Preview

With the air of a woman sporting a new mink coat, Detroit automen last week took the wrappings off their new models.

At a cocktail party and dinner for 500 guests, Chrysler Corp.'s President K. T. Keller rolled out his 1950 fleet of 34 models, considerably changed at a cost of $23 million. But those who saw the sleek new cars thought that Chrysler had gotten its money's worth--and then some. Instead of the square appearance of the 1949 cars, the 1950 had rounded rear corners and lengthened rear fenders, which gave them a lower, racier appearance. There were new grilles and larger windows. In the Plymouth, the rear window is 32% bigger than in previous models. Chrysler, Dodge and De Soto had all added flashy, hardtop "convertibles."

Sweeping Fenders. General Motors Corp. started its parade by showing off the complete line of 1950 Buicks and Oldsmobiles. All the new Buicks had the long sweeping lines, with dip in the side, of the lower-priced Special, which was brought out last August. The round holes had been squared on the Supers and Roadmasters, and moved from fenders to hoods. The back windows were larger, the overall length about 5 in. shorter (bumpers were incorporated into the radiator grilles), and horsepower was edged up a bit (128 h.p. in the Super v. 120 last year).

Buick now has 19 models in three price classes, allowing it to boast: "If you can afford a car you can afford a Buick." By this spread in prices, G.M. hoped to improve Buick's chances of catching Plymouth and knocking it out of third place.

Extras Out. Oldsmobile expected to do some tough competing of its own. In addition to a new body with the same sweeping lines as the Buick, it also lopped $55 to $65 from its biggest selling model, the "88," and eliminated many accessories which customers had had to buy as "standard equipment" but at added cost. Thus one "88" model could be bought for as much as $235 less than last year's model.

Though the industry turned out the 6,000,000th vehicle of the year last week, topping the previous peak of 5,358,420 in 1929, all the automen had become as price-conscious as Olds with the return of the buyers' market. Even Cadillac, which has profited handsomely over the years by its snob appeal, thought a little unbending was in order. Said an ad last week in cultured Cadillaccents: "Occasionally, we encounter a man who hesitates to buy a Cadillac for fear his friends might think him ostentatious . . . [His] fears are without foundation . . . There are eight other makes of cars which actually have models that are priced above the lowest-priced Cadillac."

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