All New for '52

During the last four weeks, American automobile makers have been unveiling their new models with all the calculated coyness of a middle-aged stripper. By last Friday when Nash 'came out,' the lineup was complete, if dull. There had been some artful padding and plastering of gaudy makeup, but for most manufacturers the changes weren't even skin deep.

Perhaps the only genuinely new car, and certainly the most interesting, came from the small independent Willys-Overland. Combining an efficient new F-head engine, excellent vision, ample driver room, and an overall length of fifteen feet, the new Willys is a refreshing change from the prevailing "pregnant hippopotamus school of car design. Regrettably though, the Willys is a medium rather than a low-priced car.

Other independents fumbled around with their styling and interiors; technical improvements were either minor or non-existent. Kaiser for example changed hood ornaments and tacked a chrome-plated tire case on the rear. Studebaker dropped its needle-nose, and Nash swapped its bathtub body for one designd by Italy's Pinin Farina that couldn't help being an improvement.

Among the Big Three (Chrysler, Ford, and GM) with their large research departments, new models show the effects of both a horsepower race and a sort of shell game with styling tricks. GM has boosted horsepower on its Buick, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac lines by using a tricky and expensive ($65.00) new carburetor. But since this extra power comes in only when the throttle is wide open, there are those who feel that the power increase is primarily for advertising purposes.

To compete with GM, Chrysler advertises a 160 h.p. engine in its DeSoto line; the Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth models remain relatively unchanged.

Stealing is a harsh word, so perhaps it is best to say that several style highlights of the new Ford line just happened to appear on GM models last year. In the way of original advancement, though, an efficient overhead valve six and a long overdue overhead valve eight for the Lincoln line. But the Mercury is, perhaps, more typical of '52's cars with only a slightly modified essentially thirteen year old engine but sporting various types of chrome slashes and strips and a completely superfluous fake slot running across the hood.

For 1952, then, the term "new car" is somewhat misleading, insofar as it signifies progress. This year's automotive atmosphere is typified by a Boston dealer's justification of the high price on his new model--"well," he said, "the trim is nicely finished..."