New-York tribune., 1922-01-08
Fine Motor Car
Must Confess
HunbleCenesis
rvolution of Automobile
Best Shown by Draw
iugs in Which Cruditv
Seems To Be tho Feature
Progress of Designs
Cameo Ring Worn by an
Engineer Is Inspiration
for Prominent Trademark


.,,.es the motif he will perfect upon
A,s canvas; the sculptor models his in
.,iration in plastic clay before a tool
I. set to the marble. And the fine
motor car. with its finished grace and
rrsetical beauty. must also confess
humble genesis.
Few laymen have been permitted to
,..n into the "studios" where automo-
bile designs are developed, and the pro-
eedure Is an absolute mystery to the
majority Of those who are. consciously
or unconscio ously, captivated by the ap-
pesrance Of cars at the show. The La
fsyette Motors Company, however. may
be credited With an interesting contri-
button to "motor car art" by making
public some of the preliminary steps
which we're taken in 1919 in the evolu-
ticn of the Lafayette design.
The crude, scrawled conceptive draw
|ings are treasured mementos at the
indianapolis factory. They afford an
from zero to the goal. Between the
extremes are countless blueprints,
working drawings, patterns and expert
mental Jobs.
Drawings Look Crude
Lafayette engineers emphasize tina.
it is not possible just to sit down and
draw. for example q pleasing and in
diyidualistic radiator design. First Of
all, the engine, previously designed, re-
ouires certain number of square
inches of cooling area. In the case of
the Lafayette 568 square inches were
prescribed to maintain an efficient
operating temperature for the 100
horsepower motor.
Then the whole question OF body de-
ign has to be taken into consideration.
rsizes that the radiator and hood, by
her design, automatically Eovern the
and body proper.
It has been common practice, dating
back to the days Of the one and two
cylinder ears. to design the radiator
first, thea attempt to build body to
mattel. it. Judged by present standards
the results we're anything but pleasing
ard satisfactory. Little if any unity
between the front end Of the car and
the body proper could be obtained.
While many of these radiator designs
have become impractical, automobile
makers have been loath to abandon
them on acc0unt of their trademark
value.
Modern body engineers, as evidenced
by the preliminary considerations of
Lafayette engineers. departed from the
custom and gave first thought to the
lines Of the body proper.
Lining Up the Sections
As result when the Lafayette engi-
neers undertook the design of radi-
ator they realized that it must have
high shoulders which would be on a
direct line with either the upper body
edge Of open bodies or the belt line Of
inclosed models. so that the bonnet
would be broad and fiat and flow into
the cowl without unsecmly breaks. By
placing no restrictions on the design
of the cowl and body behind it almost
any body design could be gracefully
accommodated. Lafayette engineers
say it has been 3 revelation to see how
perfectly some Of the fine bodies origi-
nally designed for the chassis Of seven
or eight years ago, have fitted that of
the Lafayette. This has been cspe-
cialy true of those bodies of costly
custom design that owners are accus-
toned to transfer from one chassis to
another.
With prescribed amount Of cooling
area and with predetermined high
shoulders the designers set about it
TO produce q radiator design different
from all others.
The name Lafayette" having been
determined upon because Of it's associa-
tons, Lafayette cameo suggested it
sell as a trademark design and radiator
emblem. A cameo seemed to do great
est justice to the name itself. The
next question was: How is the
cameo to be embodied in the design of
motor car" One Of the engineers
wore wore a cameo ring. An inspiration!
The result was an elevated surface on
1ne face Of the radiator she'll closely
resembling ring in its general char
acterstlcs. with q Lafayette cameo
mounted in the bezel. A conference
was held and it Was decided that this
gracefully curved elevation, bearing
me cameo would observe the canons
@good taste and at the same time give
Ne Lafayette radiator an individual