Packard's Palm

Experts from the U. S. Navy Department have been visiting U. S. motor factories to inspect and test engines for a fleet of fighting planes ordered for the airplane carriers Lexington and Saratoga. Last week they announced they had found what they were looking for, a motor that they termed "the most striking engine development of modern times."

The palm went to Packard's "2 A-1,500," a motor originally designed to develop 450 h. p. at 1,800 revolutions a minute. In tests lately conducted at the Packard plant it had developed 600 h. p. at 2,500 revolutions a minute. It had roared for a total of 50 hours with a wide-open throttle, stopping only four times to have its spark plugs cleaned and minor replacements. At the end of the tests it was in perfect shape to continue roaring.

Compared with the famed Liberty motor, the new Packard machine has 150 cu. in. less piston displacement (1,500 against 1,650). It is 150 lb. lighter. Yet it develops as much power as the Liberty and has stood up unscathed under tests which in the past have rendered Liberties unfit for further running.