ART IN MOTOR DESIGN

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 420, 31 July 1928, Page 6

ART IN MOTOR DESIGN

NOTHING REALLY NEW That the art of centuries past is erabodied in modern motor design to no small degree has been found by the designers of cars. Lines and combinations of angles and curves dating back through mediaeval to prehistoric times are evidenced in even the most advanced body and chassis design. For example, bowls dug up in ancient Corinth have exactly the same contour to within a few millimetres of headlamps used on automobiles of to-day. Automobile bodies and wheels are now being manufactured with the identical colour combinations that were found recently in brilliant condition within the sarcophagi of King Tut’s tomb. Look at the electric horn of your car and you will probably be able to find its exact counterpart in the same proportion and curvature in any one of a number of museums—a counterpart in the form of a vase, fashioned, perhaps, by some Carthaginian potter of Salaam bo’s day. There is not one curve, line, angle, or plane, not a single type of cornice, window or moulding in the modern car* body which has not been used by the artists and sculptors of ancient times in some other manner, and while the present day adaptation of these may seem striking and modernly beautiful, it is merely the combination of that which men of other days carved in stone and on tile, or painted on walls or fabric. Centuries of Art The minute design of the instrument panel and levers, the hub cap, radiator cap, tail lamp, etc., may be a reproduction of a design from a Mycennaean dagger, a real sceptre or a weapon used by high officers and others in Stone Age wars. In the moulding of fenders and tonneaus can be found the same lines and curves that form great sections of domes and cloisters of the old cathedrals of France and Italy, or mosques of the Orient. Looking into a car interior, one may see a design which once ornamented a stag bone, or was carved in rock in some cave of the Pyrenees before .civilisation was known. The manufacturer of fine cars is now more than ever aware that art, as exemplified in graceful line and pleasing colouring, has a great deal to do with the comfort of motoring. To mechanical efficiency and power, to engineering perfection, have been added rhythm of line, balance and proportion, so that to-day’s car appeals at once to the eye, as well as to the mind. TO GET HIGH TYRE MILEAGE When mounting tyres on the rim—says an article in the “Goodyear News” —care should be taken in properly fitting the tube, valve, flap, etc., so there may be no pinching of the tube with a resultant leak and flat tyre. The inside of the casing should be free from dirt and foreign matter. The inner tube should be placed inside the casing, partially inflated and without twists or wrinkles. Particular care should be taken to properly fit the flap over the tube without wrinkling. Tighten all valve parts to prevent leakage and see that the lock nut and valve caps are properly in place. Inflate tyre to exact pressure stipulated for your size tyre and keep it at that pressure *by testing regularly. By doing this you can rely on your tyre to give maximum mileage.

By nearly doubling its commercial car output during the year the Chevrolet motor-car. in 1927. led all other commercial car manufacturers, just as it led all builders of passenger cars. Chevrolet commercial car production for 1927 was 208,413 units as against 111,203 trucks and commercial chassis in 1926: 48,299 units in 1925. and 96.788 units for the nine-year period between 1915 to 1925, when trucks of this type first went into production.