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In 1936 E.L. Cord began the Cord/Auburn/Deusenburg company, and produced a far ahead thinking motor vehicle -
The "CORD"
*CORD auto's used to have a small brass plate that read:
"This automobile is guaranteed to go 120 miles per hour. It has been factory tested at this speed"
Clark Gable owned one, and so did Amelia Earhardt. They were as far reaching into the future as any car of its time.
They featured front wheel drive (which no other car of its time had) and they had an "automatic shifting" transmission that was the forerunner of modern autotrannies. Another feature of the Cord automobile was that it was streamlined not only on its upper bodyworks, but also underneath.
The underside of Cord cars was made as smooth and clean as possible in order to make it go faster.
There was no concern in those days about fuel mileage, since gas was very cheap. Indeed - the biggest deal back then was that a crew ran out (in uniform) to wash your windows, and fill up your car, without you ever having to lift a finger....
*That was a part of convincing you to buy their "GASOLINE"
But now we come to today - in the Festiva FORD was looking at a sub-compact that could carry lots of "STUFF". One that gave very high miles for the buck, and was as stable and fun a ride as you could have.
*Fill it up yourself, and good luck to you
I can't help but compare it to the Cord, the drivetrain is the same - but the weight is different. In the modern age we saw the "COMPACT CARS" introduced to America pretty much fail, because everyone was stuck on "IMAGE" and spending money. But as the price of fuel goes ever higher, something I learned long ago both from my father who was an aerospace engineer and from the racing crowd around me as I got my hands ever greasier came back to me:
"It's all about power to weight ratio"
So Festiva was launched, but never caught on as it should have because Americans were not concerned about money, saving it, and what fuel cost....
Silly buggers!
I saw that coming, and I expect so did you.
What the Festiva is - it's a fun car to drive, has lots of load space, and gets max mile per gallon even if it has an air conditioner running. It bites down in snow and can get around land yachts in bad weather when they are slipping and sliding all over the place.
But what is best of all:
You can modify them to race with!
If you drive one of these and think about the past - you have to wonder
It isn't just a cheap car, it's the product of over a hundred years of automotive thinking
The "CORD"
*CORD auto's used to have a small brass plate that read:
"This automobile is guaranteed to go 120 miles per hour. It has been factory tested at this speed"
Clark Gable owned one, and so did Amelia Earhardt. They were as far reaching into the future as any car of its time.
They featured front wheel drive (which no other car of its time had) and they had an "automatic shifting" transmission that was the forerunner of modern autotrannies. Another feature of the Cord automobile was that it was streamlined not only on its upper bodyworks, but also underneath.
The underside of Cord cars was made as smooth and clean as possible in order to make it go faster.
There was no concern in those days about fuel mileage, since gas was very cheap. Indeed - the biggest deal back then was that a crew ran out (in uniform) to wash your windows, and fill up your car, without you ever having to lift a finger....
*That was a part of convincing you to buy their "GASOLINE"
But now we come to today - in the Festiva FORD was looking at a sub-compact that could carry lots of "STUFF". One that gave very high miles for the buck, and was as stable and fun a ride as you could have.
*Fill it up yourself, and good luck to you
I can't help but compare it to the Cord, the drivetrain is the same - but the weight is different. In the modern age we saw the "COMPACT CARS" introduced to America pretty much fail, because everyone was stuck on "IMAGE" and spending money. But as the price of fuel goes ever higher, something I learned long ago both from my father who was an aerospace engineer and from the racing crowd around me as I got my hands ever greasier came back to me:
"It's all about power to weight ratio"
So Festiva was launched, but never caught on as it should have because Americans were not concerned about money, saving it, and what fuel cost....
Silly buggers!
I saw that coming, and I expect so did you.
What the Festiva is - it's a fun car to drive, has lots of load space, and gets max mile per gallon even if it has an air conditioner running. It bites down in snow and can get around land yachts in bad weather when they are slipping and sliding all over the place.
But what is best of all:
You can modify them to race with!
If you drive one of these and think about the past - you have to wonder
It isn't just a cheap car, it's the product of over a hundred years of automotive thinking
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