Life, 1911-09-14 · page 8 of 46
Life — September 14, 1911 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satirical piece** — it's a straightforward automobile advertisement for the Speedwell Motor Car Company of Dayton, Ohio, published in Life magazine. The page features a photograph of a 1912 Speedwell Model 12-H automobile (priced at $2,700) and lengthy promotional text about frame construction and engineering quality. The advertisement emphasizes the car's superior frame strength, safety features, and construction methods as selling points. The copy appeals to potential buyers to compare Speedwell favorably against competitors by examining technical specifications and build quality — a standard sales pitch for early automobile advertising, not satire or political commentary.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE: SS ee SS Se Model 12-H, Special, Semi-Racer a i ee ees, PLT OO Top and windshield extra. N estimate of Speedwell excellence depends upon a com- parison rather than description. You must have some form of mental yard-stick to judge quality just as you instinctively judge other characteristics. Base your judgment of the 1912 Speedwell models upon what you know—or can learn—of cars for which much higher prices are asked. We are not content to have you think that the Speedwell is merely the best car you can buy at its price, because careful comparison must convince you that there is no better car at any price. If you will carry your investigation to the fullest length pos- sible, analyzing thoroughly each Speedwell claim, you will not need to be told why this car finds its larger proportion of buyers among those best posted upon automobile values. STANDARD chassis of 123-inch wheelbase, 4-cylinder, 50 H.P. motor, 36-inch wheels in 10 styles of open front and fore-door bodies at $2500 to $2900. Limousin $3850. Special Cruiser model of 132-inch wheelbase at $3500. Catalog and Speedwell monthly magazine sent upon request. THE SPEEDWELL 390 Essex Avenue, MOTOR CAR COMPANY DAYTON, OHIO How extra strength is built into the frame The frame is the foundation of the car; and the good automobile engineer endows it with all the strength his ingenuity can devise. Provision must be made not only for the ordinary strains and twist- ings which the frame must take as a matter of course, but for the un- expected and extraordinary shocks which every car must meet sooner or later. The assurance of safety and strength begins with the material in the Speedwell frame and the manner of its making. A special carbon steel is used—steel which we have proved, in our own labo- ratory tests, to have extremely great strength. The frame mem- bers are pressed, and heat treated to develop strength of the steel to astill higher point. The members are heavier than the usual practice dictates and the channel excep- tionally deep. Integral gussets are provided at the ends of the cross members where the latter join the main channels; and cross members and motor sub-frame are hot riveted to the main frame—which effects a unit so far as strain-resisting power is concerned. In front, where the frame is narrowed to permit a wide turning range to the steering road wheels, the offsets are widened so that weakness cannot develop. Over the rear axle, the frame is arched, permitting of liberal spring action and at the same time low- ering the body of the car without a sacrifice of safe road clearance. We have gone into these details for the reason that motor car ad- ements, as a rule, particu- larize on practically every feature save the frame—which-is one of the most important. Furthermore, we want to ac-’ quaint you with Speedwell meth- ods; and impress upon you the soundness of Speedwell engincer- ing and construction. Other Speedwell constructional advantages will be cited in future advertisements. SoS A comicbooks.com