The Washington times., 1929-04-17

rounding the announcement OF the
| new Viking Is that 1t brings for the
| first time to the medium priced field
the compact, sturdy 90-degree v.
type eight.cylinder engine-for 1t is
with this type engine the Viking Is
powered.
In body styling, the new. Viking
also presents leader. Handsome,
roomy bodies have been designed
by Fisher for the 125.ineh chassis.
The appearance of the bodies is dis
tinctiye without being radical and
| achieve beauty and elegance through
| the use OF simple lines. The in
teriors and appointments are lux
urious. From bumper to bumper
the Viking is an automotive aristo-
crat.
Price Sensational
With these characteristics Of ex-
pensive automobiles, the price OF
| the new Viking is as sensational
as are it's advanced engineering de-
sign and its distinctive appearance.
The price will be $1,595 I. o. b.
Lansing for the three standard body
types. These are the five.passenger
four-door sedan, close-coupled five
passenger sedan and a convertible
coupe for four passengers.
Even more than the ordinary in
| terest attached to new car Is GEN.
tered in the showing of the Viking
due to it's being the latest member
of the General Motors family. 1t
| Is the first new automobile intro
| duced by General Motors In more
than two and one-half years. The
last newcomer previous to the Vik-
| ing was the LaSalle, which is also
powered by a 90-degEee V-type eight.
| cylinder motor.
Three years ago Oldsmobile and
General Motors sensed a coming de-
mand for a medium priced eight
cylinder automobile. The engineers
literally started from scratch and
studied the relative merits Of all
types of eight cylinder car design.
Fleets OF all these types Of eight
cylinder automobiles-each one fun
damentally different from the others
were built and put to. work on the
General Motors proving grounds to
show their capabilities. All were
| operated under the; same identical
conditions, and results tabulated, one
against the other.
Tested for Months
For months all Of these cars were
subjected to racking strains and pro-
| longed road work at the proving
| grounds and in the test laboratories.
Summer and winter these fleets
were driven at all speed ranges
over every type of road, up and
down grades and daily records Of
their. performance and stamina were
| tabulated.
One by one different types were
eliminated. Finally the prolonged
and grueling tests conclusively
proved one Of these fleets of cars
to be superior to all others. But
content. They desired conclusive
proof that this automobile was the
best of it's kind that Is possible to
build today.
So an even larger fleet Of the win
ming type was again put over the
| proving grounds to demonstrate be.
yond question of doubt that this
| type automobile was worthy Of TAX
ing it's place among General Motors
cars and bearing the name Viking.
! For centuries the name Viking
has been. synonymous with strength
and stamina, due to the brave and
! daring exploits of those Mortimer.
! From infancy the Viking youth was
| given Spartan like training and only
those who qualified were permitted
| tn ontHr tha ViLinp ranks
Similarly the winning" design was
made to pass the most gruelling
test before it became standard
bearer Of the illustrious name of
Viking.
This final test to determine the
best resulted in decided victory
for the compensated, 9Qrdegree, V.
type eight-cylinder Viking. And
these final tests were most
thorough, including in addition to
all the tests that could be devised
at the proving ground and in the
laboratories, speed drives across the
continent, over mountains and
through deserts.
Has All Advantages
Results obtained proved that the
Viking engine embodied all of the
advantages gained by multiple
| providing new characteristics and
ness, quietness, and long life
Furthermore, 1t introduces a high
degree Of simplicity in this type
of design.
The Viking engine has q bore OF
3ss inches and a stroke of 3h
inches. 1t generates 81 horse
power at 5000 rpm. Pistons are
of light cast iron az inches deep
They have two compression rings
and one oil ring, all located above
the piston pin to provide efficient
fabrication to the cylinder walls
Piston pins are 8 lis inches long
and are locked in the piston.
The cylinder block and crank
ease are cast integral in one unit
This is the first time a one-piece
block has been used on a V-type
eight-cylinder engine and it has
made possible many of the new de-
sign features to be found in the
Viking. These include rigidity, ac,
feasibility. a new and highly eff
fieient valve arrangement and i'm.
proved cooling and fabrication.
Being cast in one piece, 1t has beer
possible to incorporate in the block
strong cross braces and ribbins
which increase it's rigidity and form
a solid foundation for the large over
size crankshaft bearings, which con
tribute to the running balance and
smoothness of the engine.
Efficient Cooling
The design also makes possible an
exceptionally efficient cooling sys
TEN. The cylinder walls are en-,
tirely surrounded by water passages
as are the valves, valve stem guides