Motoring A Modern American Car By an odd coincidence I
have received by a single post no fewer than four letters from readers of The Spectator, asking me the same questions about certain types of Continental and American cars, and about the cars that have already been reported upon in this review. They are addressed to The Spectator from the Malay States, from Scotland, from Egypt and from South Africa. To be absolutely accurate, their writers do not ask exactly the same question about the Conti- nental cars, but they seem singularly unanimous on the Americans. All four mention certain well-known makes and demand to be given advice on the choice of ` something cheaper which shall have all the common characteristics of the latest American designs—speed, silence, liveliness, power, comfort, roominess and durability.
It seems odd, to a critic of a good many years' experience, to have that last quality quoted to him, odd, that is to say, in retrospect. In past days American cars that were compara- tively cheap were sometimes quiet, sometimes lively, seldom comfortable, in certain rare instances durable, from our point of view. I cannot remember one, at all events up to within the last five years, that combined all these qualities, and very few that could legitimately boast of three. Omitting the leading and most expensive types, there was not one that could really be compared with any European of the same price in performance or durability, but specially in durability. There was a saying that an American car (with a few obvious exceptions) was a one-year car. Nobody in-the country where they were made ever wanted to keep a car for long just because it went well. Every year every make produced something so different—at least in appearance—that it fatally ante-dated its predecessor in the second-hand market. The wise made an agreement with their dealers to provide them with the latest whenever it came out, it a fixed price. There have been many less sensible schemes, but it did not give the cars a reputation over here for long life.
The good modern American car is a totally different matter. It is, in its best form, the sort of car you buy to keep. Several of the better-known makes have given plenty of proof:during the past three or four years that they have the European durability, and that, power for power, they cost no more to run over long periods than their opposite numbers here and across the Channel. Their performance is usually excellent and they are hard to beat for silence and comfort. They are formidable rivals to any European firm that makes cars with just those claims and pretensions. There is no disguising that vital fact today. I believe the American car that costs between £350 and £700 is for the first time in automobile history a real danger to all markets this side of the Atlantic.
The Oldsmobile is an example of the kind I have in mind. It is the latest representative of an old-established American factory, with, as usual, a Canadian offshoot to reduce the customs bill. It no more resembles the traditional American car than today's Ford resembles Tin Lizzie or the last word in super-charged Mercedes. It is a fair instance of the new American type, which is a car with many of the best Conti- nental, British and American characteristics. Indeed, when I
recall the various British, Italian, French and German cars I found occasion to admire last year on a long Continental tour, I am inclined to regard the Oldsmobile not so much as an American as an international. Its designers have, to put it succinctly, done a lot of useful cribbing.
It is built in two types, a 27 h.p. Six and a 29 h.p. Eight, but except for the engine-dimensions and the slightly higher performance of the Eight there is no essential difference between them. The one sent to me for trial was the Six, and I found a number of excellent points in it which should appeal in particular to my oversea correspondents. For example, the cast-iron pistons, " electro-plated to permit close fit and reduce breaking-in period," which would certainly be comfort- ing things to have in out-of-the-way parts of the world ; the
slow-running engine, which develops a stated 90 h.p. at 3,400 r.p.m. ; the large medium-pressure tyres ; the really
luxurious suspension ; the remarkable liveliness on all gears ; and the quietness of engine and transmission. Its suspension has the front-wheels independently sprung (" knee-action " in the vernacular), the " super-hydraulic " brakes are extremely powerful, and the steering is, in my experience, unique in American cars in that it has a brisk caster-action and can be relied upon in " fierce " cornering. (I must be forgiven all these quotations from a foreign tongue—it grows upon one after a study of the specification.) The principal results of these various factors are that you drive and are driven in unusual comfort. As a passenger in the back you feel no road-bumps at all, at any speed up to well over 70 miles an hour. This is not a common virtue. There is plenty of room for your head, your legs and your elbows, and the seats, back and front, are exceptionally luxurious. The customer's attention is drawn to the fact that the roof is so curved and strengthened that the car can roll over without damaging you or itself. That might be useful in certain circumstances. The built-in luggage-container of the " touring sedan " (in English, 6-windowed saloon) is very roomy and carries the spare wheel in a compartment of its own. The lines are fashionably modern, of the streamline type, but the maker has not sacrificed comfort to appearance.
The driver should be as -well pleased. I found that, accord- ing to the speedometer, an easy cruising speed was nearly 70 miles an hour, and that 65 was reached with gratifying
promptness. I was told, and I believe, that the speedometer was registering a little slow at over 45 miles an hour, but even if it was accurate there is no doubt that this car has a rather special performance. It is extremely lively and its acceleration has that elastic- quality which is so seldom met with and so highly prized by the appreciative driver. Add to these very high speed on steep hills, that pleasant absence of noise at any time and the feeling of confidence that you get from the light- ness and certainty of all controls, and you will see why I put this car down on the list I am sending to my latest corre- spondents. It costs between £845 and £878, according to coach- work, the Eight being priced in each case about £45 more. The saloon I tried costs £378, and I regard it as exceptionally good value. It is a high-class car with some of the best character- istics of European and American practice.
JOHN PRIOLEALL
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