THE CARS OF 1950.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 3007, 6 March 1926, Page 4

THE CARS OF 1950.

AMERICAN PROPHETIC ARTIST,

What kind of a car do you expect to drive in 1950 ! asks a writer in the American National Auto Club Weekly. Styles in automobiles have not made any revolutionary changes since Elwood Haynes piloted his wheezing gasoline buggy down the streets of his town. The prophets are busy at their usual task, however, announcing that they see in the crystal a glimpse of some vehicles of distinctly different design from the present day automobile.

A few years ago the automotive engineers discovered that a long wheel base made a car less susceptible to the jolts and jars of the road. So forthwith, a number of manufacturers created some smoking behemoths that needed a tenacre lot in which to turn around. After a great deal of thinking and many conferences, it was discovered that spring suspension had about as much to do with comfort as anything else, and all kinds of devices were developed to permit the shortening of the wheel without lessening the comfort of the passenger.

SHORTER WHEEL BASE

Traffic congestion, the difficulties of parking in the cities and the narrowing lanes of travel on the highways have led to a shortening of ears and decreased turning radius. Plans are already in the hands of several manufacturers according to reports from Detroit, for designs of cars with even shorter wheel bases and smaller turning radio than the small ears now on the market.

The prophetic artist, therefore, takes bis pen and ink and designs a car of 1950. He believes that visionary vehicle we can expect the usual type of fenders to be eliminated and in place of a rectangular design we can expect a circular automobile, the driver sitting in the rear with the passengers comfortably seated on a cushioned divan that extends completely around the car. Of course the ear will be an enclosed affair that may be converted into an open vehicle by raising the windows. This car would have three wheels being designed to follow*the direction of the front wheel. This would permit the driver to turn in any direction with the greatest of case and make a complete circle without taking up any more space than the door space of the car itself.

TRUCK OF FUTURE,

The truck of the future, the ar•tisl designed, would be a rectangular apparatus which would permit going in any direction without the necessity of turning the vehicle completely around. The truck, in driving up to a parking space to unload, would not back into the space but slip in* sideways, thus avoiding the diflicult and lime-los-ing task of backing, into a snail opening. The truck of this design could be operated cither us a single small delivery car, or by coupling to other units, make up a (rain Unit, could be separated at any tunc by uncoupling. When operated as a train, the maximum service could be secured from a single power unit with a consequent saving on operating expenses. Looking over the records of the automotive industry is an interesting occupation, and the more they are examined the more it appears that some radical departure in design must, be the next step toward a solution of traffic problems developed by the constantly increasing number of motor vehicles on the highways and on the streets of the cities.