independently of all out
side forces, being equipped to furnish
their own power, heat, light. water and
fire protection.
Part of one of the new buildings now
Is being occupied by the National general
offices. The same building also includes
new quarters for the engineering and
drafting departments, also the purchasing
and production departments.
Every foot of the National plant, in
Guiding the new additions, is used eX-
clusively for the production of National
cars The increase in size of the Ma
tional factory is in a large measure due
to the popularity of the National High
way cars, which were first introduced at
the time of the last 500-mile race"
Discussing lighter weights for future
new automobiles, c. +. Duryea said:
when the average man things Of light
weight with reference to his automobile,
he, of course. considers only the total
weight of the car and too often asks:
What matter about the weight? Does
not the engine pull it?' Arguments as to
efficiency and the various other gains
have in days gone by been all too deep
for him. He could appreciate only that
WHICH lie saw. anu ne COuiu bSc a. us Noi
with its massive parts and imposing bear
ing. 1t impressed him with the Idea of
power and speed. So the massive con-
struction won.
But right never dies. Merit is inlmor-
tai and sooner or later will bob up after
the fallacies have had time to explode
and blow away. So light weight is rap
idly coming into its own. The visitor to
the automobile show will find more evil
dences of the growth of the lightweight
idea than ever before and I'm some of the
most unexpected places. He will see ex-
hibits of wonderful triumphs OF mechani-
cal designing and note that they lead
toward lighter and still lighter weight
That the modern automobile will
closely follow the history OF the horse
drawn carriages and the bicycle and
eventually become lightened to a degree
even now considered impossible has long
been in the minds of many, but that this
tightening would be pre-emnent at some
of the places where 1t is now found was
not foreseen And the future undoubt-
edly holds still further surprises for u.s."