ENGINE AT THE REAR

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 49, 27 February 1937, Page 28

ENGINE AT THE REAR

INTEREST STIRRED

"EYE TO EVENTUALITIES"

"The recent granting to Henry Ford of two patents relating to rear-engine cars has stimulated • hew interest in a ; -subject which, - though very .much alive, has been largely dormant for some months past, (writes Dr. Herbert Chase, .a member of the' Society of Automobile Engineers .in . the ."New York Times.") Although the facts relating to the latest .of these patents are still fragmentary, neither is-'expect-ed to be of unusual significance in itself,, for the general idea of an engine in the rear of-a cat is almost as old as the 'automobile itself and hence is-not patentable: •■

"There, are, in: fact, numerous patents dealing more or less with special features of cars having engines' in the rear, and the 'addition of another pair serves chiefly at present to'make it apparent-that important manufacturers are not overlooking future eventualities.

: i "It,is no. longer, a-secret that several ■important car manufacturers' have built experimental cars, with rear engines; just as.they have, tried, other uncony^ntial constructions of many kinds, so,as not to be. caught napping if and when competition forces •'. departure from the. conventional. When a promising new" way, of doing a job is conceived, it is good business to patent it, even though it may never be used commercially. This affords.the manufacturer protection against an outsider claiming the invention and gives him patents to: use in barter should some pooling of ; interests, prove expedient later." ::.'. ' ■ ' .

"Today, there are many engineers who consider that a property designed rear-engine'car possesses many advanr tages over, the conventional type, and that these eventually lead to the building of many cars of this form. As yet,;'however, no manufacturer has seen1, fit to produce, modern rear engine, cars on more- than a very limited scale: in America. , This is partly because the pioneering of a radically new design is expensive and frequently unprofitable.- , Abrbad, where; conditions are different, a .few rear-engine cars have been put into limited production. "Among the advantages claimed for the rear-engine car by its advocates are: a greater proportion of space de- ! voted to useful load-carrying purposes; reduction in noise,:odours,; car heat, and noxious gases. in car1 interiors; greater safety, partly because, with the driver- vwell. .forward,-his; range of vision is increased; possible gains in tr-active effort under certain conditions of weight distribution; and greater freedom in- body design because, with all mechanism except the steering system in the rear,., there is no propeller shaft or other mechanical element of such a nature- to. interfere with '.desirable floor f heights and seating arrange-ments.-There-are; of .course, other less important advantages claimed.

■"Those ■who-... are,'less.. ■ enthusiastic about the .rear.' engine-car -.dispute ■; the •validity of - these claims or contend that there: are, ..offsetting.disadvantages. The opposition.alsomaintains-that there-are atleast as:manyadvarjtages,'i gamed1 ,by conventional-,,; .constructions, i- perhaps with modifications ifar less radical than a'shift.;of. the engine to the rear of,,the car. :Jn any event, the stand-patters,:"if \ they ■ may' be jso' termed,; point to ah;enviable";record -of success for the present .prevailing type' of car and are ■ disinclined to sacrifice a more' or less^ certain, success for what they regard-as radical departures .of questionable :or insufficiently demonstrated worth." '.-■.','. •: