MOTOR NOTES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 51, 28 January 1938, Page 5

MOTOR NOTES.

NEW CHRYSLEII-PLYMOUTH. A new Chrysler-Plymouth of bolder design, with easier steering, safer vision a.nd a score of new luxury features is presented as the 1938 model, marking this car’s tenth anniversary. Hailed as the outstanding model in the company’s ten-year career, it challenges comparison with cars costing much more, in riding performance and in style appointments for greater comfort and luxury. Further advances in soundproofing, even over last year’s model, which was noted for its “hushed” ride, set new records for quietness and smoothness. It leads its price field for spacious bodies and roomy interiors, with ample stretching room for six passengers in .all sedan models. Stylists have given the 1938 car an entirely different appearance, of massive size a.nd strength. A sleek new hood sweeps farther forward to meet the redesigned radiator grille, which rises much .more vertically than the sloping “face” of last year’s car. Bigger headlamps of teardrop design emphasise the greater mass. The same bolder proportions appear again in the broad, curving fenders that sweep lower in front, an inch and a half deeper than last year’s fender line. Grille design remains classically simple, with vertical chrome bars on each side of a centrestrip in body colour. The firm introduces a new hood design with fixed side panels, only the top section swinging open for routine service, water and oil. The handle remains where it was, on the side panel. The side panels can be removed quickly for special service, but when in place make the whole front assembly .a much more rigid unit. They form a structural link between the body and the new radiator shell, which also is stiffer this year by virtue of the new steel а. across the front. This year’s model has a new windshield for the sake of better vision. Windshields have more effective glass area, being wider in the vertical plane. The safety-styled instrument panel, with all controls sunk or recessed flush with the surface, appears this year with everything centred in a unified assembly at the middle of the board. A new front seat mechanism automatically adjusts the eye-level of drivers of any height. Front seat cushions are of new construction, for still greater comfort throughout. All inside door handles and window controls curve safely back out of the way. The back of the front seat is thickly padded and rolled at the top for the increased safety of rear seat passengers. Useful space in all luggage compartments and builtin trunks has been greatly increased by removing the spare tyre and wheel from the floor, and mounting it back up out of the way. Greater ease of control and safer operation are the performance features of the 1938 model. The clutch pedal pressure has been reduced about 15 per cent. The clutch itself has a new baffle plate to keep out oil .and water vapour. A new pistol-grip hand-brake control, mounted underneath the centre of the cowl, makes its first appearance this year. The 17-inch steering wheel is retained, but steering gear ratio is reduced from 16.4 to 14.6 and the Pitm.an arm comes down to 7 inches. A special improvement for night driving is the bigger headlamps, which mean much better light on the road ahead. This year’s ear is even quieter than before. Now the noise level inside the body, when travelling a.t 40 miles per hour, is only half the level of normal speech. This year’s advance is chiefly due to improved sound-deadening materials throughout the ear, and a more rigid construction of the floor panel. Contributing to exceptional quietness, the entire body is free from motal-to-met.nl contact with the frame at any point, although firmly secured through rubber cushions of patented design. The new cars also retain the famous features of the firm’s luxurious, big-car ride, with balanced weight and balanced springs of thin-leaf steel, controlled by two-way shock .absorbers like those on big sleeper ’planes. Flat rear floors again this year result from a new hypoid rear axle —another outstanding success carried over from last year s car The rugged character of the fainour' 6-cylinder, L-hend engine Mso is carried over in the new car with some refinements. The engine’s exceptional r,-wer and economy result from an unusually high compression ratio of б. to i. pins “calibrated” ignition. Pistons are aluminium alloy with four rings instead of three. The newest mqdel has four-wheel hydraulic brakes. They are the double-acting “equal pressure” type t .affording smooth, gentle brake action with complete control. All bodies, fenders and sheet metal:-parts are rust-proofed, and so is every nut and bolt. Bodies are finished in high lustre enamels with unusual long life and durability.