Salt Lake Tribune | 1919-03-09 | Page 31 | Rigorous Road Test New Truck Feature

RIGOROUS ROAD TEST HEW TRUCKFEATURE, Olds Economy Trucks Make Good Before Leaving Factory, v "Not so many years ago practically no reputable automobile manufacturer con- sidered a machine ready for shipment un- , less It had proved its mettle in an actual , road test," said A. V. Olson of the Utah- ! Idaho Motor company, who have recently taken on the sale of the new Oldsmobile . economy truck, in addition to the regular regu-lar passenger car line. "But those ''days ; have passed. Big production schedules ; have eliminated the road test until now : the big automobile factory that practices road testing is the exception rather than-, the rule. ' "While superior standardized manufac- . turing methods, no doubt, make a road test less essential than formerly, the fact , still remains that the best way to de- j termine that an automobile is all that it is supposed to be is to give it a road test. And that is, put it out on the road and make it perform. For obvious rea- : sons this Is particularly true of trucks. j "For that reason we are glad to be able to say that every Oldsmobile economy truck makes good before it is O. K.'d for shipment from the factory. By 'making good' I mean exactly that. The testers : bolt iron blocks which weigh something over three-quarters of a ton to the frame and then take the truck chassis right out into the country where tho going is sufficiently rough to make real performance perform-ance necessary. This Is not merely a test of power; traveling over deeply rutted roads, up hill and down, will very quickly bring to light any defects in material or workmanship. "The road test has other advantages as well. It 'breaks in' the motor and makes possible the many minor adjustments that would otherwise have to be made by the owner during the first few hundred miles of driving. Besides, when this adjusting Is done by experts who specialize on this one thing it is sure to be done right; whereas, if the owner or his driver attempts at-tempts to do the work himself, serious damage may result. "Close check is being kept on every truck put into service in this territory and the uniformly satisfactory reports indicate indi-cate that our road test really makes certain cer-tain the dependable quality of the cars." i