Life, 1929-08-02 · page 22 of 40
Life — August 2, 1929 — page 22: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is not a satirical cartoon but a **product advertisement** for the Ruxton automobile, claiming it as "America's first front-wheel-drive motor car." The page showcases three Ruxton models (Roadster, Phaeton, Saloon) alongside competitors' silhouettes to emphasize the Ruxton's distinctive low profile—ten inches lower than other cars. The lengthy text employs hyperbolic marketing language, ironically acknowledging that automotive advertising typically overpromises ("smooth performance," "restful comfort") while insisting the Ruxton alone delivers on these claims through engineering innovations: front-wheel drive, low center of gravity, and reduced vibration. The advertisement targets wealthy buyers interested in luxury automobiles and technical specifications, directing inquiries to New Era Motors in New York City. The design credits (Budd body, Urban colorings, Schumacher fabrics) emphasize premium craftsmanship.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
marked diference ia eight berween the average moter car and the Raxton, THE RUXTON PHAETON TTERLY DIFFERENT car nantes Pouca “DUN TOA AND TEN INCHES LOWER THAN ANY OTHER MOTOR CAR ON THE ROAD In all the vocabulary of motordom, there are no new nouns or verbs or adjectives to describe this new car, exactly made to the exacting specifications of twelve exacting men. So the old words, which find a new meaning and a truer definition in the Ruxton, must suffice though they have been sadly vitiated by use and abuse and hyperbole, All cars, we are told, are low, but the eye-arresting lowness of the Ruxton is not an optical illusion but a genuine lowness ingeniously attained by a ten-inch reduction in car and body height alike, yet without a single compromise with standard road clearance or headroom. Smooth road performance is a common promise, but the unburdened roll of the Ruxton can be had only from power that pulls evenly from the front, never from a jerky force that pushes from the rear. Restful riding comfort, too, bas a familiar sound, but bow can it ever be fully experienced save in a car of the Ruxton's unique design?...a car with but the minimum of unsprung weight to be carried, a car whose rear springs bave been spared the dissipating task of taking the drive and so are free to perform their one vital function... the perfect cradling of the body. We read, as well, bow this body and that bas been divorced from exasperating protests of strain, but only in the Ruxton have the sources of these common noises... the vibrating driveshaft and the chattering differential ... been eliminated, And while safety at bigh speeds is a phrase frequently encountered, it is always relative in meaning except when applied to the Ruxton with its center of gravity ten inches lower than that of any other American automobile. A very interesting car, the Ruxton, and a most unusual one, Perbaps you'd like to know more about it, If you would, a letter addressed to New Era Motors, Incorporated, Seventeen East Forty-fifth Street, New York City, will bring more detailed information. AMERICA'S FIRST FRONT-WHEEL-DRIVE MOTOR CAR bette | BODY BY BUDD e COLORINGS BY URBAN e@ FABRICS BY SCHUMACHER comicbooks.com