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What might Stan, Ollie and all those other characters in the script, have driven in real life?
American cars had acquired left-hand drive and electrics by 1914: two years later, dashes had been streamlined into bonnets. Buick production achieved formidable levels - with minor disruptions due to World War One and exceeded only by Ford and Chevrolet - and impressive performance for a middle-class automobile selling in the USA for $1,595 (worth £320 then). The make was respected as "The Doctor's friend" as far afield as Australia and South Africa. In a Buick, the customers got full electrics and foolproof coil ignition, with brakes on the rear wheels. Unlike European cars, the American had six (not four) cylinders with (exceptional in the USA) overhead valves. The cylinder head was non-detachable until 1924. In 1919, the Buick's principal novelty was an illuminated instrument board.
Mass production meant a choice of body - but not colour - the H-series came as a roadster, touring coupe or sedan. Closed models were not as yet exported and cost 25% more than the open types. So the latter exceeded the former by 20-to-1. In the States, styling as a science did not exist, so British importers oferred their own custom bodies, which included some quite elegant cabriolets.
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Black and white photo - a pre 1924 Buick engine: colour drawing is a 1916 four cylinder Buick (USA)
Before the Great Depression, a wave of economic optimism swept the world - and gave rise to supercars, furnishing excitement at the 1930-31 shows. Already, before World war 1, there had been the V8's of de Dion-Bouton an Cadillac: packard's V12 had been a wartime debutante and in early Vintage times, Duesenberg and Isotta Fraschini had put the straight-eight onto the map. So by1929, the straight-eight was commonplace and in addition, the American industry had apparently dropped the 12 and Europeans had a choice between the British Daimler, the German Maybach and the French Voisin.
In 1932, affluent Americans had the choice of six native V-12's and a brace of V-16's. And of thse last, Cadillac's was by far the more important. Total sales of 16-cylinder automobiles over 11 seasons were 4,3856...over three-quarters of those found buyers in the 1930-31 seasons - despite a price tag that would have bought TEN Model-A Ford sedans. For this formidable outlay, one would have acquired a 10mpg thirst or 27 lit/100 but one that obtained the ultimate in smooth progression, a synchromesh gearbox as yet unobainable on any European automobile - and a top speed in the region of 90mph (145km/h). The seven-seaters were rather slower and a roadster with the optional high ratio rear axle was good for the magic 'ton' (160km/h).
Although no straight-eight cars ever bore the Cadillac crest, the new model was a true double-eight with overhead valves and hydraulic valve lifters, developing 165bhp. Each bank of cylinders ha their own carburetto, coil and manifolding, as well as it's own vacuum feed. A single component designed to cope with all 16 cylinders would have been a mechanic's nightmare! The gearbox was Cadillac's regular three-speed synchromesh and the plate clutch a stronger edition of the V-8's. The chassis rose on semi-elliptic springs and the mechanical brakes, with drums of 16.5 inch (41.9cm) diameter, were given vacuum-servo assistance. The wheelbase was 148 inches (3.76m) and a sedan weighed 5,850lb (2,660kg).
Equipment included a built-in radio-aerial on closed cars and 24 body styles - almost all handcrafted by General Motors Fleetwood Body Division - were listed.
A slightly less expensive V-12 derivative was announced after 1931 and thereafter the V-16 developed alongside other Cadillac models. Clutches were servo-assisted from 1932, no draught ventialtion from 1933 and the last of the old V-16's were given hydraulic brakes in 1937, a year behind the rest of the range - and if some of the 'classic' looks were lost, the quality certainly was not. Cadillac were using a short-stroke side-valve engine by 1938 but then the USA entered another recession and the new 90 series expired in 1940 after a brief run.
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Later Cadillac V-16's. On the 1933 (above), both wings and grille follow traditional lines, but on the 1934 (below), there are flowing lines, a forward-mounted engine and stylized 'bi-plane' bumpers
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The Marmon 34, 1921, USA - the sepai photo is of Woodrow-Wilson taking part in a ceremonial parade in California, just after WW!. Sport the Marmon 34 beneath...........!
A prototype for the Armstrong Siddeley 30, the Marmon 34 had been on the market since 1916. Not a cheap car, it's price was ,250, far above the ,590 asked for a V8 Cadillac or even the ,950 asked for a Mercer's sproting L-Head Four.
There were marked similarities with the Siddeley - the six-cylinder overhead valve bi-block engine with it's three-bearing crank-shaft, though by this time, the magneto had given way to the usual American 6-volt coil ignition.
Marmon preferred double transverse springs to Armstrong Siddeley's longitudinal semi-elliptics at the rear, and the car's 5.5 litre engine gave 74 bhp compared to the British machine's 60bhp from 5 litres. Both cars featured robust Z-section frames.
On the original 34's, the aluminium content had been impressive for - block, cranckcase, valve gear, water pump, engine moutings, differenial casing, radiator shell, bonnet, and body panels, although the body framing was in ash. Re-designed in 1920's with a cast-iron block, the 34 remained a brisk performer, capable of 75-80 mph (120-30km/h): a stock tourer did a standing lap of Indianapolis Speedway at 63.2 mph (101.1 km/h).
The Marmon's appearance was attractive, with a pear shaped radiator and most Marmons had wire detachable wheels, instead of the usual USA fixed wood equipment with demountable rims. Unusually for a luxury car (but like the Siddeley), the 34 carried it's fuel in a 20-gallon (100 litre) tank on the dash. Rear tanks came on later models, as did balloon filled tyres and four wheel brakes, but this car was so expensive, it could not sell in large quantities, only a mere 3,000 units a year. In 1927, there was a market swing to the cheaper Eights which saw the Indianapolis factory out of the decade.
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Studebaker Light Six, 1921
By the early 1920's, six-cylinder engines had spread to the lower middle-class sector of the American market. 'Light Sixes' were just that - not as they had been in 1916, hefty 4.5 litre machines which were merely less unwieldy than their companion, the 'Big Sixes'. In 1921, Studebaker had abandoned Fours for good but reduced their cheapest model to 3.4 litre capacity, 2,400 lbs (1,090 kg) weight and a compact 112 inches of wheelbase, so more manageable. Even during the slump, they could sell the 'Light Sixes' in the USA for less than $1,500 - £300 - which explained why the company stayed in the Top Ten and took fourth place in the 1921's national sales tanks.
The engineering was copybook American - the side valve power unit was vacuum fed and splash-lubricated, with pump cooling and 6-volt coil ignition. The cylinder head was, of course, detachable and drive was taken by a single-plate clutch and a three-speed gearbox (still, surprisingly, separate from it's engine) to a spiral beval rear end. Old fashioned by local standards was the use of a separate sub-frame for motor and gearbox. Contracting and expanding brakes worked on the rear wheels: detachable wire wheels were a seldom-seen extra. Like Ford, Studebaker offered only black to the home market, though British buyers got the 'Light Sixes' in blue or fawn and could even specify London-made laundaulette coachwork.
For those that thought that 45bhp and 50 mph (89km/h) too inadequate, the company offered bigger cars and at the top of the range was a 5.8 litre 'heavy' on a 126-inch (3.2cm) wheelbase. |
During The Great Depression, Hupmobile - who made all their own major elements - were still selling about 40,000 cars a year in 1923. A touring model, the 'R', cost $1,150 - £230. Like Dodge, Hupmobile did not believe in change for change's sake - the 'R' had been around since 1917 and it was a straight-forward side-valve, three-litre, with thermo-siphon cooling, vacuum feed, three-speed unit gearbox, dry multi-disc clutch, spiral bevel back end, all brakes on the rear wheels and semi-elliptic springing. It's wheelbase was 112 inches (2.845m)and the full-pressure lubrication was a welcome refinement. The improvements that arrived by 1923 were principally cosmetic - a new radiator and the fashionable drum headlights - though friction shock absorbers were now standard and on the home market, a coil replaced the earlier magneto, the 17mpg (16lit/100) thirst was reasonable in a land of cheap petrol.
By 1924, the wheelbase went up to 115 inches (2.92cm), windscreen wipers were standardised and the engine uprated from 35 to 49 bhp. In the catalogue was a smart, close coupled sedan, as one-model ranges could no longer compete with the lineups of General Motors or even Durant. A straight-eight Hupmobile was introduced in 1925, and a year later, the old Four gave way to a medium-sized Six. |
As it says, a 1923 Hupmobile coupe. Golf clubs would have been housed in the rear deack (or hunting rifles?). The 'through-windscreen' spot lamp was a favourite period American accessory
A perfect car for Ollie (Babe) Hardy - the golfing fanatic and perpetual champion of Hal Roach studios - alas not in 1923!
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Real picture - Walter P. Chrysler with his masterpiece - a 1924 70 two-door sedan. Fixed wood wheels and demountable rims still predominated in America. Spare wheels, however, were usually rear-mounted: a side-mount as on this car was exceptional.
The original Chrysler 70 was a landmark - it as the first product of a new empire that would soon rank third in the American car industry, behind General Motors and Ford. It was also an outstanding performer for its day. American motorists had been accustimed to top speeds of low 50s (80-85km/h), with a cruising gait of 40 (60 km/h). The Chrysker was capable of an honest 70 (120km/h) and it cruised at 60. Better still, not only did it have a brake on each wheel, but these anchors were hydraulically actuated. The fact that they were still of the dirt-prone contracting type did not matter undult at this time as this system was accepted practice. Chrysler's handbrake worked on the transmission and would continue to do so, until the 1960's.
Walter P. Chrysler had graduated via top management at General Motors to being a manufacturer of the Maxwell-Chalmers combine. Neither firm was in good shape, financially or technically, but production continued until Chrysler's "Three Musketeers" - Carl Breer, Owen Skelton and Fred Zeder - worked out their new creation.
It's engine was startling enough - Though still a side-valve six, it was of a high compression type, giving 68bhp from 3.3 litres at a brisk 3,200 rpm -2,400 rpm was then the normal rate o rotation for an American toruing unit. The crankshaft was pressure-lubricated and ran to seven main bearing, though, the brakes apart, there was nothing else heretical about the Chrysler. The coil ignition, vacuum feed, spiral bevel back axle and semi-elliptic springs with friction dampers differed not at all from other American cars.
The one big difference was performance - that was inexpensive, the touring cost $1,335 and it was only one of eight body styles, even if hardly any of the costly ,725 Formal Town Cars found buyers. In Britain, the smart open roadsters acquired the image of the 'the poor man's Bentley', a reputation reinforced by a seventh place at Le Mans in 1925, and an even more startling third place three years later.
Sales rose from 32,000 in 1924 to 76,600 in 1925 and then to 162,242 in 1926! The older make, the Chalmers had been phased out during 1924 and the Maxwell hung on another four years before giving way to a four cylinder Chrysler. In 1926, the more powerful Sixes, an improved 3.6 litre 70 and the 4.7 litre Imperial 80, developing 92 bhp and capable of cruising at 75mph (120km/h). By the end of 1928, Walter P. Chrysler had absorbed the Dodge concern. he had also launched two cheaper makes - the Plymouth Four and the DeSoto Six, which gave him a market coverage comparable to that of General Motors.
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