Innehållsförteckning för January 1950 från MotorTrend

ALTHOUGH IT IS said that things always come in threes, California big car race fans will have to be content with only two AAA championship dirt track races —at least this year. Even one race, however, would have been more than welcome, for this type of racing has not been seen in California for 15 years. The first big car race since 1934 was held at the Sacramento Fairgrounds on October 30, with the second championship race taking place the following Sunday at the famed Del Mar Race Track. Practically the same cars and drivers were present at both races. The majority of cars present were powered by 270 cu. in. Offenhauser (Meyer-Drake) four-cylinder engines. There were, however, some cars using other power plants. Among these were the following: a…

SINCE the end of the war, much interest in European automobiles has been aroused in this country—with the result that many newspaper and magazine articles have been written on foreign cars. These articles, in the normal course of events, have become well digested by all automotive enthusiasts and are used as a topic of discussion when and wherever enthusiasts meet. “They’re too small …” “… too large noisy but it’s faster …” “… compare displacements …” “… how does it ride? …” “… the steering’s slow …” “… yes, but check the valve and porting arrangement …” “… how about performance and economy? …” “… but look at the rpm’s …” “… Oh, nuts, foreign cars are phony …” “… Oh! are they? Well, those Detroit dream wagons are nothing…

This rendering by Colonel Alexis de Sakhnoffsky shows a modern version of the metal and wood body. This design, unlike the majority of available models of this type, gives flowing lines to the rear by tying the metal hood and fender lines into the wooden body by graceful curves. At the same time, an airplane fuselage effect is given to the rear by encasing the fenders and shaping the wooden members into converging shapes. This design allows for an exceptionally large trunk lid which extends over the sides, as shown by the fine line outlining the joint. Points of particular interest are: the clear portion of the top below the main rear bow (this portion is lowered as one piece before the top folds); the treatment of the inside door…

Letters published in this department are the opinions of the writers and are not to be construed as those of the editors. Address correspondence to: Letters From Our Readers, MOTOR TREND, 548 South San Vicente Boulevard, Los Angeles 48, California. A CADILLAC FOR $75 Was very interested in George Finneran’s article on “Custom Bodies,” particularly since I owned one of those fine Cadillacs—a ‘31 V16. I bought it in ‘41 for $75. It took a while to get it back in shape. Before it was reworked it got 4-5 mpg, but with the addition of Stromberg 48’s, it got 12-15 mpg. It had an all aluminum body, weighed over 6000 pounds, and cost around $7200. The body was by Fleetwood. Wheelbase was 145 inches. All tires were original and the…

PROBABLY ONE OF the most rigorous courses that could be taken to road test a new car in the Southern California area was the one followed recently by your editor in a 1950 Ford V-8 and which, literally, travels from “sea level to sky level.” Starting at the Ford Motor Company Plant in Long Beach, the course has very few open stretches of highway; requires frequent stops and starts; is full of all types of traffic, including trucks, busses and trains; goes through heavy city traffic; and then begins an ascent of some 5000 feet through mountainous roads full of switch-backs, ‘S’ turns and narrow, sharp corners, to the Mt. Wilson Observatory, 5704 feet above sea level. The Ford that we picked up at the factory had only 17 miles…

REVERSING A TREND of building individual sports cars for use only in this country, Sterling Edwards of Hollywood, California, has produced a custom-built car that will be used on road race courses throughout Europe this spring. As conditions stand now, the car will not be placed in production, since it is intended only for Edwards’ personal use. Although a Ford V-8-60 is used for the powerplant, the car was designed for competition in Formula B classification (2 litres—122 cu. in.). To make the car eligible for this class, Edwards intends to sleeve the cylinder and to destroke the crankshaft, thereby bringing the cubic inch displacement down to the maximum allowable. The original drawings of the car were made by Edwards; then with the assistance of Norman Timbs of Van Nuys…

WHEN IT COMES to unusual designs you can bet that ? Studebaker will be there with the rest of them—witness the Gardner Studebaker Special, which was designed and built by Vincent Gardner. Mr. Gardner is an employee of the Raymond Loewy Associates, located at the Studebaker plant in South Bend, Indiana. Originally, the car was a 1947 Studebaker Champion three-passenger coupe, but is hardly recognizable as such except for the general lines. Body changes include a new grille, hood, windshield, cowl, clear plastic roof (which is removable and can be stored in the trunk compartment), deck, and tail lights. Sedan front doors were used (by remaking the top section) to replace the original doors. The headlights are rotated 180 degrees, with the parking lights set below. Both front and rear…

AT AN acceleration meet, sponsored by MOTOR TREND, and conducted by the SCTA, the superiority of the 1949 Oldsmobile 88 suffered somewhat of a blow, for it was found that the ‘49 Lincoln was a suitable challenger. The purpose of the meet was to arrive at acceleration figures to be used in a road test report of the 1949 Lincoln, with Hydra-Matic. At the same time, however, it was believed that the addition of a few other 1949 cars would add considerable interest. A new Lincoln (121 inch wheelbase) four-door sedan was picked up at the Lincoln-Mercury Division of the Ford Motor Company in Maywood early one morning. The car was driven at high cruising speeds to Ramona Airport in San Diego County, by way of La Habra, Perris and…

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ONE OF the biggest triumphs of this year’s racing belongs to Northern California’s own Freddie Aga-bashian, who copped top money and a whopping trophy in the West Coast’s most important track event in years —the AAA National Championship race at Sacramento on October 30th. Stealing—or at least muting—the thunder of Indianapolis’ best, Freddie did the hundred laps in one hour 11:1.05, an average of 84.5 mph on a very soggy track. Making the Californian’s win appropriate, almost to the point of poetic justice, was the fact that this was the first AAA National Championship Big Car race to be held on the long-neglected West Coast since 1931. The AAA, in addition to its well-known function as a sort of road-insurance club, is also the governing body for championship racing. It…

A VERY well-known woman writer, famous for a novel on the life of a quixotic jazz trumpeter, recently brought forth a new novel in which the Duesenberg is rhapsodized for almost an entire page as the epitomy of German craftsmanship … A garage owner, a well-informed man on Packard 12’s, Cad 16’s, Stutz and other uncommon cars, looks at a picture of a Series J Duesenberg, shakes his head and clucks, “Those Germans sure knew how to build an automobile …” In a movie of the “Spy, Spy, Who’s Got the Spy?” type, the Gestapo chases the British secret agent down the Autobahn, the spy driving a Mercedes (that fine old British car), while the Gestapo is driving another one of those German Duesenbergs … This sort of nonsense has…

NOTE: This article is a digest of the article, “Car Body Design Future Linked with the Past,” which appeared in the July 1949 issue of the SAE JOURNAL.—Editor TRENDS in car body design go back to the birth of the horseless buggy, since they represent a step-by-step evolution toward a goal, rather than mere annual mechanical changes. The original horseless carriages—such as the Olds Locomobile—were horse-height buggies fitted with power and steering, meant to duplicate or slightly better the speed and traveling possibilities of the horse-drawn vehicle. The buggy for the horse was as high as it was because to see beyond the horse one must be above it. Because of the deficiency in foot-pounds on the part of the horse, these buggies had to be made of the lightest…

LONDON: The big show at Earl’s Court offered only crumbs to the trendseeking observer; with a few exceptions this year’s models featured refinements of ‘49 designs, and afterthought details. One of the exceptions was the E.R.A. Javelin super sports chassis, designed by Austrian engineer Eberan van Eberhorst, of Auto Union and Cisitalia fame. The frame, a complex structure of steel tubing, replete with torsion bars, cantilevered supports and anti-roll bars, has a very new look indeed; the power plant is a valve-in- head flat four. . . . The money shortage gave an eerie and wistful air to the show. Most Britons went to look at the ‘50 cars as they might visit a livestock show—to look at the nice creatures without thought of buying them. Dollar buyers have priority…