Life, 1915-07-01 · page 33 of 44
Life — July 1, 1915 — page 33: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page is **not a cartoon or satire** — it's a luxury automobile advertisement from Life magazine's advertising section (page 33). The Simplex Automobile Company announces the "Crane Model Six-Cylinder Simplex," a high-end car built by Henry M. Crane, renowned designer of Dixie motors (three-time Harmsworth Trophy winners). The company has acquired Crane's New Jersey plant and relocated it to New Brunswick, where Crane will personally oversee limited production. The advertisement emphasizes exclusivity and quality: each body will be handcrafted and unique, appealing to wealthy buyers seeking distinction. It also makes a technical claim that six cylinders are sufficient—implying competitors' multi-cylinder engines are unnecessary. The ornate art-deco border design reinforces the luxury positioning. This represents early automotive marketing targeting affluent consumers, circa 1910s-1920s.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
/ © THE CRANE MODEL y ’ SIX-CYLINDER SIMPLEX ° PRONOUNCEMENT “The Crane Six”—long known to automobile experts as the world’s best chassis, built by Henry M.-Crane, Esq., the designer and builder of the famous Dixie motors, three times winners of the Harmsworth Trophy—is now offered as the Crane Model, Six-Cylinder Simplex—Bodies by Brewster. The Simplex Automobile Company, Inc., has taken over the plant of the Crane Motor Car Company of Bayonne, New Jersey, moving it in its entirety to the Simplex plant at New Brunswick. There, under the personal supervision of Mr. Crane, with his expert staff and employing the special machin- ery formerly used, a limited number of the Crane Model, Six-Cylinder Simplex Chassis will be built. No adequate idea of the perfection of the perform- ance of this car can be had until experienced. It estab- lishes, beyond any question, the oft-repeated assertion that’ more than six cylinders are unnecessary. Each individual body will be different. We have thus provided that Simplex owners shal! have the priv- ilege of driving a car whose distinction remains a per- sonal possession—untrafficked—exclusive. This applies as well to the Simplex Model E, four-cylinder Chassis. SIMPLEX AUTOMOBILE COMPANY, Inc. 240 West 59th Street, New York comicbooks.com