Gas Gadget

Over a 3.4-mile course on the New Hampshire Turnpike last week, two small cars sped back & forth, competing in a miles-per-gallon mileage test. The cars were Nash's new "Rambler," and Kaiser-Frazer Corp.'s "Henry J.," making its first public appearance. The Henry J. made 34 miles to the gallon, v. the Rambler's 32.

One of the few people present who did not care which car won was President Andrew J. White of Boston's Gale Hall Engineering Inc. He alternated driving both cars because the competition was also a test of Gale Hall's dashboard "Mile-o-Meter." The meter shows the driver the rate at which he is using gas, thus warns him when he is driving uneconomically (e.g., stopping & starting too fast) or his engine is wasting gas. The meter has a rubber tube to the intake manifold; the manifold pressure controls a needle on the dashboard dial, which shows the rate of gas consumption.

In eleven months, Gale Hall has sold 846,000 meters. Price: $7.50 (a chromium model sells for $12.95). With the American Automobile Association's stamp of approval as a result of the test, President White hoped to double his sales.

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