Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-01-19
DEPENDABHITYLS IS
CRITERION OF VALUE
Automobile Is Valuable Only to Degree That 1t Can
Be Relied Upon to Perform Its Functions

| liver since automobiles first bccam,
- practical there has been n constant
search for n criterion of motorcar val :
ue, sound and clearly defined prin
ciple upon which to judge n motorcar
as an investment.
To this day the question most frc-
quently asked regarding automobiles is
How can tell a good automobile?
The, answers that have been given,
and are still given. are almost as nu-
merous as the Inquiries.
Some say the gauge of an automo
bile g goodness or desirability is its
appearance others. it's economy; still
others, its list of specifications. It's
special mechanical features, the quality
of it's materials. the accuracy of its
workmanship, its engineering excel
lenccs, its speed. its hill climbing abil
ity, its responsiveness, its quietness, its
flexibility. and so on.
No one will gainsay the Importance
Of n single one of these elements. but
the fact remains that they are simply
elements, and the automobile chosen
solely because it excels in one of these
points, will surely fail to render the
all around satisfaction that man has
right to expect from his car.
An automobile that has only it's beau =
tiful appearance to recommend it be
longs in n show window. to be admired
It's beauty will not carry it's owner an
inch Of the way toward home. if it is
stalled at the bottom of steep hill, or
mired in the mud, or will not start.
And Of what earthly use is the most
remarkable economy of gasoline. if the
car will not perform the tasks its own
er asks Of it?
No Consolation
Again. the man who is constantly
having trouble with his car, and il
often deprived of its use. can derive
very slight consolation from the thought
that 1t is equipped with the cleverest
and most ingenious mechanical devices.
Engineering excellences do not atone
for riding discomforts and other draw
backs. Speed is not an unmixed bless
ing il it is only had at the cost of con =
stant tinkering and nursing and coax
ing. Ability to climb hills loses much
of its zest If there is always a doubt
whether the car will start when it is
needed.
No one of these can possibly be the
criterion which the public has been
nNNhlHb. iutV uTt only II 1pW causes
that must be combined with many others
to produce sense of satisfaction. They
are only few elements that must be
properly co-ordinated with many others
to make up the one quality of an auto
mobile that can unhesitatingly be named
as the real criterion of value or desira
bility.
And that quality is dcpendabiity.
1t can be stated as n truism that an
automobile is valuable only to the de-
gree that it is dependable.
In that respect motorcar is exactly
like a servant or other cmploye. No
amount of brilliance in a single phase
of his work can ever make the undc-
pendable servant worth Il fraction as
much as the reliable, trustworthy, de.
pendable one.
The Owner Knows
An automobile is dependable when its
owner knows that he can rely upon it
to do the same things in the same way
whenever and wherever he calls upon
1t to do them.
He knows it will start; he knows il
will go, no matter how swift the going
he knows it will respond with a rush
when he presses down the aCcelcrator.
If the journey be one OF ten miles or
ten hundred he can count upon the
same unchanging, uniform performance,