TOURING WITH RAYMOND SPEARS 
The Problem That Confronts All Those 
Who Tour in House Cars is Many Sided 
By RAYMOND SPEARS 
A HOUSE- 
C A R 
sounds 
attractive, and 
many people 
have endeav¬ 
ored to build a 
house on a 
chassis that 
would enable 
them to live on 
the highways 
as in a shanty- 
b o a t on the 
rivers. Some 
enormous ones 
have been 
built, one on 
Long Island so 
large that it 
couldn’t go un¬ 
der the rail- 
r o a d bridges 
in the Mohawk 
valley, on the 
Albany, Utica 
and Syracuse highway. Others have 
negotiated the great passes of the 
Rockies, and the alkalis of the west, 
the mucks of southern winter high¬ 
ways, and through the New England 
regions. 
The closed cars, now the most popu¬ 
lar of the products of the automobile 
companies, unquestionably indicate that 
the house-car idea is developing. Se¬ 
dans, limousines, and various other 
models suggest that when the car for 
touring finally is wholly developed, we 
are to have a kind of highway sleeper, 
kitchenette, and all the conveniences, 
including the prime necessity of all, 
comfortable seats for all the travelers. 
The problem that confronts all those 
who plan house-cars is many-sided. I 
doubt if any one who has not toured 
rather extensively can design a first- 
class touring car, for all purposes. 
Certainly, a house-car is unsatisfac¬ 
tory, unless it provides many essentials, 
and these are, in part at least. 
Plenty of air. 
Comfortable seating arrangements. 
Storage room—lockers. 
Ample carrying capacity for chassis 
for the body. 
Wild-angle view range for the driver. 
Warmth in chill, coolness in heat. 
Sleeping arrangements to accommo¬ 
date all the party. 
ALL THE COMFORTS OF HOME 
Head-room. 
One of the chief objections to a 
house-car is the weight. This is a ques¬ 
tion of design, and materials. Cer¬ 
tainly, if one is going to build a house- 
car, it is advisable to consider, first of 
all, the kind of a chassis to be used. 
A ton truck would easily carry an am¬ 
ple house, but a 1,000-pound burden is 
too great for some of the small cars. 
Better have a lot of extra carrying 
power. 
This suggests, of course, the ques¬ 
tion of cost. Most house-cars are dis¬ 
tinctly home-made. They range all the 
way from a canvas stretched over 
hoops, the way canvas served the old 
prairie schooner travelers, to elaborate 
buildings of strong and pretty woods. 
Some of the simplest of house-cars are 
merely delivery vans, and many of the 
war-time ambulances were converted 
into sleeping quarters for tourists. 
No two kinds of cars would have the 
same house on the chassis. Therefore 
it is not feasible to go into detailed dis¬ 
cussion of the construction of house- 
cars. If the roof is heavy, the top will 
swing, and in wind, over rough roads, 
and in making short terms the danger 
of tipping is great. The center of 
gravity must be kept down, the lower 
the better. If the springs are not stiff 
enough, for the weight, a house-car will 
rock distress¬ 
ingly. Extra 
heavy springs 
are desireable 
on practically 
all the passen¬ 
ger-car mod¬ 
els, when a 
house is built 
on the chassis. 
Shock absorb¬ 
ers help some. 
In no event 
should a house 
be put on that 
weighs more 
than the 
closed-car 
model of the 
same make of 
car. Occasion¬ 
ally a closed- 
car model is too 
heavy for the 
chassis, as it 
is. 
The fact is, the house-car is merely 
a portable camp. For rolling over the 
highways, there is no pleasanter driv¬ 
ing than the open car, with the top 
down. The moment there is a top, the 
view is restricted. Shade is grateful 
in the unwinking desert sunshine, of 
course. The moment the car is closed 
in, advantages accrue in one direction, 
while others are lost. A true balance 
is difficult to find. Some solve the prob¬ 
lem with trailers, having all the outfit, 
for night and eating, and stopping 
along, in a two-wheel cart towed be¬ 
hind. To make them tow easier, some 
are folding camps, packing down in a 
wagon box. The folding top of a tour¬ 
ing car is a makeshift—used too often, 
the top wears out. Few put the top 
down nowadays. 
The ideal house-car will be as wide 
as the touring model, with the running- 
boards. Lockers will hang to the level 
of the running-boards, lower ones open¬ 
ing outside, the upper ones, serving as 
seats, will open inside. The beds will 
roll up or be folding, perhaps of can¬ 
vas, or chain-springs, or combinations 
of both. Table, gasoline or oil stove, 
dish-cupboard, grub-box, and all the 
various necessities will be built in, or 
pack in, tight. 
The floor space will be bare, when 
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