Evening star., 1935-03-17
HELPFUL ADVICE
GIVEN FOR LADIES
Profitable to Know Reasons
for Pioneer Car Design
Features.
BY FREDERICK C. RUSSELL.

BY FREDERICK c. RUSSELL.
Accident statistics continue to re-
veal that each year motordom turns
out another bumper crop of drivers.
Women whose motoring experience
does not go back to the early days
would find 1t profitable to know some
thing Of the reason for the existence
of the pioneer features Of car design.
For instance, there was the method of
forcing fuel from the main tank to
the carburetor by means Of exhaust
pressure. Previously fuel had flowed
by gravity and in some cases by pres
sure created with hand pump. 1t
was a great day when the vacuum
tank came into universal use, but this
has been outmoded by the mechani-
cal fuel pump Equally as helpful in
gaining an idea of how things work
on a car is the story of the trans
mission, which, prior to 1910, was the
progressive" type. That is, to reach
high 1t vas necessary to shift through
low and second, while to get back to
reverse The driver had to shift through
second and low. When the industry
changed ever to the "selective" trans
mission the driver could shift into
any gear without first going into the
others.
Because so much emphasis is placed
on the Importance Of keeping the
shock absorbers well filled with fluid
at all times, many owners tend to un-
derestimate the importance Of having
the right kind of oil. Since the hy-
draulic controls of the springs are so
important in maintaining the cars
stability snd roadahility, particularly
at higher speeds, any fluid heavier
in viscosity than the manufacturer
recommends is unsafe as we'll as detri-
mental to tine functioning of the units
themselves.
don't suppose more than one mo-
torist out of thousand ever thinks
of the time of day, the time of year
or the weather as having any bearing
on the work she wants done on the
car, but these play an important part
in the way this work turns cut. 1t
is difficult, for instance, to check
car for timing, acceleration or brak-
| ing when the streets are in slippery
condition. An extremely cold day is
not a timely one for carburetor ad-
juStment, and rainy day is no time
to bring the car in for work on the
springs, shackles or steering assembly.
Several women readers have asked
what is the point in having two free
r,l,o thiS cement
is found on some cars. One control,
to clear up the mystery, operates the
clutch so that whenever the driver
lifts her foot from the accelerator the
clutch automatically disengages. This
also provides free wheeling but is used
primarily to eliminate effort in oper-
ating the clutch and in making it
possible to shift back and forth from
second to high without considering
the clutch. The other control oper-
ates a free-wheeling device In back OF
the transmission and works like the
coasting arrangement on a bicycle.
Whenever the driver desires to reduce
motor speed the car starts to coast.
If you don't happen to like the first
of a series of cars produced by your
favorite motor maker, try little pa
tience and 60 on the theory that the
assembly line may turn out something
more appealing later. Perhaps you
remember those ridiculous hats the
milliners unveiled last Fall and were
one OF those who had faith IN the
idea that better styles were JUST
around the corner. Usually the first
cars of the assembly lines carry con-
yentional colors and are fashioned IN
standard form. Later come the road
sters. de luxe models and more ap-
pealinp color combinations. 1t Is wise
policy about this time OF year, II you
haven't already purchased your new
car, to go back to automobile row
tor a review of the market. Pre-
views are often misleading and dis
appointing.
Just to be posted on what the men
folk talk about at the dinner table,
or TO get a little ahead OF them. l
points concerning the way cars are
driven and the way they are likely
to be driven a few years hence. For
some years it has been the policy OF
American car makers to put the motor
| in the front and transmit its power
to the rear wheels through long
drive shaft. Several years ago there
was considerable excitement over the
introduction of cars with the engine
driving the two front wheels. This
was a more efficient arrangement.
| but it involved many steering COM
plications, placed all the heat and
| noise ahead of the driver and gave
| him more to smash up in event of a
collision. So now there is genuine
interest in putting the engine at the
rear axle where the present drive
shaft can be done away with. Here
all the noise and heat is behind, and
some engineers believe the added
rear-end weight Is an advantage. II
you like to make predictions you Will
doubtless join the group Of prophets
who see the commodious baggage
compartment Of the new-type car as
| merely the beginning of the logical
space for the engine when it is trans
! ferred to the rear.