Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1919-09-19
OVERLAND WILL PUT
NEW CAR IN FIELD
LIGHT FOUR Il ELIMINATION OF
ONE OF GREATEST AUTO
MOBILE UNDERTAKINGS

cylinder car held up for the last two
years because of war conditions. has
been begun by the WHY'S Overland
company of Toledo and shipments tc
dealers will soon be made, says a fac
tory announcement received by the
local distributors, the Bronson Motor
Car Co.
The car is known as Overland 4
Its production, which marks the cul
mination of one of the most interest
ing undertakings in the history OF
the automobile industry, is a tribute
to the persistent purpose which has
guided President John N. WHY'S oil
the Willys-Overland company since
he built the first Overland car 10
years ago.
Back of the whole production plan
has been the equally great develop
ment of the Willys-Overland engi.
neering department. Heading the
department are men who played a
prominent part in the development
of the Packard, Cadillac, Pierce
Arrow and other notable cars. Chief
among the mahy engineering fea-
lures of distinction in the new car is
the new spring suspension which it
is said, after two years of exhaustive
test, marks a really notable advance
in motor car riding qualities.
Although the announcement of the
new model was made more than two
years ago by President WHY'S. the
entire interval, according to him. has
been devoted to perfecting details
improving and refining tire car, with
a view to bringing every part up to
the standard of it's riding qualities
which are said to be exceptional.
Plans call for an output that will
greatly exceed that of any single
Overland model yet built. To effect
these plans and bring the new car
into actual factory production has
required the complete re-adjustment
of the production program of the
WHY'S allied plants.
The size of this achievement is
more readily understood when it is
realized that barely eight months
ago the WHY'S Overland industry was
almost entirely devoted to war pro-
duction. Following this came the
REIMBURSEMENT to motor car produc-
ton which reached 425 cars day;
then a complete new adjustment has
been made to a new car program
without holding up the production
of current models on order from
dealers
Since the armistice was signed.
factory routine and methods have
been simplified; specially designed
machinery built and installed for
making the new car parts. For the
insurance of permanently attractive
finish. three batteries of electric
ovens, each about $50 feet long and
40 feet wide, have been constructed
at the factory and through these the
all-steel bodies of the new car will
pass through series of enamel coat
ing and bakings under high tempera.
ture.
To assure uniformity Of steels in
the new car, 4 new system of inspec-
ton was installed. Expert metallur-
gists from Willys-Overland begin
their inspections and tests at the
mills and this inspection is constant
at every operation until the car
leaves the factory. Steel mills, &C
cordingly, have been organized to
meet the strict Overland require
ments for the special alloys and
steels in the new car. Raw material
markets have been organized to pro-
vide for steady flow of the required
materials.
Allied plants have been at work
for months, under pressure, to pro-
duce the specially designed lighting
system, steering gear, bearings and
other parts essential to the new
Overland.
But this picture gives only a linn
tied idea of the tremendous concen-
tration of resources which are
brought to focus in the first produc-
ton of the new car. To be fully con-
ceived, these great special prepare
tions must be seen in the perspective
of the existing structure of the Will
lys-Overland organization of which
the Toledo plant alone comprises 100
acres of floor space and 10 miles OF
private railroad yards with provi-
sions for loading and unloading
1000 railroad cars day.
Not alone in material preparations
but in the training of men as we'll,
the Willys-Overland organization has
made seven league strides in prepar-
ing for the new car. A training
school of huge proportions has been
in operation for months training me-
chanics. The school follows the plans
used by the United States govern
ment so successfully in training men
intensively during the war. 1t is
headed by the man who directed the
training for the department of labor
during the war. By this plan hun
dreds of men while working under
good wages are trained to greater
protection, higher skill and better
jobs. This in a measure explains the
Willys-Overland company's hercu-
lean achievement in arriving so soon