Evening star., 1933-04-09
FEMALE INFLUENCE |
SEEN IN NEW CARS|
Feminine Movement Held
Cause of Marked Mechan-
icaI Progress.

She wanted what she wanted when
she wanted it. And as a result every
one is enjoying the highest type of
motoring ever known in the history of
automotive transportation.
Milady has been debating the de-
sign of cars. The industry, ever ready
to expand its sales field, listened to
her suggestions and incorporated them
tern has been cut to feminine taste,
motordom discovers that the automo-
bile has never been more adaptable to
all needs--never more successfully flt-
ted to the transportation demands Of
today.
Predictions Wrong.
The feminine movement" in car de-
sign has turned out to be very differ
ent from predictions Wiseacres had
announced that If the automobile made
too strong an appeal to the ladies
it would become too fancy for general
use. There would be too many frills
and furbelows. Cars would lack rug
gedneSS. There would be an end to
mechanical Improvements and progress
merely in ornamentation. Just to shake
our confidence in such predictions, the
first thing the American woman mo-
torist did was to throw out the flower
vase. She could see nothing attractive
in useless ornament. Already she
had discarded dust-catchers in the
home and. she planned to carry the
idea into her daily motoring.
Instead of curbing mechanical i'm
provements, milady has furnished the
incentive for a remarkable production
of new ideas in the design and con-
struction of cars. Credit her with
such innovations as power braking, the
automatic clutch, synchromesh trans
missions, easy steering and the auto
matte choke. She asked merely for an
easier operating car and the industry
gave her vastly better car.
Ventilation Improved.
Because she has been active both as
an operator and a back-seat driver,
milady has repeatedly asked for bet
ter method of ventilating the closed
car. She saw no reason for drafts.
She knew that it was possible to have
proper ventilation in the home and
saw no reason why this should not be
duplicated in the home on wheels"
Nineteen thirty-three has brought the
no-draft ventilating system on num-
ber of cars.
It was a woman who, after period
of overlooking, filled up the air cleaner
with raw gasoline and started a fire
when the engine backfired. 1t was an
observing engineer who recognized that
this was milady's way OF getting around
to q request for better placement OF
the filter and something more modern
in the way Of choking. Today in
number of cars you can't overchoke.
All of us might still be running the
that something be done about the age
old ANNOYANCE of fussing with the choke
control.
Those who question the Importance
of the feminine contribution to motor
progress should remember that 1t was
the male conservative who fought to re-
tain the hand crank Many chauffeurs
continued to start their motors by hand
even after the self-starter had become
standard equipment. Starters were too
"lady-like." But the starter has won
out and today we have another feminine
DEVELOPMENT that promises to sweep the
industry. On some of the 1888 cars
you can crank merely by pressing on
the accelerator.
Result of Stalling.
Engineers noticed that when the
average woman stalled the motor she
first pressed on the accelerator. Obtain
ing no action she then went through
the conventional business OF pressing
on the starter button. Engineers frst
moved the button to the instrument
panel so that milady would not need to
scuf her shoes when she wanted to put
the motor into action, but that involved
another movement. Why not just take
advantage of her suggestion and com
bine the starter button with the accele-
rator pedal? Why not press on the &C
celerator when the motor stalls and
needs recranking?
The trend in gear shifting has been
based on feminine demands. Today
many a man is entirely satisfied crash
ing through the gears and bungling
along in the same old way. Milady
would have none of it. One Of the car
makers introduced the synchromesh
transmission in order to win favor with
women buyers The idea appealed in
stantly. AS quickly as other makers
could adopt the plan they equipped their
cars with fool-proof shifting. This led
to the idea of vacuum control OF the
clutch pedal and vacuum boosting OF
the brakes. 1t has gone even further.
This year on one car the foot pedal Is
merely a treadle that brings a me
chanical foot" into action.
Motordom takes its hat off to milady.
She might have done queer things to
the automobile had she asked that 1t be
made merely "her" car. But she took
more progressive slant. She asked the
engineers to make 1t everybody's car.
For the first time in history the car
makers forged ahead by being "yes"
men.