AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



April, 1 910 



The Closed Car 



Its Various Types and Their Utility 



'OR this season of the year some form of 

 closed automobile is preferable on the 

 country place, while for town use it is well 

 nigh universally employed. 



There are many different kinds of 

 closed cars in use, from the curtain- 

 covered taxicab with collapsible top, to 

 the large, elaborately fitted limousine with every modern 

 convenience. Midway between the two is the inside-oper- 

 ated coupe for the automobilist who does his own driving. 



For people who already own a good touring car, the 

 easiest way of procuring a closed car for winter use is to 

 purchase an extra body of the type desired and to have 

 this mounted upon the chassis. During the months the new 

 body is in use, the touring body can be renovated and made 

 as good as new for use again in the spring. 



The purchaser of a new 

 machine will do well to 

 look over the field thor- 

 oughly before deciding 

 upon any particular make 

 or type. For city work 

 and the suburban town 

 where the roads are good, 

 the electric is the vehicle 

 par excellence. Inside-oper- 

 ated electric coupes are now 

 built with a guaranteed 

 milage per charge of 100, 

 and a carry capacity of 

 three to four persons. The 

 storage batteries of these 

 machines will run them 

 8,000 to 9,000 miles with- 

 out renewing, which means 

 that a year's use of a new 

 car can be had with prac- 

 tically no expense save the 

 cost of current, as the tire 

 maintenance of an electric 

 automobile is very slight. 



This type of vehicle is 

 also made in the limousine 

 and landaulette forms with 

 all the mechanical im- 

 provements found on gas- 

 oline cars, such as bevel 

 gear drive and the like. 

 Electric lights, heaters, 

 signalling apparatus and 



An interior of a high-class limousine car. 



all the multitudinous devices of more or less utility which 

 are operated by the "invisible fluid" are either regularly 

 fitted or can be easily installed at the desire of the 

 purchaser. 



If a gasoline car is chosen, electric lights can nevertheless 

 be fitted, the current in this case being supplied by the 

 ignition batteries which are kept charged by a special dyn- 

 amo driven continuously from the clutch shaft back of the 

 engine. Combination oil and electric lights can be used on 

 the dashboard, the former being of use in case the current 

 gives out. With this type of car a hot water radiator con- 

 nected with the water jacket of the engine may be fitted, 

 or a smaller heater supplied from the exhaust gas may be 

 used. Various fittings, such as a mirror, card case, vase 

 for flowers, etc., are found on all well appointed limousine 

 cars. A speaking tube leading from the inside to a point 



beside the chauffeur's head, 

 is indispensable. An elec- 

 tric speedometer within 

 the car can be installed 

 without any difficulty, and 

 in connection with this an 

 electric-light signalling de- 

 vice for silently indicating 

 to the chauffeur whether 

 to go fast or slow, which 

 way to turn, etc., will be 

 found a great convenience. 

 Now that attention is be- 

 ing given to the question 

 of smoke emission by auto- 

 mobiles in the larger cities 

 of the country, a smoke 

 indicator is needed to ap- 

 praise the occupants of the 

 car whether or not the 

 engine is emitting smoke on 

 account of excess of oil or 

 for any other reason. 

 Doubtless in the near 

 future some such indicator 

 will be brought out, for its 

 necessity will soon be as 

 great as the recent need 

 of an accurate speedome- 

 ter with which to combat 

 the policeman's testimony 

 when one is arrested for 

 speeding. Apropos of 

 speedometers, besides the 



