BODY DESIGN.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19669, 12 July 1929, Page 6

BODY DESIGN.

an unfinished business.

AMERICAN" WRITER'S VIEWS.

Unfinished business! What a lot of it body designers and builders in the motor-car field seem to have (savs a writer ot oris n d J^ ,

The though u is the more surprising because it conies when everyone thought the zenith had been reached; that there was very little more to be done to improve silence, durability, beauty of line, comfort, and other characteristics which bodies are supposed to have. But thenj no illusion lasts long when it it related to motor-cars. The one about body perfection may as well join its departed comrades. While the designers of bodies and their severest critics —those who design other parts of the car—are getting wore and more outspoken about deficiencies that the car buyer does not know exist, all have to admit that bodie» are better than they used to be. Because, however, they want to be able to say the same thing next year and the year after, they are looking about for new worlds to conquer. Every once in a while the quest leads to an anomaly. An illustration is the thought that the all-steel body, which has been heralded chiefly for its safety, may yet achieve greater popularity for its silence. Wouldn't that be strange after all this concentration upon one single —and debatable —characteristic of this type of construction? It might be stranger still if, after the last and most optimistic prophet had admitted himself wrong, the fabric body were to come into a degree of use in England comparable to that in England and France.

When several years ago motor-car makers began assiduously to pursue beauty, eye-appeal, or whatever it may be called, they started to make the car buyer body-conscious. He has gone on getting more and more acutely conscious about bodies with the result that, not knowing precisely what he wants, he looks p'eadingly at the designer for a general "more." "More" may mean more beauty, silence, comfort, or one or all of several other things. Generally, it does. Quest of More Beauty. In which direction, then, will the body designer turn in quesc of more beauty? If the prophet does not have too great a "specificity-complex" he will not get himself into trouble by declaiming a bit on this point, many designers say There is always the past from which to view the future. Looking at the subject from this perspective, it may not be amiss to assume that to a limited degree, the custom body of to-day will become the standard body of to-morrow. It has done so in the past to some extent. If that is the case again, one of the latest custom creations from a group of designers who have an excellent reputation indicates that something akin t-> Sir Henry Segrave's Golden Arrow may come soon in the realm of sport roadsters. More precisely, the design just offered on the custom market is termed a "saddle type" because the curve of the doors and the total effect look much like a saddle.

The most unusual feature about this design is the front end. Instead of a sharp, straight line marking the radiator shell, the hood (ouver panel is carried forward in a gentle curve that parallels the tip of the fender. From a side view, the front appearance is much the same as that of the "fish-tailed" rear deck of to-day'a snappiest roadsters. As a matter of fact, save for the location of the windshield, it is conceivable that one might have difficulty in telling which was the front and which the rear of the car.

The design, needless to say, is striking. Certainly, it meets that desirable feature of a long-appearing hood without actually making it longer. To some, this particular body type represents a definitely progressive step in the use of curves which the ancient Greeks rightly proclaimed the easiest things to look at. Almost any 1929 model upon which one casts an eye will show that motor-car designers have chosen to accept the ancient Greeks' word for it Exterior Design. There are several other aspects of this design which are interesting. One of note is that it substantiates the point about which designers long have waxed vehement; that they would have to design every single exterior feature of the car to make it truly beautiful. Obviously, the exterior of this model is the sole work of the body engineer. The chassis boys had nothing to say about it.

This, of course, is not the only custom job that illustrates the point that the exterior designed as a unit beats the exterior designed as several units Jby different parts of the car making organisation. All of them do. It is more or less natural, of course, since all the custom body builder does is build customs bodies. He has to make them fit the chassis, that is true, but from the radiator shell backward and not from the cowl.

Another respect in which the custom body is regarded as better conforming to a basis requirement to-day is thai it permits of greater fender clearance with resultant greater silence. The fender that is too close to the wheel, some engineers insist, is accountable for a lot of the rumbling that many thought disappeared when a soft sound-absorbing member was inserted in the closed car top. So, if the custom body can be taken as a criterion, it looks as if beauty in the future would be the product of an over-all design that employs many more and more harmonious curves and achieves a better streamline. Hand in hand with this new beauty will come a degree of silence that will make to-day's silent cars sound comparatively raucous. At least, that if the kind of silence that the designer anticipates. Futhermore, he insists that one of its most impressive virtues will be it permanence which is an implication that his present creations have some shortcomings in the lasting quality of their noiselessness.

Just at present, with composite bodyconstruction predominant, body builders are pursuing paths that indicate a difference of opinion over what method best achieves silence. For instance, at points where looseness and weaving or rubbing are likely to de\"elop, some use ' rubber inserts. Others use felt. Still I others are experimenting with a gummy i solution. Each, to hear its case sfated by I proponents and opponents, has its virtues and its faults. The gum is fine so long as it remains plastic, apparently. So is the felt until it becomes wet, pressed out of shape,, and hardened. The same, seemingly, goes for rubber. When it comes to silence, that some should cast an eye upon the fabric body is not unusual. This construction which was adopted in Europe several years •jcro is remarkably silent and, contrary to a n impression held in England remarkably durable. When it made its first appearance abroad, it was generally predicted that American car builders' would adopt it. Very few, however, even gave it a trial, and those who did were quick to discard it. limitation of Fabric Body. However, it may come back. In motor coach construction, where weight per seat is a big consideration, some think this tvne of body might fill the bill that designers are having a hard J

time filling otherwise. A fabric-body coach, one well-known designer declares, would weigh about two-thirds as much as one carrying a superstructure of any other material.

Those who advocate the fabric body for this particular service think that if it got a foothold in this quarter, it might later invade the passenger car field. There exists, however, one limitation

that even friends of the fabric body admit must be overcome if it is to attain popularity; namely, that it does not hold a finish as well as the public might insist. On the- metal body, the colour is built up in a straight line from the raw metal, and if the outer surface wears, the coat beneath takes its place very well. It is different in the case of the fabric bod v.

Another body material that gets consideration from the viewpoint of light weight is aluminium. It, too, is being considered chiefly in connexion with motor coach bodies, but that is not altogether ignored by passenger car makers is illustrated by one of the snappiest spo't models extant to-day. The car, incidentally, weighs at least 1000 pounds less than anyone would guess from a distance of a few feet.

One of the country's leading bodybuilders recently constructed a 27-pag-seagcr bus body" of aluminium which resulted in a weight saving of 1400 pounds.

One objection to aluminium as a widely employed bodv material that is likely to"figure largely, is that it is much more expensive than steel or composite construction. With car makers ever on the alert to reduce prices, this objection, many point out, is quite significant.

Right at this juncture it might well be remarked that the item of expense looms up irritatingly every time the body designer thinks he has hit upon the very thing that will solve his manifold problems. It undoubtedly will be remedied, but right now it would seem safe to say that when better bodies are built, they very likely will cost more money. "Perhaps, however, by the time they are the amount saved on other parts of the car will more than cover the additional expense. It probably will, as a matter of fact. The automobile industry is like that. Among the many who demand a hearing when the future body is discussed are the advocates of all-steel construction. They formerly .waxed most eloquent on the safety presented by this type of motor-car 2tow # while

they have not entirely/ deserted the safety argument, they have begun to lay especial emphasis npon silence. It has been said that the safety point failed to win universal approbation because it was recognised that ears were not built with the idea they would he driven over cliffs. If that is the ease, the silence virtue—if it proves to be the virtue that its advocates insist—should go farther in getting all-steel construction a more thorough hearing. Every motorist wants silence even if he has no desire to nose-dive down a mountain side. * The Steal Body. The steel body that is expected to ride in on the crest of the silent wave, it should be understood, ia not quite the same as that at present being most widely used. The most silent body of this character is the one made without joints. No joints, nothing to get loose and weave, rattle, and squeak—it is simple like that, say members of this group of body prophets. It is not to be inferred that those who believe in the composite body, and they outnumber all others at present, are going to climb upon anybody band waggon. They are not the kind who listen to their competitor's talk and then go sadly back and prepare to close out their business. The | automobile industry is full of mnbeliev- | era in eases of this kind. Cause for Cheer. What if the present body does have a few weaknesses t they ask. Does it mean that we've got to discard it entirely and start using a new material 1 "Just now," says one advocate of this construction, "we have the advantage of being able to build bodies le«s expensively than would be the case if we started to use some other material. If there happens to be a way in which the composite body can be improved, it seems logical that we could find a less expensive method of achieving it than by discarding onr present methods and materials. Personally, I am open to conviction on many points about bodies, but it may be wise to proceed cautiously before accepting any particular panacea." Whatever the medium in which he expresses himself, wood and steel, allsteel, or fabric, the body designer has one goal in common with all others engaged in the same sphere—comfort. He has definitely passed the stage of assuming that "overstuffed upholstery contributed most largely to passenger comfort Bs hu come to leoof&iMt m

one of the leaden is the Mi declared, that comfort * pendent upon a Mat AeeigiMplliPe* relaxed posture of the in* J"* be maintained without fsilge* ...t That, of course, I* flßf. brow way of saying that be form-fitting. .. . With regard to c©mf«rt, recognises the Ecuto«.lity ef iem. As one very deiSte iMIM this, and tie development '* ear buyers of the futu* fol, the research ©omiaittee<»_ Society of Automotive ing to take a lock at rinag Its task will be t* dinImHRE yardstick by which tki» feature eaa be meaeinwL !!•"«• ■ this, it is not going to «*fP> . «« | To quote the SJL..E. g starting on a programs* •• Wgi. practical syttem which and easily applied to the of riding fatigue-" Prom this, it might b* ««■ just when everyone who «"J». # thinks the designer has _M»gg ** ultimate i* not eves tie expert «««■ *»* fort is, except reiatrreqr. words, he know* it SL^^BS one ear as more eoTOBrtM" other. . Certainly this fact, all others, would indicate ft**, • designer really is great deal of unfinished It There is cause for ft the thought that he pn>b«w_ much of it tiwtd away rent year. ggo^f