The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1927-01-19

Motor car beauty perhaps. has
not reached its zenith. but it has
climbed to superlative heights dur.
ing the last three years This ad
vance is traceable in the largest
measure to the development of the
lacquer finish. 1t is generally con.
ceded that no improvement in auto.
n olive products has been so quick
ITO catch the imagination Of the
motoring public.
And why not? Nothing registers
so rapidly and so definitely as a
visual impression. The motor car
owner has been impressed with the
beauty that the manufactures has
built into his product in design
/ as well as in finish. He Is anxious
TO preserve this beauty and seems
determined to do so.
This attitude on the part of the
public has piqued the interest Of
the manufacturer and spurred the
genius OF the automotive engineer.
Big Step forward
Here is a trend in car care that
they are anxious to foster and
further. When the automobile
maker finished his product in lac.
quer. he took a tremendous for.
ward stride in simplifying the task
OF maintaining the cars appear.
ance. lie gave the buyer a sur.
race that was infinitely nearer
Welher'proof than ever before.
RMS, Of course. was the first
and greatest step toward the per.
petually-clean-car era. The manu-.
Iacturer is not going to stop here.
Els engineers are busy with the
next and the next and the next
The engineer, al in every move
ne makes. is starting from the
SOUND premise that there aiways 4
room for Improvement. He con.
cedes by the very intensity with
which he tackles the various
phases OF simplified maintenance
that ne accepts no feature of tine
automobile as representing tile ulti.
mate In easiness to clean.
Engine, body. hood, top. wheels,
chassis, tenders and every other
part are coming in for study as he
begins to ferret out the difficulties
that confront the owner who dc.
termines to keep his car as spick
and span as 1t was on that day
when he happily and proudly drove
1t away from the salesroom.
Disc Wheels Easily Cleaned
1t is generally agreed hat the
parts of the car most susceptible 10
dirt and most difficult 10 clean, by
the same token, are the wheelS.
The engineer already has supplied
the answer here. He has produced
the disc wheel, which represents, il
not exactly. at least approximately,
the ultimate in it's availability to
the hose or the wash brush. Fur
thermore. the other Improvements
he has wrought in the modern auto
mobile have decidedly enhanced the
usefulness of this type of wheel.
The chief objection to the disc
wheel in the past was its tendency
to act as a sounding board for all
the noises which were developed in
the running gear of the car. The
cars running gear, along with other
parts, now has been silsnced, and
this objection has been met. Ac-
cordingly, there is a definite move.
ment in many parts of the industry
toward this type of wheel.
Balloon tires, for all of their
splendid utility and superiority over
the high-pressure cord, have con-
tributed a problem in car cleanii-
ness as they did in brake efficiency.
With their greater surface, they
naturally produced a greater splash.
Their first real deficiency IN this
respect was that they covered the
exposed brake with mud and water.
Brake shields were developed to
rectify this condition.
Body Given Study
This, however, did not solve the
problem of keeping the body clean.
1t did, on the other hand, give a
foretaste of what the engineer will
do in this respect. 1t indicated that
there would be change in tenders.
in their design or in their width,
of mud and water splaShed UP from
the wet roadway.
Tenders have another deficiency
that is being rectified rapidly.
Everyone has noticed that the part
of the car that accumulates most
dirt is the front of the rear fender.
The dirt comes frcm the rear tires
through the small aperture between
the mud guard and the eplash pan.
This aperture is passing out of the
picture as the engineer turns his
attention TO the question of cleanli-
ness,
Oiling and greasing have con.
tributed to the problem of keeping
the car glistening. The addition of
lubricant to the crankcase is a
particular offender against cleanli.