The Automobile; Its Selection, Care and Use

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1910. Not illustrated. Excerpt: ... TAKING CAEE OF YOUR OWN AUTO IF YOU have just bought your automobile, or are thinking of it, and if you mean to be a moderate motorist to whom upkeep cost is a vital consideration, the question inevitably presents itself: "Is it possible to run a car for a year and confine expenses to fuel, oil, batteries, and a few extra tires?" There is a mistaken impression that it is not, and the growth of this opinion is largely due to the truthful accounts of the many who rush into possession of a car and heedlessly hurry in its use. When their ardor has been cooled by a deluge of machinists' bills, embarrassing breakdowns, and the final realization that the car is fitter for the junkheap than for use, they rush out again with voluble testimony that it does not pay to keep your own car unless you can afford fabulous sums as the price of having it on hand and in a condition to be used when you want it. The man in moderate circumstances who has neither the time nor patience to devote a reasonable amount of personal attention to his automobile had better stay out of the game. The same sort of attention is meant that a lover of horses would give to the well-selected cob or span he can afford to keep. One can learn to drive an automobile even more quickly than to drive a horse, but that is far from knowing either animal or machine and how to get the most comfort out of each. Talk with any automobile enthusiast--a real one, who has driven many cars of many makes-- and if you stir him to the true mood of reminiscence, he will reveal little intimate acquaintances with machines, which will convince you that every motor has its own personality, like every horse-- even as between two identical models from the same manufacturer. He will convince you, likewise, if you are a judge o...