Newark post. (Newark, Del.) 1910-1969, 1918-06-12
STUDEBAKER CARS
FINISH SPEEDWAY TEST
Cars Disassembled And Found
In Excellent Condition

Cross-country runs, nonstop re-
cords and reliability tours have all
come in for their place in the test
ing of automobiles. 1t remained,
however, for Studebaker engineers
to put on one of the most remark
able endurance runs ever conceiv-
ed to test out new models.
In the early part of last Deem
Der, F. M. Zeder, chief engineer of
the Studebaker Corporation, char
tered the Chicago Speedway, scene
of many thrilling brush between
the worlds foremost speed kings,
for the Inauguration of new kind
of automobile test of his own con-
coction. He anticipated the rigor
of the December weather with it's
zero temperature-even though he
did not reckon on the coming of
the worst billiards. known to the
Middle West in half century.
With everything in readiness at
the Speedway, Zeder left Detroit
for Chicago with experimental
models of the three new Series 10
Studebaker Cars and picked crew
of drivers, mechanics and pitmen.
With the three cars on the track,
one car of each new model, Mr..
Zeder instructed drivers and re-
lief-drivers to keep the cars rum
ming regardless Of everything un-
til their speedometers registered
full 10000 miles. This admonition,
although it meant days of nerve
racking grind, was cheerfully re-
ceived by testers. They had helped
to build these experimental cars
they drove them on their first
road test-and they had unswerv-
ing faith in their abaility to fur
nish the mighty test with colors
flying.
After these experimental mod
els had completed their ninety day
10000 mile test on the Speedway,
and were driven over the roads to
our Detroit factories, we tore them
down completely for thorough in
spection," says Mr.. Zeder, in COM
menting upon the unqualified sue
cess of the test. 1--WE expected to
find considerable depreciation
but to even our own establishment,
an examination of the parts Of the
disassembled cars actually reveal
ed less wear than would ordinarily
be found in cars that had been
driven but two or three years. And,
it must be remembered, this 10000
mile test on the Chicago Speedway,
where the cars were run day in and
day out at an average speed of
forty-nine miles an hour, is equal
to anything from five to eight
years service in the owners hands.
Flowing through drifts of snow
that had all but obliterated the
great two mile oval that forms the
Chicago Speedway, and enduring
weather that kept the mercury
lowering around II and 20 below
zero for days, the drivers of these
test cars gamely stuck to their task
of running up mileage of 10000
miles. The great blizzard that
struck Chicago early in January,
Gripping every transportation
facility and burying the city be-
meath a heavy blanket of snow,
stopped our cars temporarily-but
not for long. After two days of
hustling, drivers and mechanics
dug their cars out of the drifts and
resumed the grind, keeping to
daily schedule of approximately 500
miles.
Before putting the new Stude-
baker cars on the Chicago Speed
way, and long before preparing to
turn out the new models in guam
tity production, the experimental
cars were driven and pounded over
the worst mountain roads of Penn
sylvania, New York, the New Eng
land States, Northern Michigan,
and Canada. These road tests con-
sumed almost 10000 miles of
grinding, gruelling work. We tried
to break them-but we couldn't do
it. Every symptom and move was
noted by members of our engineer
ing staff and every necessary
change to give them added
strength and rigidity, or greater
stiffness of springs, was thus de-
termined under the most extreme
conditions.
II believe, and the performance
of our cars bears me out in my as