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Show LIBERTY MOTOR DESIGNER TO SET PACE FOR INTERNATIONAL RACERS r- : 1 i ' , i - - . ! - X - --m r - -1 " v -j fSvfc v- -:" ' . YNXk YK- Vvi h 4?f y . ' - j - t g . ; Lieutenant Colonel J. G. Vincent iind tlie special speed type Packard runabout with vrhicli he vill pace the rolling start of the ontrants in the 500-mlle 500-mlle liberty uweepstakes at Indianapolis speedway on May 31. Incutonuitt Colonel Jesse G. Vincent, . vice president of engineering of Iks Packard Motor Car company and one of the principal designers of the Liberty Lib-erty motor, has been invited by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway company to set tho pace for the thirty-three racing rac-ing drivers in tho flying start of the 500-milo Liberty classic on May 31. The invitation was extended to Colonel Col-onel Vincent in part in recognition of his services to the country's military aircraft program during the war and partly in appreciation of his company's formal entry in speedway competition this year for the first time in its history. his-tory. Packard is providing Colonel Vincent with a twin sis of particular smartness and speediness for the occasion. It is capable of eighty to eighty-five miles an hour, a pace faster than the speed necessary for qualification in tho face itself. Tho car is a two-passenger runabout of 1 25-inch wheelbase, and fashioned on Ipng, low, free-flowing lines, with beveled shoulders and distinctive huh caps that are familiar hallmarks of Packard design the world over. As Colonel Vincent will drive it, it will bo fully equipped, with top and windshield. wind-shield. In constructing this car, a standard 3-'Jo chassis was used, and the only changes mado were to provide a special spe-cial gear ratio in the rear axle, change the angle of the steering gear and move the power plant back approximately approxi-mately eight inches, in order to bal-atice bal-atice it up better as a two-passenger runabout for track use. It is practicallv the same type car as the new series models shown by tho Sims company, local Packard distributors. Among the racers Colonel Vincent's pacer will hold in leash around the oval on Mav 31 will be the aviation motorod Packard "299" with Ralph DcPalma at the wheel. The Packard special holds all world's records for six hours' continuous running, at an average aver-age of 102. 6i3 miles per hour, and is the car with which DePalma won the speedway championship for 1918. |