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Show AUTO LIGHTER THAN FORMERLY. "How much car does a man neod?" "This is not a question asked for rhetorical effect I mean to examine from the viewpoint both of a dealer and of a man who drives his own car how much, in point of size, weight and power, a man needs in his car. "When automobiles first appeared a man wanted as much car as ho could get, which resulted In a demand for heavy cars. Presently it dawnod on car owners that the heavier tho car the larger the repair bills and tho quicker It went to pieces. Designers had been entirely aware of this fact for Borne years, and had made Important Impor-tant experiments with aluminum, vanadium, nickel-steel and other .metals to replaco iron. Consequently the next two years saw a gradual lightening of weight "One factory, for Instance, after two years of experimenting proved 3,000 "pounds to bo practically about the Ideal weight for an automobllo. A heavier car knocked Itself to pieces lu three or four years. A lighter car lacked both safety and smoothness of motion. Today the best engineering practice Is in lino with thiB result of our experiments. "With llghtor cars came the demand :F for more compact bodies. Untll quite recently automobile bodies wer& simply tho old-fashioned coach andtT carriage bodies adapted to the exlMll gencles of the chassis. But today th best typo of car has a light trlmjfa smart, straight-lined body especially built for and forming a harmonious unit with tho chassis. |