Beauty and the Ford

It has been customary to consider Henry Ford as indifferent to beauty, and interested only in the more practical aspects of affairs. For many years the aesthetic qualities of his product have been jeered at by the multitude. Mr. Ford reprinted the jeers as an effective and cheap form of advertising. Now, however, a change has apparently come over the Detroiter. His leisure he spends in reviving old-fashioned dances and music. The rising aesthetic impulse has finally led him to revamp the new model of his cars with the idea of making them more seemly to the eye. Last week the Ford Co. announced for next year "more drastic changes in our output than any made since 1908."

"The most radical mechanical change" is "the widening of the transmission brake band by 5/8 of an inch." The engine remains unchanged. The chassis has been markedly lowered, as in Le Ford Francais -- the company's French product.

Body changes are more spectacular. A door will be fitted for the first time next to the driver in the roadster and touring model. The Tudor (two door "coach") and the Fordor (four door sedan) will blossom respectively into "deep channel green" and "rich Windsor maroon." Heretofore all Fords have been black. All but these two models will remain so. Other "radical improvements" are: (1) inch larger steering-wheels on all models; (2) seats 4 inches closer to the ground and more ^ reclining; (3) radiators 5/8 of an inch higher, and nickeled in closed models; (4) gas tanks under cowl (instead of the drivers seat) or roadster, touring car and coupe.