Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-05-11
IMPROVED DESIGNS
! SHOW AUTO TREND
Progress in Motor Cars to Be
Indicated by New Models
of Year.
Special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
DETROIT, Mich, May 10.--Wheeled
progress never stops. The engineers
who plan and design automobiles, the
research men who try them out ana
the production men who build them are
continually at work on the cars We will
be driving two, three and five years
from now. This year has brought to
America it's first l6-cylinder car, two
front-drive cars and large group OF
other cars that utilize four speed trans
missions instead OF the conventional
three.
What next? The answer will be
found in the improved designs that Will
be brought out between now and the
end of the year. The prevailing trend
in demand Is toward low-priced cars.
The statistics of last year show that the
models priced under 81 900 accounted
for more than 30 per cent of the indus
trys production. The price division
between $1,000 and $4,000 was credited
with approximately IA per cent of the
remainder. What was left was shared
by models listing from $4,000 to $4,000
and upward.
While official data is available yet
for this year, it is believed that the low
priced division has made a further adj
vance, anG that at present the proper
ton for the cars priced between $500
ana $500 Is between 70 and 30 per cent.
Up and Down Movement.
Scrutiny of the records of past years
disclosed an up and down movement of
buyer preference. In 1919 and 1920 the
makes in she 81 900 to $4,000 class had
their best years. They were 81 per
cent of all the cars built. For the next
three years they dropped off, and 1928
brought them down to IA per cent. or
virtually the same proportion as in 1929
From 1923 to 1927 the medium priced
cars forged ahead, again coming up to
rs per cent. The three-year period
from 1927 to the last year has put them
back to the IA per cent level.
The year to year fiuctuation ever
since 1916 has shown direct forward
and backward swings of the price pen
dulum. The next phase the automo-
bile manufacturers look for is an up
ward push for the medium and high
priced models. With 1t will come more
improvements in design and operation
that will make these cars more desir-
able for the man whose purse can afford
something more than a low-priced mo-
tor vehicle.
The ideas the engineers have worked
out for the future are numerous. They
include greater developmnt of the all
steel bodies, power-actuated clutches
and brakes, better carburetion that will
produce more power from a given guam
tity OF fuel, transmissions operated by
electricity and conservation of oil by
cooling through section of the
radiator.
An-Steel Body Trend.
The all-steel body trend is one that
Is being watched by engineers. On body
construction there are two schools of
opinion. One favors the all-Steel con-
struction in which wood parts are re-
duced to the minimum. Any wood that
is utilized is chiefly for the mounting
OF upholstery and trimming. The other
school favors the composite type of
body. consisting of a wood frame to
which metal stampings are attached.
The composite body depends for its
strength on the wooden structure I'M
DERIVING the shell.
Builders of the all-steel type hold
that the shell itself is the chief ele-
ment OF strength. Progress in all-steel
design has reduced the number of parts
required. At first from $50 to 500 parts
had TO be assembled into small units
which in turn were brought together in
larger units This was found to be too
expensive process. The production
men thereupon went to work with 1t,
ana succeeded in cutting down the as
sembly to four principal stampings-
two side panels, a rear panel and cowI.
They work on the theory that fever
joints make fewer squeaks. They claim
that the four main stampings, united
by modern welding processes, become
virtually one piece of metal.
BOlted on Directly.
Instead of mounting the body ON
WOOD sills attached to the frame. as in
the composite bodies, the all-steel plan
ID 70 bolt 1t direct to the frame. One
advantage claimed for this method is
tnat 1t makes a car from two to three
inches lower, to comply with style de-
mands. Another claim is made for
rlgidlty, which enables the shell to with
stand severe shock.
Proponents of the composite type. on
the other hand. say that the combina-
ton OF wood in the framework. with
steel for the shell, is strong enough for
all purposes, and at the same time
gives hexibility that is desirable. $3.50
A drawback IN certain all-steel types
mas been what the builders call
drumming" This is booming noise.
caused when the Car doors are Slammed
smut: It is being reduced, however, by
insulation involving the use of rubber
ana padding at certain points.
SCopyrigtt. $780, by North American News
paper Alliance)