Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1956-01-08

brake drums In order to prevent
fade and warpage. Cooling fin
for drums are a sample.
Safety Stressed
To emphasize the point thai
you can travel better by car
every effort has been made to
stress safety. Ford. Mercury
Lincoln and Continental use q
semifiexible steering wheel so al
to take us considerable shock
should the driver be forced
against 1t by reason Of impact
Their padded instrument panel
lis another safeguard.
A number of cars this year
have special safety latches to
lessen the risk of doors springing
open in event of a collision.
Cadillac this year reminds us that
half its power is for safety.
Some of the most significant
safety features are. however
not Immediately apparent. Those
headlights on Chevrolet are a
case in point, being precision
aimed with special equipment.
All DeSoto models this year
have center plane" brakes
which provide Is per cent more
braking surface with IS per cent
less effort, whether the car is
manually Or power braked.
Most Of the 1856 offerings
have wlpers which sweep around
the corners" of the panoramic
windshields. Defrosters now do
better job of removing fog
from the windshield sides.
Dodge is among those cars
equipped with an extra wide
brake pedal so that the operator
can give his left foot some work
to do on long trips.
Seat belts for both front and
rear seats are optional equip
ment on number Of cars.
Chevrolet offering belts which
also include shoulder harness.
Travellers will certainly welcome
Bucks new foot-operated tire
jack with jacking points clearly
designated so as to take the
guesswork out of an old chore.
An air-suspended power brak-
Ing system is offered on Ply
mouth. This makes use of q
separate vacuum reservoir and
a bellows normally filled with
air at atmospheric pressure. The
bellows collapse when air is ex-
hausted, thus producing the
power assistance to actuate the
brake master cylinder. 1t isn't
necessary to compress the bel
lows to transfer pedal pressure
to the hydraulic braking system
should the power assistance fail.
Improved Steering
Improvements in the Saginaw
steering system are typified on
Pontiac along with Oldsmobile,
Cadillac. Eldorado and Buick.
This is the lin line" safety power
steering gear in which we find
the ball nut inside the power
piston.
1t offers markedly from pre-
vious design since the steering
shaft, worn and ball nut. power
piston and rack and power cy-
Under are all in line. This pro-
vides a combination of the feel"
of manual steering with the ease
of power assistance.
Some of the General Motors
models also have a flexible cou-
ping between the steering gear
and the steering shaft to increase
safety and smoothness of opera
ton, at the same time damping
out road shock and vibration.
Contributing to the pleasure
of motor travelling IL the Delco
signal-seeking radio used on q
of the 1856 cars. With
this the tourist always picks up
the station with the strongest
signal first, regardless OF where
he may be. Pontiac uses three
speakers-two in the rear and
one in the instrument panel.
While there has not been any
rush to re-design the rear axle
and spring suspension 1t is in
teresting to note that Chrysler
and Imperial feature a rear axle
control strut. This is, in reality.
an arm to help take driving
torque. With $50 horsepower In
the New Yorker and Imperial
there is less tendency for the
A. g,-.S-~L ,,vHD 90 thA