Life, 1920-06-10 · page 31 of 44
Life — June 10, 1920 — page 31: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is **not a cartoon or satire**—it's a straightforward **automobile advertisement** from Life magazine (page 1095). The page promotes the Lafayette automobile, manufactured by Lafayette Motors Company in Indianapolis. The technical text celebrates the car's engine design, emphasizing engineering excellence: its powerful output (90+ horsepower), mechanical simplicity, and innovative features like the single universal joint and integrated lubrication system. The oval photograph shows the engine itself, displayed as the centerpiece of the advertisement's design. The small circular inset appears to be a company logo. This represents typical early-20th-century automotive advertising that appealed to readers' appreciation for mechanical innovation and engineering prowess—selling the car through detailed technical specifications rather than lifestyle or emotional appeal.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AFAYE TIE Wuart a wonderful engine! Not one unneeded bolt nor unessen- tial ounce of weight. Delivering tremendous torque, over an unexampled range of engine speeds, it summons more than ninety horsepower to its purpose. Yet simplicity runs through it like a theme. The power travels in a straight line from crankshaft to differential pinion gear. There is but one universal joint and it is automatically lubricated from the transmission. Like the oil-pump, the water-pump drives on the crankshaft, eliminat- ing all gears and their attendant auxiliaries. The crankshaft of hollowed chrome- nickel steel has five bearings to insure rigidity and strength at speed. As in the engine, so throughout the car; in every part as in the whole the discerning mind will read con- summate engineering, and so read- ing, rank LaFayette high, among the finest motor cars of all the world. LAFAYETTE MOTORS COMPANY at Xers Hill Inpiwnarous comicbooks.com