The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1960-09-09
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Remember 1850?

1 4UOOs
That was the year U. S. auto
production reached record-bustin'
peak of sc million units.
And now remember how those
1860 models looked They were
then the very latest things on
wheels. 1t seemed hard to believe
that automobile engineering and
styling could progress much fur
Their.
But in the decade that followed,
automotive designers and engi-
neers had lot of ideas and a lot
of work to do. They made the
"fifties" stand out as one of the
greatest decades of automotive
progress.
AS good as the 1850 models were
and there are still about four
million serving their owners-the
contrast between them and the
"60s" attests to the progress that
has been made in jus. one decade.
BY comparison, the Cos are low
to the ground and hug the road.
They have greater stability,
smoother ride, more responsive
controls, higher performance and
efficiency, better all around quality
and dependability.
Such improvements resulte d
from continuous research, new
engineering concepts and manu-
featuring techniques, scientific
testing procedures and ingenious
quality control measures.
Here, highlighted, are some of
the more significant automotive
engineering and safety advances of
the decade:
Improved engines. Better per-
forming, more efficient, quieter,
longer wearing engines resulted
from long list of engineering adj
vances during the decade, such as
higher compression ratios, shorter
stroke and bore, greater torque at
lower engine speeds, more efficient
carburetion and ignition, AMI bet
ter valving, plus greater precision
in engine manufacture.
Better seeing for the driver. In
creasing glass areas, front, back
and sides; lowered hood lines; i'm
proved seat positioning; better
headlights; wider, more adjustable
rear view mirrors; improved wind
shield wipers, washers and de-
frosters.
More responsive, easier to op-
crate drive controls. Power steer
ing and braking, with many re-
finements, and improved automatic
transmissions grew increasingly
popular during the decade.
Improved ride. 1t was decade
of many new developments and ex-
periments in suspension systems.
Torsion bar ard air springing were
introduced on some makes and in
combination with coil and leaf
springs. New types of shock alb
sorbers were developed. Improve
ments in car balance and tires also
contributed much to the decades
great progress in riding smooth
ness and stability.
Passenger protection and COM
fort. An assortment of develop
ments in this category came along
during the decade. They included
greater vehicle stability and resist
ance to Follower, safety door locks,
dash padding, dished steering wheel
design, control knobs, improved
heating and air conditioning, heat
absorbing glass and adjustable
seats.
Miscellaneous safety features. In
addition to general improvement in
car lighting and crash injury pro-
lection, a number of other features
concerned with safety were intro
duced. These included such things
as new types of automatic head
light dinners, automatically adj
justing rear view mirrors, accele-
rator controls for turnpike cruis-
ing, speed warning signals, etc. Of
special significance was the adop-
ton of turn signals as factory in
stalled equipment on all cars. An
i m portant recent engineering
achievement was the non-slip diff
ferential that maintains equal
power in both driving wheels.
Economy. AS the decade drew to
a close, many important steps
toward greater car operating econ
omy We're being made by the in
dustry. Weight was removed
wherever possible, through more
efficient design or by substitution
of lighter weight materials. And,
of course, in the fall of 1859 three
new engineering and design ideas.
If you're inclined to risk your
life, please don't include your kids
and wife.
Do you really want to prevent
traffic accidents, and if so, how
much are you willing to do?
Are you willing to believe that
oil tra fife laws annly to VOu2