Body Salon

For 25 years, the Automobile Salon has preceded the more plebeian Automobile Show. In Manhattan last week was held the 26th Salon, fresh from Chicago. When the week in Manhattan was over, 225 cars had been sold, $1,950,000 taken in. a new record. Throngs gathered to be bedazzled by luxurious displays, to inspect innovations. Most of the exhibitors were not motor-makers, but famed builders of customs bodies. Packard displayed one of its own bodies, but Derham. Dietrich, Le Baron, Rollstdn and Waterhouse also displayed bodies on Packard chassis.

Some newsworthy features:

Lincolns are longer, lower, wider, have freewheeling. They also have an "air-scoop" radiator.

Franklins still feature airplane lines, as do many other cars. Door-hinges do not show on the outside, adding to the line's simplicity. This improvement is said to have originated from an advertising artist's error.

Mormon exhibited its new 16-cylinder creation, of which Marmon Chairman Colonel Howard Marmon is specially proud. It has 210 h.p., will attain 100 m.p.h. Salesmen say it goes ten miles per gallon of gasoline. Production will start early next year, might have been delayed longer had not the 16-cylincer Cadillac come out. The car will sell at around $5,500. Spark and throttle are not on the steering wheel but on the dash. Radiator and gas tank cap are hidden. On the hubcaps the buyer may have either the name of the car or a dash of lightning. For the first time in history, one man designed the entire car. He was Walter Dorwin Teague, new to automobile designing and therefore fancy free. Their makers say 16 cylinders afford more power per pound than any other engine, make running smoother, more flexible. Cadillac has sold 2,010 of its big cars in nine months at a minimum of $5,350 each. Minerva keeps the old hand-horn for those who prefer it. Fierce-Arrow and Cord seem to favor broadcloth for interiors. Many cars have wide, single-bar bumpers. . . . Radiator shields are prominent. . . . Hubcaps are larger. . . . Black predominates for formal cars. . . . Many cars have radios. Le Baron's radio controls are placed in the vanity-box so they may be operated from the rear seat. . . . Duesenberg,* by Judkin, has a complete liquor cabinet. . . . Dashboards are more complicated than ever, with altimeters popular. . . . Much chromium is used on many cars. Some gold and silver plating and solid bronze are used. . . . Metal tire covers are prominent. . . . Radically modern for Brewster was a Rolls-Royce body with everything, including doors, slanting sharply backward. This Rolls-Royce cost $21,750, was the most expensive car. Next was an $18,600 Isotta. . . . Adjustable "Pullman" seats were in evidence. . . . Rugs, lap robes and pillows (some of lambskin) blended with upholstery. . . . Some sport phaetons have a duplicate dashboard for rear-seat riders. . . . Exhibitors were hopeful Hollywood cinemastars will approve of the lavishness of the models, to be displayed in Los Angeles the first week in February, the Salon's next stop before closing in San Francisco in February's third week. Conspicuously absent were the usual large number of foreign cars, Minerva and Isotta Fraschini being the only importations. Isotta bodies are made by famed Castagna of Milan. President of the U. S. Isotta sales company is Ugo V. D'An-nunzio, son of Italy's Poet-Soldier Gabriele D'Annunzio. Short, plump, light-com-plexioned, modest, 43, Son D'Annunzio came to the U. S. in 1917 to supervise the manufacture of Caproni bombing planes at Fisher Body plant. He returns to Italy once a year, spends evenings discussing aviation and literature with his father. Italians remember that Son Ugo was a child prodigy, gave violin concerts in many big cities at the age of seven. In addition to selling Isottas, Son Ugo is interested in Savoia-Marchetti flying boats, heading the U. S. Savoia-Marchetti sales company and being vice president of the American Aeronautical Corp. When not working, Salesman D'Annunzio likes to think about Port Washington, N. Y., which he is developing into a big airplane terminal.

* Confident is Duesenberg of its car. The same model has been used for display purposes for three years.

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