Automotive Trends for '64
(Continued from page 9)
A Letter To Our
NON-CATHOLIC Neighbors
Some tOO drivers will test BO turbine cart
under everyday condition.
Today's trend is toward "personalized"
autos: that's why we have literally sev
eral hundred separate models to choose
from this year. But we'll have an almost
infinite number if plastic ever licks pro
duction problems. For example, one man
ufacturer could offer the customer a choice
of four or five different styles of plastic
hoods or trunks, and once techniques are
perfected in what is called "vacuum coat
ing" of metal on large surfaces of plastic,
it would be quite feasible to offer several
varieties of grills.
All automakers are already well ad
vanced in their struggle to provide the
new-car buyer with a "service free" prod
uct Within a few years, 'lifetime" chas
sis lubrication will be standard, and chem
ists probably will create antifreezes in
conjunction with sealed cooling systems
that also will last the car's lifetime.
Tires with a leakproof chemical foam
filler are around the corner; there will be
disc-type brakes with metallicized linings
that should last indefinitely; and cheaper,
transistorized ignition systems will more
than double spark-plug and point life.
Obviously, the modern piston engine is
a highly refined product that continually
gets better, but the reciprocating motion
of many of its moving parts, coupled with
off-set forces on these parts, inevitably
causes wear. It also requires a relatively
complicated and trouble-prone ignition
system, and everything must be constant
ly oiled. Yet the only feasible threat to
the piston engine is the gas turbine, par
ticularly as developed by Chrysler.
Chrysler's turbine car, which will be
loaned to some 200 persons for test
ing in the coming 12 months, produces 200
horsepower, but the turbine itself fits
into a space about the size of an orange
crate and weighs half as much as a piston
engine of the same-output. It has only 20
moving parts, and these rotate with little
if any load on them once the engine is
started. Since the oil is not subject to com
bustion, the five quarts put in at the fac
tory will last a lifetime.
The ignition system consists of one
spark plug that is used only when start
ing. The engine uses any liquid fuel other
than leaded gasoline and will give 15 to
18 miles per gallon at highway speeds. It
is an engine that can be guaranteed for
100,000 miles.
The turbine's designers, executive engi
neer George J. Huebner and bis staff,
have not attempted to build in more per
formance or economy than an equivalent
piston engine, which would be the V-8
commonly offered in the company's regu
lar line. With their Italian-made sport
coupe bodies, the 60 turbine specials be
ing built weigh about 4,000 pounds each,
but this weight could be reduced drasti
cally with U. S. production techniques.
Acceleration (zero to 60 miles per hour
in 11 seconds) and a top speed of 115 mph
would seem adequate for all normal driv
ing needs. These figures, of course, would
improve measurably if the body were
built to the same lightweight standards
as the turbine engine.
Although the turbine car was purposely
. engineered to drive like any other, a
session behind the wheel is still a thrill
ing experience. You flip the ignition key,
and there is momentarily complete silence.
Then gradually the engine winds up to its
"idle" of 22,000 revolutions per minute, a
figure roughly four times the top speed
of regular engines. The whine is notice
able and intentional: Chrysler figures that
anyone who buys one of the first turbines
would want to advertise that fact And
equally startling to the neophyte driver is
the temperature gauge that climbs almost
immediately to the "green" or operating
range of 5,000 degrees. The turbine never
needs "warming up."
At cruising speed, the most noticeable
effect is one of extreme smoothness. The
engine feels so detached from the car that
therj is an impression of coasting, yet
actually engine "braking" or deceleration
is about the same as on any other car,
thanks to an automatic device that rotates
the blades on the turbine when you lift
your foot off the accelerator. A silent, ro
tating heat exchanger or regenerator (12
years in development) is the secret of the
competitive fuel economy and is also why
you can put your hand over the exhaust
without being burned. The regenerator re
routes normally wasted engine heat back
into the combustion cycle.
But before you will have the chance to
"risk" buying one of these radical new
cars, Chrysler must decide to take a vast
ly bigger risk. It must in effect make a
$100-million gamble, for it can profit from
turbines only if they are mass-produced.
That's just one of the many risks being
pondered by each of the automakers these
days. The ultimate result will be better
future cars for you at no risk to you.
remU Weekly. Ortober , IK 11
Catholics and non-Catholics, as a
rule, get along right well together.
Our families live amicably next
door to each other and often be
come lifetime friends. Our sons
fight side by side on every battle
field. We work together in the
same shops and factories ... root
for the same baseball teams. ..do
business with one another in a
spirit of mutual trust every day.
In these and other phases of
everyday life, there is a dose asso
ciation which promotes under
standing and respect. But in reli
gion... where this close associa
tion does not exist . . . there is
often a regrettable lack of under
standing and a corresponding ab
sence of good-will.
Many people, for instance, have
all sorts of false ideas about Catho
lics and the Catholic Church. They
actually believe that Catholics
worship statues . . . that many sor
did things happen behind convent
walls . . . that Catholics do not be
lieve in the Bible . . . that Catholic
teaching is pure superstition and
the Mass nothing but mumbo
jumbo. All non-Catholics, of course, do
not believe such things. But
enough of these false rumors are
in circulation to cause some sin
cere and intelligent non-Catholics
to look upon the Catholic Church
with suspicion, and to reject Cath
olic truth without even troubling
to investigate it.
It is for this reason that the
Knights of Columbus, a society of
Catholic laymen, publishes ad
vertisements like this explaining
what Catholics really believe. We
want our non-Catholic friends and
neighbors to understand us and
our Faith, even if they do not wish
to join us. We want them to know
the Catholic Church as it really
is . . . not as it is so often misrepre
sented to be.
It is also important to you
personally, however, to inquire
into the teaching of the Catholic
Church. For unless you do, you
cannot know whether the Catho
lic Church is or is not the Church
established by Jesus Christ for
your salvation. You cannot intel
ligently accept or reject Catholic
teaching until you investigate it
and know what it really is.
A distinguished Catholic author
has written "A Letter To a Friend
Not of My Faith." This letter has
been published in the form of a
pamphlet which can be read in a
few minutes ... and which gives
a remarkably clear and beautiful
explanation of Catholic beliefs,
worship and history. More im
portantly, it gives a blueprint of
Christian living which will deeply
move you whether you accept or
reject the Catholic viewpoint.
This highly interesting pam
phlet is well worth the few min
utes it will take you to read it. We
will be glad to send you a copy
free on request, and nobody will
call on you. Write today ... ask for
Pamphlet No. FM-23.
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