Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-05-17
special pispatch 70 rhe star.


DETROIT. Mich. May 16.-Automo-
bile manufacturing this year viii derive
more benefit than ever before from
automobile racing This Is the belief
of Fred s. Duesenberg. himself an auto
mobile manufacturer, designer of racing
cars and pioneer of such automotive
advances as the straight eight engine,
| four wheel brakes and balloon tires.
which, with other improvements under
went initial development through racing
practice.
His observation Is prompted by the
fact that the 10 odd cars entered for
the Indianapolis race two weeks hence
are coming from all parts of the United
States. The Detroit section. Society of
AutomottVe Engineers, brought Mr..
DuesenbeTg here from Indianapolis this
| week to give talk on the racers Of
1881.
The veteran engineer speaks whereof
he knows because cars of this design and
named for him won the speedway con-
tests OF 1924, 1925 and 1927, and have
been among the contenders ever since
1914.
In 1927, the American Automobile
Association honored him with a bronze
tablet in recognition of the part he has
| played in inventing and perfecting
automotive improvements.
Before the Detroit group. Mr. Duesen-
berg talked from data on the 1891 cars
compiled by himself and Harold
Blanchard, chairman of the A. A. A..
Technical Committee. At the outset.
| he explained that the rules OF 1881 re-
quire the two-man cars to weigh RI
less than ~ pounds per cubic inch of
| cylinder displacement with q minimum
weight Of 1,750 pounds.
This means that car with 100 cubic
/ inches of~combustion space viii be re-
| quired to carry 17I2 pounds per cubic
inch, which car that has, for instance.
233 cubic inches may weigh only 1750
pounds and still meet the rules.
For this reason certain cars with
| power plants of small displacement
may be required to add poundage in
the form of lead plates as jockeys do
under the handicapping system used
in horse racing.
Largest Displacement.
From Mr. Duesenbergs data 1t APP
pears that the largest displacement Of
any car entered Is that of a 'front.'
drive Coleman entered by the Coleman
Motor Corporation. It has an eight
cylinder engine with 364 cubic inches
OF combustion space, which is inches
under the limit The maximum al
lowed by rules is 366 inches. and this
car must weigh 2,730 pounds to qualify.
By official count there appear to be
8 front-drive cars among the entries,
the emain6er-Some IS in aii-being
rear drive.
1T was expected" Mr.. Duesenberg
said. that 1881 would see a larger
number Of front drives on account of
last years race being won by a 'front.'
drive car (the Hartz)-Miller with
Arnold up-and because it had SO
little competition from the rear-drive
entries.
TT is an acknowledged fact that
front drives have to be well engineered
in order to have reasonable oppur-
tunfty to win. When this type of car
is correctly built. it has quite some
advantages on the Indianapolis track,
where normally I1eny of the cars have
to slow up going round the turns,
while the front drives are capable Of
taking the turns faster
Another new phase Of 1891 racing that
Mr.. Duesenberg disclosed Is the pres
ence among the entries of three or
more independently sprung rear-wheel
cars. Little information on them is
available. Two of them, however. are
entered by F. @. Clemens of Indian
apolis.
The Cummins-Dies oil burner. sole
entry of this type, has four cylinders
! and 361ls inches of 6isola cement, The
axles and frame are of Duescnherg con-
struct on and the CT weighs $3.50
pounds. This is t.1c same car that
made 101 miles an hour at Daytona
Beach.
In grouping them, Mr. Duesenberg
divided the 70-odd entries into four
classes.
The first is professional class TAX
ing in cars that have been built as
purely racing machines under the rules
calling for two men instead of only one
driver in car. In this class, come IA
cars with average piston displacement
CT 242 cubic inches. Five of this group
have 16-cylinder engines, six of them
eight cylinders, one of them six
cylinders and there are two fours.
Comprising Second Group.
A second group comprises one-man
cars revamped to carry two men. There
are % of them in all, mostly of the
midget" class operated on the speed
way for several years prior to 1890. In
displacement, they average 159 cubic
inches
A third and the largest, class, is
composed of revamped stock cars, with
"a entries averaging 274 inches dis
placement.
The fourth class is Diesel with the
Cummins car as the lone entry.
Among the sixteenS will be two of
new engine construction for Indian
apolis. They are owned by Cliff Durant
One will be driven by him and the
ether by Leon Duray. holder Of the
single lap record on the speedway of
I240l miles an hour. The engines in
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