Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-19


depressed and details generally Smoothed
out. Popular appeal brought about the
change when the word went around that
this car looked like hearse on wheels.
Another car that had fallen behind
the procession of body change and had
had its own distinguishing marks for
years finally drew near the point where
its makers realized it was slipping, in
so far as body design was concerned.
So the hood was heightened, windows
were widened. the rear quarters were
rounded off and the entire appearance
was changed to meet modern style. The
result is said to have been a financial
success.
In the face of the whole trend, how
ever, there appears no justification for
the belief that body changes are being
speeded up to the point where the
familiar lines of the better known makes
will be forgotten. Points which seem to
have been lost reappear from time to
time in so-called design cycles" There
is no denying the fact that striking
points of similarity Of design appear in
the 1880 cars with their predecessors Of
a decade ago, even though illusions of
newness have been created by use of
lowers, belt lines and other ingenious
tricks Of the designer.
A year and more ago certain manu-
facturerS made 1t plain that they had
gone into history for the motivating in
fiuences behind the hardware used on
their cars. That trend now has spread
to instrument panels, door handles, hub
caps, interior fitments and even to
bumpers. If futuristic color designs
conflict in interior decorative scheme
mobile designer has made his decora-
tive scheme as applied to hardware one
of uniformity.
Give Impression Of Length.
SO far has the long and racy-looking
type of body design gone that propa-
ganda has had its part in education Of
the public mind that this appearance
Of automobile-and this alone-meets
modern demand. The car of 1924 was
streamlined, theoretically to cut down
wind resistance, but it was found that
streamlining also cut down the appear
ance Of length and lowness. An eye
going over the entire silhouette from
front bumper to tail light received the
impression of squattineSs and stubbi-
ness. So the manufacturers introduced
such matters as windshield frame con-
tours, nickeled lines where hood meets
frame, and other interruptions to the
sweep of the eye to give the impression
Of length.
But they didn't stop there. They
found that tires mounted in fender
wells, instead Of increasing the stubby
appearance, gave an illusion of rakish-
ness; that cowl light lifted out from
the body aided that appearance, and
that by focusing attention on doors and
windows the stubby illusion might be
successfully combatted So in the
newer car, the sweeping eye paused
moment to study the detail of door and
fender well, window treatment and rear
quarter treatment, and although the
car as whole might be the same stubby
affair 1t was before, the impression of
length would be created.
This year we see in the new cars the
old idea Of a Slanting windshield fea-
tured. Many of the newer cars make
a special point of the slanting wind
shield. featuring its non-glare principle.
Yet the idea Is an old one, and had
been in use for many years prior to its
definite abandonment as a principle
about five years ago. However, it now
Is used in conjunction with perfection
of design in side windshield posts, and
has been an improvement in preventing
glare and ruling out the blind spot"
where windshield meets window post.
Many Changes Are Experiments.
Some of the body changes can be
claSsed as experiments. Among these
are the transfer of the cowl light to
other places on the car, notably on the
front tenders. On one make they are
mounted on the front body posts, while
others have them on the tenders. I'm
usual treatment of fittings seems to
have reached the stage where further
developments in this field may be an
ticipated.
The entire trend probably is more to-
ward scientific placement of lights than
any idea of a novel way of mounting
them to achieve effect. And the question
might properly be asked as to whether
cars are not getting so low to the road
that proper illumination cannot be given
unless they are mounted in tenders or
some high point on the buzz-buggy.
Some engineers hold to the belief that
wide lighting from ditch to ditch of
the road is an essential of careful night
driving Mounting of the lights on the
tenders may be concession to them
but so far the big lamps themselves
have not moved up on the tenders,
with the exception Of one we'll known
and high priced make of car, which has
had this method of mounting as stand
ard practice for many years.
Wheels also probably will stay small
contributing further to the low and
long physical measurements of the auto
mobiles of today and the future. The
trend today is toward smaller wheels
and tires bigger in their diameter
measurement. This makes for smaller
wheels and is said to promote easier
riding and better control at speed. The
belt line is here to stay, apparently, If
the cars in the New York show may be
judged as the basis of advanced de-
sign. Obviously the belt line is good
because 1t creates an interruption in
the sweep of the eye from top to bot
tom, and added to the convex type of
roof, gives again the impression Of low
ness and length. At least two cars have
carried the body panels so low that
they have been able to do away with
Official Service
~ @