Evening star., 1934-01-28
REQ

KeO
Distinguished by reason Of its offer
ing the only American make Of car
without q gear-shift lever, REQ steps
into 1884 with story Of progress ap-
pealing to every one who drives. The
simplicity Of the REQ arrangement is
made possible by the self f-shifter trans
mission, the result Of years Of research
by Rio engineers under the leadership
of H. T. Thomas. Even before this
transmission received the approval of
the public 1t had been tried out ex-
perimentally for two years.
The self-shifter Is standard equip
ment on the streamlined Reo-Royales,
while it is available at slight extra
cost on the popularity priced Flying
Cloud. With this device the average
driver is able to drive like an expert,
so far as gear shifting and synchroniz-
ing motor speed are concerned.
To operate the gearless car the driver
merely starts the engine, presses the
clutch pedal to the floor and sets the
selector handle in the driving position
This handle is located on the dash
and. except when the car must be
placed in neutral or reverse, need not
be touched. Getting into motion is then
simply matter of feeding gas and
engaging the clutch. The car starts
OF smoothly and surely in the lower
OF its two normally used speeds. When
the car reaches speed Of around II
to IA miles per hour the transmission
automatically shifts itself.
Should car speed fall too low for
practical operation in high gear the
shift to the lower gear is made auto
matically. For negotiating very steep
upgrades or for exceptional control on
very steep downgrade there is an
extra lower gear which can be used
In the conventional way 1t operates
by another movement of the selector
handle.
REQ for 1884 offers many other fea-
lures which are apt to be eclipsed by
reason OF the interest centered In the
self-shifter. All cars In the line are
fast, durable and attractive.
Stlldebaker
With prices starting at s665, Stude-
baker offers a wide assortment of sky
way" cars for 1884, ranging from the
Dictator six to the Commander and
President eights. Five body types are
available in each group. Revealed for
the first time at the show in the new
four-door addition to the President
chassis. known as the "land cruiser"
1t features rear deck streamlined to
the point where it reduces to q mini
mum the vacuum created at the rear of
the conventionally designed car.
The new land cruiser" model in the
Studebaker line is powered by a 11O-
horsepower motor, as are the other
models Of the President group While
1t is flve-passenger job the arrange
ment Is different. three sitting on the
front, while two sit at the rear. The
rear deck design permits carrying an
unusual amount of luggage. There is
also removable panel, which cuts
down wind resistance when it fits into
the back tenders
All Studebaker closed models for 1884
carry the new six-point ventilation sys-
tenn, so-called because by different
combinations of the windows and other
ventilators it is possible to air-condition
the interior of the car in six different
ways. This includes effects obtained
with the adjustable windshields, which
are OF safety glass. Studebaker win
dows lower complete into the doors, the
ventilating effect being obtained chiefly