Compliments from the United States

Compliments from the United States

T.4A ST March we commented on an article in the February issue of Esquire entitled “Imported Horsepower.” It has recently come to our notice that last February Fortune carried a long and exceedingly entertaining article, flattering to British and Continental cars. The requirements and views of dollar-cus tomers are of sufficient importance to make belated reference to this article worth while. Written by Wilder Hobson as ” A sentimental salute to the Old World craftsmen who remind us that an automobile can be a work of art,” this article was titled ” Foreign Cars ” and was admirably illustrated. A Mk. VI Bentley got a whole page in colour and other cars illustrated were a PininFarina Alfa-Romeo, Bugatti, Cisitalia, Talbot, F.I.A.T. 1,1 00, Isotta-Fraschini, Maserati, Delahaye, ” TC ” M.G., Rolls

!Royce, Healey, Volkswagen, F.I.A.T. 500 and Allard. The article took its inspiration from last winter’s Paris Salon —” the foreign auto industries were showing that they could still design tuxurious cars, ineffable cars, even if they

could not deliver them.” We like Wilder Hobson’s allusion to the past—” Time was when the American industry tooled up motor cars worthy of that description—some of them appear on p. 100.” And on p. 100 of this issue of Fortune we find pictures of 1930 320-h.p. Duesenberg, 11)14 Mercer Raceabout, 1929 Marmon, 1919 Stutz Bearcat, 1927 Lincoln Brougham, 1926 Pearce-Arrow and the like, besides some truly mag nifieent colour-reproductions of old-time advertisements from the Clymer Scrapbook series, featuring Biddle, Cunningham

and 1916 Crane-Simplex cars. Hobson has no illusions. He observes : ” Much as he may admire the pragmatic virtues of Detroit, the Old World fancier will deplore the vulgarity of American chromium grillwork ; he will be scornful of the way Detroit often tries to make its blubbery inflation of body lines ; and he ` big package ‘ look even bigger with a will probably find the cushiony American vehicle on the whole somewhat of a concession to the sociology of a nation whose dominating females are noted the world over. Under the hood, for instance, and in chassis construction, he will find little to engage the masculine delight in exceptionally powerful and experi

mental engineering.” How nicely said ! The Delahaye on which rain fell from a leak in the roof of the Grand Palais is described as a ” testimony to that artistic vitality, to what Veblen called the instinct of workmanship. Prestige, in this case, includes the making of excep

tionally fine things for the love of them.” The regard we Europeans have for

Grand Prix racing—” at least one a week all summer, attracting as much interest as the annual 500-mile at Indianapolis ” —how a victory by Chiron stimulates the left-wing workers at Talbots, and the Motor’s great tribute to Nuvolari’s drive in the 1947 Mille Miglia, are mentioned. Praise for the better European cars is lavish and should stimulate sales, although servicing difficulties are referred to. Bugatti’s fixed heads clearly trouble Wilder Hobson. He lists the six cylinder Alfa-Romeo (” whose double o.h. camshaft engine is only half the size of a Buick engine but produces four-fifths the b.h.p.”), the Cisitalia, the Talbot and the Healey as Old World ears in the 100-m.p.h. category, footnoting that he refers to electrically-timed speeds and generously reminding us that sundry American cars timed by the Motor at Brooklands in 1937-89 averaged a maximum of only 88 m.p.h. Performance figures are quoted for our Healey (111.8 m.p.h. over a kilo and s.s. +-mile in 17.8 sec.) and Mk. VI Bentley (94 m.p.h. at Montlhery, s.s +-mile in 20.4 sec. and 18 m.p.g. at 60 m.p.h.). Our ” TC ” M .G. is given as a tiny 76 cu. in. car capable of 72.9 m.p.h. ; the Allard is delightfully described as a ” vigorous English sports car built round a Ford V8 engine, a power plant notable for sporting delivery with such adjustments as extra carburation and heightened

compression-ratio. U.S. price $5,600.” But perhaps the greatest praise bestowed by Wilder Hobson in his masterful article goes to the Mk. VI Bentley. After quoting at length the opinions of Raymond Mays about this car as published in the Motor, the author concludes,” the price may be unthinkable. The servicing may be maddening. But the automobile artistry is unquestionable.” America

certainly intends to help us earn dollars ! •