The Washington times., 1923-06-02
CAR WILL. LAST
LONG IF WELL
USED
Alfred F. LOOMS Tells How to
Get Greatest Life and Com
fort From Auto.

DO you remember how your coun-
try cousin looked the first time he
came to town? Downright and
wholesome, but perhaps a little
seedy? The fashions Of Main street
were not those of Broadway, and he
made you feel conspicuous as you
walked beside him. OF course, that
was years ago, before national tail
oring became an institution.
Nowadays you will notice the same
effect when a country car comes to
town. It's a good car-lots of in
ternal honesty and so on-but 1t
looks a little queer. When you see
1t on the boulevard Of fashion you
spot 1t at once as coming from the
provinces, and IL you happen to. be
riding in it, you wish everybody
wouldn't look your way. Seedy.
That's what's the matter with it.
The country owner doesn't have q
hose in his garage, or II he does he
doesn't take the time to groom his
car every night. He let's the dust
and dirt collect, and before long the
pristine finish is gone for good.
There are q lot of old cars in the
city. In fact, among the fashion
able districts the solid old people
cling to their has-beens with q ten
acity that has long been discarded
in the rural districts. You can walk
along the block and say to yourself,
Nineteen eighteen, nineteen four
teen, and, by golly, there's one that
dates from nineteen ten, IL not ear
Her." But you have to admit that
| they look as IL they had just been
unloaded from the freight car, says
Alfred F. LOOMS, in an article in
Motor.
The answer is that they have been
well cared for. They've been wash
ed down and rubbed each night land
the washer has been subsidized to
keep him from dipping his channels
in the sandbox) and the result is
that the finish is almost what 1t was
when the car was new.
The contrast between the appear.
ance OF the average city car and the
average country car gives you the
1t harms the finish to permit the
dust to collect until the rain washes
| it off. Having received the answer,
1t is up to you to take the proper
steps to keep the appearance Of your
car from becoming seedy.
OF course, there are those owners
who contend that car is for serv-
ice, and not for looks. They bought
it for use, and they'll take it out
whether it's raining glue or hailing
needles-whether the road is hub.
deep in pitch or covered with pow
dered diamonds. They won't be
bothered with maintenance care. II
the car wears out they'll buy another
and so on. I have no quarrel with
these owners, because agree that
car is meant to be used. contend,
however, that 1t il entitled to intelli-
gent care after usage.
The other class of motorists
those who take personal pride in
longevity-like to be reminded &C.
casionally on what to do to keep
the car new.
Unless some one asserts and vows
and swears from time to time that
new car must be run in gently,
the average owner will assume that
| the days have passed when this
care was necessary. They will
think that the manufacturers have
got around that somehow, and that
you can take a new car, open 1t
up to fifty miles an hour, drive for
! ten hours. and be glad that the
| 500 miles of runningin has been
gotten through with all in one lump.
AS a matter Of fact, 1t 10 no less
| important today to take the first
| 500 miles-the dangerous mileage
| of a motor carat any easy clip
of twenty to twenty-five miles than
it was ten years ago. And If you
want real longevity from your car
you will double the dangerous mile
age and drive slowly for a full
| thousand.
| Rtou 49, 49,, 49,, o,on5 a. $50
to the cars top capacity whenever
the spirit moves you, but you must
never do 1t for substained distances,
Not only does the engine run the
/ risk of overheating with prolonged
speeding, but the fabrication sys.
tenn finds 1t difficult to keep up
with the demands put upon it. At
| least, the oil is worn, or whipped,
or squeezed away from the bearing
surfaces so rapidly that the metals
bear against each other and start
| the bearings on the road to ruin.
While we are on the subject of
| driving, ! want to air an opinion
! of mine that / have cherished for
number of years. 1t is that it's
| the little things that count in
driving. I don't need TO tell you,
| perhaps, that it is bad for the
| engine the CIuIcn, the IFdubnlSSIOHO
the rear axle, the tires, and asso.
ciated parts to start and stop alb.
| ruptly. You've heard that before,
| and you know also that II you lock
your wheels you're in for a skid
and for a flat spot on your castings.
But did you ever hear of anyone
who was so mean and picayune in
his driving that he avoided the
little stones? I'm just that mean
and picayune. I'd as soon run over
a brick as 7 would a lump Of coal
or a chunk of sharp bluestone.
When anyone else is driving ana
I'm riding in the front seat it
gives me the shivers to see him
crash over cluster of pebbles
rather than take the trouble to
pick a smooth place In the road.
have stone-phobia.
A good deal of discomfort Is
inflicted on the passengers by
taking corners at speed 1t seems
to be the usual method In round
ing a right-angle turning to come
up to it at a good clip, clap on
the brakes, and brake all the way
around the corner If you must
go fast around corners there is a
better way to do it, namely, decel.
crate before you start to turn,
and then speed up as you go
|