Test Run

Before dawn one day last week, a caravan of 31 shiny new cars rolled out of Los Angeles, heading east. Each car was a standard 1950 model; every major U.S. make except Buick and Pontiac was represented. The cars had been tuned to perfection (but'not souped up), for a grueling two-day, 750-mile test to see which car got the most mileage and efficiency from its fuel.

Under the watchful eyes of American Automobile Association judges, the drivers had to keep an average speed of 42 miles per hour over the tricky course, save gas by skillful driving (e.g.,-a gentle, steady accelerator pressure), use no trick gadgets. One driver, wearing neither shoes nor socks, had sandpapered the soles of his feet to keep a sensitive control of the gas pedal; others wore special footwear, built up on the right side to give delicate horizontal pressure on the gas pedal instead of a strong downward thrust.

The cars pushed over the San Gabriel Mountains and into the Mojave Desert. They plunged into the 90DEG heat of Death Valley (some drivers sweltered with the windows up lest they cut down their streamlining), spiraled up again into Las Vegas for the night. Next day, a seven-hour drive sent them rolling across Hoover Dam, and then steadily uphill into below-freezing temperatures and snow at the finish line near the Grand Canyon.

When the last car had stopped, contest officials took to their slide rules to judge the winner on a complicated basis of efficiency per ton-mile (i.e., weight of car plus passengers, multiplied by mileage and divided by the number of gallons of gas consumed). There were plenty of surprises.

The top honor was won not by one of the lighter, cheaper cars, but by the relatively big (3,600 Ibs.), middle-priced Mercury. The winning model, entered by Long Beach Dealer Art Hall, rolled up 61.27 ton-miles per gallon. More surprising still, the even heavier and more expensive Cadillac, represented by several entries, won both second and third places, getting 59.12 and 58.56 ton-miles respectively. Among the low-priced cars, a Ford 6 outperformed both Chevrolet and Plymouth; in higher price ranges, a Kaiser Special, Studebaker Land Cruiser and Frazer Manhattan won top honors.*

In presenting the trophies, Clarence S. Beesemyer, vice president of California's General Petroleum Co., the contest's sponsor, said: "These mileages give the general public something to shoot at. They prove just what a properly driven and properly maintained car will do." But few U.S. drivers would sandpaper their feet for such mileage.

-On a basis of gasoline mileage alone, the Studebaker Champion placed first with 26.551 miles to the gallon, the sweepstakes-winning Mercury second with 26.524 mi., and a Nash Ambassador third with 26.424 mi. Next, in order of ranking: Nash Statesman, 25.522 m.p.g.; Studebaker Land Cruiser, 24.887; Kaiser Special, 23.946; Frazer Manhattan, 23.907; Studebaker Commander, 23-794; Ford 6, 23.326; Cadillac 61, 22.972; Cadillac 62, 22.525; Cadillac 60, 22.080; Hudson Commodore, 21.386; Plymouth, 21.254; Chevrolet, 21.071.

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