The Foreign Motor Car Show

The Hotel Astor Again Becomes An Automobile Center

VANITY FAIR'S OBSERVER

FOR many years two of the most distinguished of American body builders have been prominent exhibitors at the Annual Automobile Salon. They are Locke & Company and Brewster & Company, whose names are synonomous with everything that is best, most honorable and most conservative among coachmakers on this side of the Atlantic. This year neither Brewster nor Locke will appear at the Salon. They will, however, form a very substantial part of the forthcoming Foreign Motor Car Show. In fact, so far as body builders, at least, are concerned, they are the backbone of the new exposition.

These two famous firms, together with a considerable number of other representatives of well known foreign automobiles, have retired from the Salon and have formed an organization of their own. They will hold forth in the grand ballroom of the Hotel Astor, from November 4th to 10th, thus bringing back to that hostelry the motor car atmosphere which hovered around it annually when it was the home of the Salon.

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BENZ, Renault, Panhard, Mercedes, Voisin, Fiat, Lanchester, Hotchkiss, Minerva, Locomobile, Rolls-Royce, Lincoln, Steiger (of Germany) and. possibly, Citroen, will be there, as will a number of body builders, including Le Baron, Brunn, Judkins, Brewster, Fleetwood, Locke, Demarest, Holbrook, Kellner, Rothschild and Hume. Not all of these cars and coachmakers will appear as direct exhibitors, but their chassis and bodies will be there in the various displays, and the public will be given a splendid chance for comparison with the cars to be revealed a week later at the Salon at the Commodore.

In fact, New York is going to have a very busy show season. These two exhibitions of expensive chassis and bodies will follow very shortly the Second Annual Closed Car Show at the Grand Central Palace, the first week in October; while the National Automobile Show, at the Eighth Coast Artillery Armory, in Fordham, and the Annual Motorboat Show, at the Grand Central Palace, will both take place the same week, January 5th to 12th.

Probably the greatest novelty that the motoring public will see at any of the expositions this year will be one of the Yoisin cars at the Foreign Motor Car Show— if it arrives from France in time. This is a square, box-like sedan, with a body in Scotch plaid in full colors, designed by Paul Poiret, the famous Paris dressmaker. The more or less grotesque appearance of this sedan, should it reach New York in time, will be more than offset by the more interesting and more practical details of the seven other Voisin cars to be shown. These will include a limousine with a body by Rothschild in pearl gray, with black panels and mudguards, and inlaid mahogany woodwork. This is a copy of the body which won the Grand Prix at the recent Concours d'Elcgance in Paris. Holbrook & Company will supply one of the other Voisin cars, a sedan-limousine in two shades of gray.

Among the other Voisins will be a sport touring car on the Voisin Grand Prix chassis, in water green, with black moldings and black mudguards. This body is a streamline design, to eliminate air resistance, and is the result of the Voisin experience in the recent Grand Prix race at Le Mans, France. A small io h. p. coupe de ville in black, with pearl gray upholstery without pleats or tucks, and built entirely in the Voisin factory, as an exact duplicate of the car recently purchased by the Queen of Spain; a touring cabriolet in royal blue by Rothschild; and a io h.p. 5-passenger touring car in light blue with gold stripes, will also be displayed.

AT last year's Salon no cars attracted greater attention on account of their beauty of line and color than the German Benz, which this year will form a substantial part of the Foreign Motor Car Show. There will be a de luxe cabriolet by Fleetwood on the 6-cylinder model; and an old fashioned coach, also on the 6cyllnder chassis, with six fenders, two carriage type lamps and seating accommodations for four passengers, specially built for Mr. S. S. Kresge, the prominent Detroit merchant. Among the other Benz models will be a small town car on the 4-cylinder chassis.

Mr. Henry Ford's luxurious product, the Lincoln, will be represented by four models, two by Judkins, one by Brunn, and one by Fleetwood. Judkin's cars will be a Berline, which is a name some firms employ to designate the sedan-limousine. Judkin will also be represented by a leather backed coupe in black finish, with red running gear, brass fittings and a lug-

gage compartment large enough for a trunk or a half dozen suitcases. The Brunn body will be a fully collapsible cabriolet while the Fleetwood Lincoln will be a 7-passenger sedan-limousine.

Panhard and Levassor will exhibit at least four cars from its comprehensive line of models, which at present comprises the 10 h. p., the 12 h. p., the 16 h. p. and 20 h. p. in the 4-cylinder model, and the 35-60 h. p. in the straight-eight model, all of them built upon the sleevevalve principle. One of these will be a sport torpedo model on the eight-in-line chassis, as exhibited at the Paris Salon. Among the 4-cylinder models will be a small coupe, similar to those recently built for President Millerand and Premier Poincaré of France.

Locke and Company's exhibit will be most comprehensive. It will include a small Rolls-Royce sedan-limousine, with a folding arm rest, for the rear seat, two small back-to-back emergency seats, and an unusual extension of the roof which drops sharply and forms a sunshade. This roof extension as a sun visor is one of the few discernible novelties of body design this year. Another Locke exhibit will be a Rolls-Royce brougham, with inside seats facing forward. There will also be displayed by Locke two Minervas and a Locomobile, the Minervas showing the raised panel effect which came into such popularity at last year's Salon.

ONE of these Belgian machines will be a brougham with auxiliary seats, which enable it to carry seven passengers. The other will be a 7-passenger sedan-limousine with a leather roof. The Locomobile will be a large brougham with an unusual seating arrangement and windows in the side quarters.

The Locke & Company display of Hotchkiss cars, which Locke represents in America, has not been announced, and will not be revealed until the doors open for the exposition.

Some stunning new coachwork on chassis of the Marmon, Locomobile and British Lanchester will comprise the display of Brewster & Company. The Locomobile is especially notable. It is a 5-passenger sedan quite different from anything we have yet seen on the Locomobile chassis. It is distinguished by a number of unusual features, including the special windshield, which Brewster & Company have recently developed and arc using on a great many of their models. The car is in the well known Brewster oil finish, and the mountings arc in bright nickel. A Laidlaw fabric in mottled brown shades has been used for the upholstery, with vanity cases and other fittings mounted in the arm rests.

MR. RALPH S. ROBERTS will exhibit a number of LeBaron designs built by several well known coachmakers. One of these will be a special Locomobile cabriolet by Demarest, with very high body sides, in accordance with the latest foreign practice, and a belt line which has been raised, especially at the rear door line, giving a low appearance to the whole car. This cabriolet is painted a rich true blue with top in black French landau leather, black fenders, and an Italian cream stripe.

A real surprise is promised in the Fiat exhibit. This will be an entirely new type of Fiat motor, a large one with many unique features. Its details will not he announced until the Show opens. Mo?t numerous in the Fiat exhibit will be the open and closed models of the little model No. 501. This diminutive car has met with great public favor, especially for city and surburban use.

Another novelty at the Foreign Show will be two Mercedes closed cars, with bodies by Brewster. Other Mercedes cars will be of the open type, one of them a fast sport touring car.