The Washington times., 1929-01-26

impressive this point becomes.
Furtheflnsre: tlie motor enthusiast
who goes IN search OF detail would
dos wssis ID guard himself against
passing ap ere ears IN the lower
pgiee cla ssss On tnesassumption tiat
costing 50 littie. they can stand little
scrutiny IN The matter Of small fea-
tllres That might have been the
case at one time in automotiye his
tory. ItN is not now Regardless Of
the price shelf on which they rest
the 1929 cars invite and welcohle the
boldest OF glances. They revel in
It, as matter of fact.
just by way of Illustrating the
point with detail that is quite
likely to be missed. the show visi.
tor might have look at the way
bumpers are mounted. Not long
ago, il will be recalled, brackets
riyeted to tho frame sidewalks
took care OF the bumpers. This was
all right In its way, but the way
was rather crude
The New Way
In the general process Of dressing
up the car. the designer has dis
carded the old bracket and sup
planted it with special, well-de-
signed bumper pads on the front Of
the spring horns. An unimportant
detail? If so, why did so many car
makers change their plant equip.
nnent and their productive opera
tions to make it it,possible? No. il is
part Of the picture OF q Gar that is
racy and graceful
Just as housewives dislike the
idea of sweeping the dirt under the
bed, so have our ear designers come
to the conclusion that a graceless-
looking mechanical part sticking out
from under graceful fender de-
tracts from good appearance. Now
gasoline tanks are vital mechan-
ical part Their primary function
is one of utility 1t is hard to de-.
sign one that is beautiful. The car
maker has got around this problem
by designing the gasoline tank for
utility and designing a cover plate
for it that serves the end of beauty
All Have 1t Now
In the past this practice was con-
fined largely to the expensive ears.
Now, the little fellows--in price
have taken it up as their own.
The provision of a cover for the
gas tank, however, is only one Of
several steps in removing that
ragged. unfinished look from the
year. The spare tire. which never
in the world could be regarded as
a thing of beauty when attached
to the rear, has given way to
trunk as standard equipment on an
increasingly larger number of cars.
In all price classes it's the same.
The spare, fitted over a snappy
looking wire wheel, has found its
way forward to fender wells where
it looks better.
A glance will indicate that the
front end. likewise. has been inn
proved Slightly more than a glance.
however. will show the details that
have contributed to that improve
nlent in appearance. For one
thing. that hole that used to gapc
between the front ends of the
springs has been filled in with a
fiuted cover plate on many cars
For another--snlaIl but contribut.
ing to the overall appearanee-the
aperture through which the hand
crank is inserted ON those rare
occasions has been fitted with the
equivalent Of a nice looking trap
door No longer does it stand
there, an ugly yawning reminder Of
the fact that batteries sometimes
fail. Ono manufacturer even gees
so far in treating this part that
the cover for it can be used as
a spare gasoline tank cover sholld
the latter be lost.
Reform in Ventilation
The reform in closed car. ventiIa.
ton is not visible unless one has an
eye 10 detail Chiefly it is ex.
pressed in Hick-type ventilators in
the side of the 8coWI and down near
the toe e,board. Working In con-
junction with the Windshield. this
device should be especially success.
full in changing the air from bad
to good. One series of cars pro-
with slot In the glass Of the front
doors of the various. closed models.
An ingenious dataib and easy to
miss in a sweeping glance.
The name plate at the front Of
the radiator is disapp pearing rapidly
In its place one finds shield of
heraldic flavor. The practice of
carrying headlights on stanchions,
with a tie bar between, has resulted
in the relocation of the cars name.
In full, or in part it is carried
decorativciy on the light tie-bar.
The factor that contributes to
the impression that there is some
thing differ ent about tenders
amounts to no more than detail
They still are full crowned, perhaps
D bit wider, but the thing that
makes them look SO changed is that
the angle at which they sweep back
to the running boards is much
smaller. That severity Of appear
anca that formerly characterized all
tenders is being broken here and
there with the impression of a
slight bead. More detail
Radiator Treatment
There is a detail in connection
with the lcng, narrow radiator that
might escape attention unless it
gets more than a cursory glance.
1t is. namely, that in respect to
many cars it is obtained by at
taching a false bottom TO the radia-
tor. In others, however, the core
runs all the way to the bottom. IL
Is largely a question Of how much
cooling is needed. If a relatively
small amount, then the false bot
tom IS employed.
Hood l0uvers are a detail that
are bound 70 attract attention
Rural EIectrificatiOn
New HamDshire Plan