Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-01-06

The Grapes were lifted at Grand Gen.
trail Palace IN New York yesterday and
the products of American automobile
manufacturers for 1929 presented to the
public.
Color blazed out with grays and tans.
blues and yellows and any number OF
individual and exclusive hues in be-
tween.
Outstanding in the offerings are re-
finements of design and improvements
In operation. Manufacturers apparent
ly have gone the limit in an attempt
to meet the publicS constant demand
for finer automobiles-cars that oper-
ate with the least difficulty and effort.
Lines of bodies as whole have been
subdued, and there has been con-
scious effort of designers to appeal to
the esthetic sense of the Nation.
One of the outstanding features Is
that no radical innovations have been
introduced. Rather the products Of
fered seem to be elimination OF the
best features that have been brought
forward in recent months and the
building of them into practical cars.
Ford Again Is Absent.
More than 40 manufacturers are ex-
nibiting, Ford, as usual, being absent,
holding his own display In his dis
tributors' and dealers Showrooms. Three
hundred models are being displayed.
Each year it is generally predicted
that the following months viii see the
greatest competition the industry has
ever known. This always materializes,
because the automobile industry is
basically competitive one.
From the cars on display at the
show, however, every indication is that
1929 will witness competition OF
values rather than that of prices. Man
ufacturers are pretty well agreed that
automobile prices are at rock bottom
and the battle for preference now lies
in giving the public more automoplie
| for the same dollar.
Many of the cars on display already
| have been announced to the public In
| the last two or three weeks. In the
| low-priced field Whippet and Chevrolet
Essex and Durant have made known
| their offerings. In the near $1,000
class Auburn announced its new SIX
and Oakland gave out the details OF Its
All-American.
One of the striking features of the
show are the men who are building
| the cars and who control the destinies
of the industry.
Most of these industrial giants are
| gray. Yet to a man each retains the
mien of the successful pioneer, the mar
who has helped build great industry
from nothing and has been rewarded
| for his efforts.
Walter Chrysler, John WHY'S, Charles
| Nash, William G. Durant, Albert r
| Erskine-these men and others who
struggled in the early days of the in
| dustry have written their names for
| all time on the records of the worlds
greatest industrial progress.
Youth Represented. Too.
But youth Is there, too with the same
| fire and spirit of accomplishment OF
| these Older pioneers. Outstanding
among the younger men Is E. L. Cord
president of Auburn. the embodiment
| of the fighting pioneer. Cord, slightly
over 80, represents the younger genera
ton, with its restless, relentlessly driv-
| ing force, willing to dare and do the
| impossible and set new standards fol-
achievements.
The first day of the show is given
| over mostly to manufacturers looking to
see what the other fellow Is offering.
After that comes intensive work lining
UP distributors and dealers.
The crowds will start coming tomor-
row, and every indication is that new
records for attendance will be set. Like
most big shows in New York, high
percentage of SightSeerS are made up OF
| visitors from all over the country, spe-
cial sections having been added to all
| through trains to take care of the extra
traffic.