FRONT DRIVE.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19675, 19 July 1929, Page 7

FRONT DRIVE.

BIG CHANGES IN THE FUTURE. SMALL WHEELS TO GO. Everyone (says a Canadian paper; I knows that front-wheel drive, the loug- : awaited radical departure in motor-car ' design, first designed in England, is at hand. What everyone does not know about it, and a subject about which a great many are speculating, is whether full advantage is going to be taken or' ; the remarkable opportunity for an i equally radical revision in body lines. ; Apart from lowness, which they i are known to feature, it would not surprise a great many close ol'.servers rfj for a while, the front-drive cars looked a great, deal like the present rear-wheel drive models. There are enough mechanical problems in connexion with so radical a development, and if the manufacturer chose not to complicate the situation further by throwing in the body design problems it would be regarded as logical by the closest of observers. In addition, the first product to be introduced by a well-known company will fare forth from a factory that long has boasted of the continuity of its body lines. But, the later front-drive cars, those that are to come in future months, what kind of bodies are they going to offer? That is a question that frequently is asked to-day in engineering circles, and the indicated answer is one in which the person who eventually will buy such a car should have some curiosity. New Designs Shortly. Looking forward to the period in which he sees "many more than twu front-wheel drive cars on the American market within the next five years,'' one of the greatest engineering minds in the industry declares: — "The body developments should go hand-in-hand with the chassis trends. It would be too bad if body designers, when radical changes of this kind come about, simply worked to see how conventional design could be adapted to it. Rather, it would seem, such a change might be viewed as the greatest opportunity offered in many years to designers to develop a new school or a definitely different basis for their art." Must Keep Frontal Beauty. Of the changes that are to come. of course, one must speculate to a certain extent. It is generally conceded, however, that two of the features that at present contribute so much to the average car's beauty are going to be hard to retain in the front-drive era. One of these is the narrow, deep radiator, which makes the front of to-day's car so pleasant to the eye. In front-drive, there will bo considerable mechanism to be placed where the lower part of the radiator now appears. There is no place else to put the new mechanism, 30 it is the radiator that will have to be changed. How? Designers are working on that with a full that frontal beauty cannot be sacrificed and that the radiator must be of a size that will assure adequate cor ling. Road Clearance. The small-diameter wheels which look so snappy in the present reardrive cars also may have to be displaced if low over-all height, with adequate road clearance is to be retained. in one front-drive experimental car, in one of the largest and most advanced motor laboratories, road clearauce at the front with the tyres deflated, was only one inch. Such a clearance obviously would not be feasible in a stock ear—for there are bound to be flat tyres on rough roads, aud such an even tuality might go hard with the parts that dragged. But the body designer may not try to adapt these conventional features, as a great many hope. He may 'strike out along a new line, and produce something quite different that conforms to the chassis change.

If he is hampered in one or two di rections with regard to conforming 'As present ideas to the radical foundational change, in other directions he has unlimited opportunities -where now ho is restricted. No Limit to Changes. In anticipating what the front-drive car of the future will look like, the layman must bear in mind thit the body designer is almost entirely unencumbered as to body space. At present he meets mechanical limitations in many directions. For instance, he can locate the floor of the body no lower than the gearset, the propeller shaft, and the differential will permit. When the car is driver through the front wheels all of those parts will be removed to the :rcnt where they will offer no obstacle to bodv dimensions. Tho designer, then, can do almost as he pleases where he has been fettered in many directions in the past. Another factor permitting aim to indulge in a new form of expression is the simplicity of the frame. Heretofore, lowness has been in large part due to the doable-drop frame feature of virtually every car. When front-drive arrives, the kick-up at the rear for the present driving axle will no longer be necessary. There may not even be a rear axle in such cars. Instead the wheels will be located on pivots of some kind. Even if this is not adopted, the rear axle will be of the "dead" type and can be handled in almost any way the body design dictates. That Gas Tank. There have been some who expected one of the changes in rear-end appearance to be with regard to the location of the petrol tank. The tank, however, probabiy will retain its customary place. It was put there to get fuel away from the engine, and although the need for such a location is disputed, a majority keep it there and undoubtedly will continue to do so. It is not a limiting factor in reducing road clearance, and never will be, they insist. With a cover plate over it. it really adds to appearance and that is that. Very few engineers who look upon the situation from a detached viewpoint fail to see the body designer's opportunity as a vast one. They are quite confident that he will take advantage of it later, if not at the start, so as to produce a car that is as radically different in appearance and comfort as it is in its drive mechanism.