FRONT WHEEL DRIVE.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 292, 10 December 1929, Page 20

FRONT WHEEL DRIVE.

AMERICA'S BID. STRAIGHT EIGHT AND 125 H.P. WILL BE IN AUCKLAND SOON. After three years' intensive experimenting by leading < engineers, America has produced a front wheel .drive motor car, to be known as;,the Cord/ This fact; was learned ■from Mr. Leon Harris, factory representative of the Auburn Automobile Company, who is at present visiting Auckland; • "Up' to the present, the front wheel drive has been possible only in very expensive racing cars," said Mr. Harris., : "At last the Auburn Company has found it possible to place a front wheel drive car on the American market.' Its success has been remarkable throughout the world, and the Cord plant is working round the clock to fulfil orders.- At present the' firm is producing 2000 cars a, month, and next month production will be increased."

In America the new Cord front wheel drive sells at 3500 dollars. It is being built in a special plant. Many orders have been received from Australia and N r ew Zealand for the new creation, and it is expected' that Cords, with right hand drive, will soon be seen on the Auckland streets. The car has a straight eight engine, 125 h.p. The body is only sft lin high, but it ,has still got the standard clearance. ' •'.' I Mr. Harris maintains that the front wheel drive has come to stay for highclass cars. Ho says there are certain definite advantages over the orthodox system of driving through the back axle. With.a.rear drive car, he said, the motor is in front, but propelling power is transmitted to the rear axle where it is applied. This means that the horsepower pushes the car from the rear. With the front wheel drive, the horsepower pulls the car because the power is applied to the front wheel. "The grouping of all the mechanism in front allows a straight chassis frame and a. very low bddy without sacrificing headroom," continued Mr. Harris. This revolutionary change naturally-produced a different from that of the carl'with ordinary transmission. The car sticks to the ground, and there is littlachahce'iof skidding." Recently the.f Auburn Company took over theriollowing plants: Connersville, the f anions Duesenberg, Lycoming Engine Company (one of the largest in j the world), the Spencer Heating Company, the Limousine Body Company ait Auburn bodies are made), and the Columbia Axle Company. The various units .were incorporated under the Cord Company with a capital of 145,000,000 dollars. » : On the Race Track. "Over: iii Australia, a stock model Auburn speedster won the Perth Centenary champ 1 ioriship on Lake Perkololli," said Mr. Harris.. "The time was 13.36 4-5 for 20. miles, and at one stage the winning car touched 101 miles an hour, but owing to the construction of the track it was impossible to maintain that speed. The machine had been taken out of the showroom only ten days before the race. Eric Armstrong was the driver;" < Mr. Harris will be in Auckland for about three weeks, and will then go South. The territory he covers as Australasian factory representative is larger than the United States of America itself. Last year he travelled 42,000 miles, and this year he will exceed that distance.