Library Collections: Document: Full Text

IN 1933 the DeSoto Motor Corporation delivered to President Franklin D. Roosevelt a convertible sedan which is so constructed that it can be driven without any use of the feet whatsoever.

A quick glance at the accompanying illustration would suggest that the car had not been radically altered, in respect to driving equipment, from the ordinary automobile which we all know.

As a matter of fact, the only such item which is missing is the foot throttle. (The clutch and service-brake pedals are there. . .but only for the convenience of other persons in charge of the car who are accustomed to the conventional mechanism.)

On closer inspection of this picture, one will be even more surprised to note how little additional equipment was necessary to make it possible for the operation of the car to be merely a matter of a few convenient movements of only the right hand!

The first question that Occurs to the mind is, "How has it been made possible to put the car into gear without first disengaging the clutch?" The answer is, "By means of a centrifugal type, of clutch, in which flying-weights (as on a motor governor) controlled by the speed of the engine engage or release the clutch mechanism."

When the starter button, on the dash (in this picture, almost out of sight behind the steering wheel) which takes the place of the automatic foot-throttle starter in the standard DeSota, is pushed in -- the motor starts and is fed just enough gas to keep it running slightly below the speed needed to engage the centrifugal clutch.

Therefore it is possible to put the car into any, gear -- first, second or, high -- even though the car may be standing still, and the motor running. With the car in, say, low speed, the trigger on the gear-shift lever, just below the knob, is raised, thus accelerating the motor and engaging the clutch.

When the car has attained sufficient speed, the trigger is again dropped, the speed of the motor is retarded enough to disengage the clutch, and the car may in like manner be shifted into the higher speeds.

It was mentioned above that the foot throttle had been removed from the car; it has been replaced by the long lever directly beneath the steering wheel, which is controlled by the extended fingers of the right hand. As it is raised above the central position in which it is shown in this illustration, the car is accelerated. As it lowered below this central position, it applies a special booster vacuum-brake to all four wheels -- just as though the ordinary foot-brake had been depressed.

The lengthened emergency brake lever is connected with all four wheels, the same as the booster vacuum-brake controlled by the lever mentioned above; while under the cowl, to the right of the instrument panel, is a parking-brake lever, with ratchet. This is connected to a brake band on the drive shaft immediately back of the transmission.

The other equipment of the car, which may be seen in the accompanying illustration, is regular, and includes a rear vision mirror clock, a searchlight, the beam of which may be directed from within the car, driving-lights controlled on the steering wheel, and the usual instrument panel.

The special equipment of this car was installed by a small group of selected engineers under the direction of the DeSoto Motor Corporation. When the car was ready, it was presented to the President at the White House in Washington.

President Roosevelt was well pleased with the ingenious controls. He showed great interest as the details of their operation were explained to him; and smiled and chatted delightedly with Mrs. Roosevelt and officials DeSoto Corporation, who attended the presentation, as he inspected the car carefully from bumper to bumper.