CAR OF THE NEAR FUTURE.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 16 January 1926, Page 15

CAR OF THE NEAR FUTURE.

SMALLER AND LIGHTER.

Shortly before leaving America to visit the London Olympia Motor Show, Walter P. Chrysler, the president of the Chrysler Car Corporation, uttered some very interesting remarks regarding the future of motor-cars. ‘‘lt is the physical, ami noi. Lie uncial, saturation point that the automobile manufacturer must bear in mind,” says Mr. Chrysler. "The physical incapacity of our streets and. roads, and of the available parking space, in metropolis and village alike, to accommodate the ever growing ;.umbof cars, has definitely sealed tie fata of the cumbersome car. Size that ados nothing v<< roominess, ami weighr tlmf mlds nothing to riding comfort, arc now distinct handicaps. . "The massive, heavy-weight mote: - ear is to be replaced by .a smaller ai d lighter ear. The' over-size, over-weight motor-car cannot survive, even tne limited quantities in which the highestpriced automobiles are how produced ‘‘The whole in'dustry, ’ . continues .Mr. Chrysler, "recognises that the coming of the compact but roomy, light but substantial, popular-priced, but high-quality car of two years age initiated an about-face in popular taste; and I unhesitatingly predict that within, sav, two years the high-priced cars will have followed in the path of the popular-priced leaders. This new type: will be larger and roomier than the most successful models in the popularpriced field to-dav. Tt wilt contain all the quality and luxury that can bo built into a car, and will offer extremes in performance surpassing anything now built. Within the next two years, ears of 100 horse-power, capable of travelling continuously at speeds up to 90' miles an hour, will be on the market." Mr. Chrysler contends that the builtin ability of a car to achieve and maintain high speeds is the surest and best possible test of manufacturing soundness, long life, freedom from necessity for replacement, and consequent saving in operation. High potential speed proves that a car is correctly designed, for only the properly designed motor will .stay cool and be properly lubricated at such speed. it proves fine manufacturing also, because sustained speedput the heaviest possible load on bearings, gears, and on other moving parts. Last of all, it is definite proof of the use of the very best materials, becaust poor materials warp, crystallise, or break under the extraordinary strains of such speeds. Comparatively few drivers will over use the full capacity of their motors, just as to-day but few use the speeds of seventy, miles that many of their cars can do, but these new speed ranges will be assurance to them of still finer engineering design. This development of greater horsepower and speed is but a logical evolution. Scarcely half a dozen years ago only from 10 per cent, to 12 per per cent, of the potential energy of fuel used actually was transmitted to the rear wheels. Refinements in earburetion and manifolding, develojjment of new' materials for reciprocating parts in the motor, and lessening of friction in tlio motor and in the power lino have raised this nearly to .20 per cent, at the present time. Few engineers, until recently, cared to submit their designs to dynamo motor tests in speeds in excess of 2400 revolutions per minute. Huge and cumbersome power plants were needed to develop speeds of 25 to 35 miles per hour. Contrast this with engineering design to-day. Motors are of far smaller size and weight, yet of such improved materials that we think nothing of subjecting them to 50-hour tests at speeds of 3250 and 3400 revolutions a minute.

The coming of these new cars with added power ami speed possibilities is but the forerunner of totally new developments in motor-car manufacture.