Life, 1915-07-15 · page 35 of 48
Life — July 15, 1915 — page 35: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is primarily a **car advertisement**, not satire or political commentary. The page promotes the Willys-Knight automobile at $1,095. The illustration shows four well-dressed men in a motorcar—representing the vehicle's appeal to middle-class and aspirational buyers. The ad's rhetorical strategy is its actual "joke": it emphasizes that the Knight motor technology was used exclusively in expensive European luxury cars ($4,000-$8,000) owned by European nobility and titled families, yet Willys-Overland could offer the same motor at a fraction of the price through American mass-production efficiency. The satire is implicit: the ad mocks European exclusivity and high prices by democratizing access to the same prestigious technology. For modern readers, this reflects early automotive manufacturing's shift toward affordability and assembly-line production—a significant economic and social development of the era. The page includes detailed mechanical specifications and claims about the Knight motor's superior design and durability.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
$1095 t. 0. b. Toledo The World’s Lowest Priced Knight Motored Car HIS announces, without doubt, the greatest achievement in the history of the automobile business. A Knight motored car for $1095! ~ ‘The Knight is the automobile motor that revolutionized the entire motor car industry of Europe. It is the motor that is used by prac- tically all the leading European auto- mobile manufacturers. The Daimler of England, the Pan- hard of France, the Mercedes of Ger- many, the Minerva of Belgium are all equipped with the famous Knight motor. And these are the motor cars that cost from $4000 to $8000 each! A0-hersepower Knight motor; ndere cast en bloc, #42 Pee 8 Vacuum tank gesoline system Practically every titled family in Europe owns one or more Knight motored cars. The Knight motor is acknowledged to be the most highly developed auto- mobile motor on the market. This motor differs from other motors in that where all others deteriorate with use, this improves; to all others carbon is harmful, here it is beneficial; size for size it has more power. It has no noisy poppet valves; no cams; no uncertain valve springs; no troublesome valves to grind; practically no wearing parts. It is the ideal automobile motor. Specifications: Coler: Royal bee with The Willys-Knight has the same advantages and is just as efficient as those costly European Knight cars. Yet it costs but $1095! As we build more cars in a single week than most European manufac- turers build in a whole year, we are able to utilize every modern manufac- turing economy. That is why our price is so much less. ‘The Willys-Knight, in our opinion, has the least vibration, is the smoothest, quietest, and most economical car made. Ask for special booklet describing Willys-Knight motor. Have your demonstration at once. Immediate deliveries, Headlight dit far, ished oleminam trimmings ires; mon-shids rear Electric starting and Demoentable rims, one extra “Made in U.S. A." Catalogue on request. ing Magnetic Speedometer Please address Dept. 345 The Willys-Overland Company, Toledo, Ohio comicbooks.com