Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-16

- TRIkING individuality in car
design. as Washington's forth
coming automobile show will
~ demonstrate. is tolerated by
the American car purchasing public
only when it is progressive in its
manifestations. The show also will
reveal the results of the serious con-
sideratiOn which the automobile
manufacturers themselves have given
this point.
There will be certain changes
which some think should have been
made earlier. A number of manu-
facturers will reveal themselves as
following one trend. abandoning
their individual ideas merely because
they were relatively antiquated. But
while this is noted, thousands of
show spectators will observe individ-
ualism standing out cOnspicuously in
the design OF other cars, and also
will observe that this type of IN
dividualiSm is countenanced because
it offers distinct advantages.
Il &%
The show will reveal several new
. moves 10 four wheel brakes. One
manufacturer that will adopt the
modern hraking system has used a
unique braking arrangement of his
own for years. This older arrange
ment has advantages but, as it has
been pointed out, the advantages
possibly might have been combined
with four-wheel brakes TO develop
a nearly perfect braking system.
IndividusiSm in design is allowed
by the public when it does not bear
the earnlarks of reaction. The mo-
ment the manufacturer has to aban-
don good ideas in order to sell his
wares, the public becomes Skeptical
This was clearly illustrated in the
tapering off Of business done by a
company that was riding to the very
crest OF the industry in production
and sales
After some delay, this make of car
now offers more attractive bodies,
in additional color designs. and at the
auto show the engine will be revealed
fitted with an air cleaner and an oil
purifier.
Cars with cantilever springs still
can be sold successfully against
those with the semi-elliptic variety,
because the latter do not offer any
outstanding advantages. There are
points III favor of each.
The situation seems different with
brakes A driver would have to be
lnsensltive to car performance not
TO appreciate that under certain try
ing conditions two-wheei brakes are
not as efficient as the four wheel
type, or that mechanical brakes oc-
casionally are subject to marked
variations i'll adjustment.
X
In the matter of bodies, it is con-
coded that. under present manufac-
turing conditions. finer-looking bod
les can be made of wood but there
can be no denying the fact that all
cars now are travelling faster than
ever before and that collisions, when
they do occur, represent the impact
of greater force. If a steel body is
safer than a wooden one at normal
speeds, it follows that this is more
emphatically true at the higher
speeds at which all cars are moving.
Rather than ignore this truth. addi-
tional manufacturers will contribute
TO the steel BODY idea at the forth
coming show.
In many instances. the manufac-
turers appreciate that trends are in
evitable and that eventually they
must follow, but they are handi-
capped by the difficulties involved in
changing their plants and products
to the newer basis. There are just
as many other instances. however,
where the manufacturer and his en-
gineering staff are definitely reac-
tionary. That is where sales start
to decline and when business shifts
to more progressive competitors.
Great sales increases by manufac-
turers usually are attributed TO ag-
gressivenesS, but more and more it
is coming to be recognized that the
word should be "progressiveness."
Ignoring new truths has been the
downfall of many a car manufac-