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Bumper to Bumper: 1920

Washington, D.C., 1920. "Lanza Motors Co. -- Greenwich Village Girls -- Metz Master Six." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

Washington, D.C., 1920. "Lanza Motors Co. -- Greenwich Village Girls -- Metz Master Six." National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.

 

On Shorpy:
Today’s Top 5

Metz Drive

Far from being unique, the right angle friction drive is an age old variation on a windmill transmission. Many cars besides Metz used this super cheap method back in the day when they couldn't be bothered or hadn't the funds to design a proper gearbox. Merely access Friction Drive on Wikipedia for details.

The system was present on my 1960 Lawnboy garden tractor, when as a child living in the country who desperately wanted a new-fangled go-kart, settled for the far more practical tractor and its 4 mph top speed for my forays into the woods. It worked well with 2.5 horsepower most of the time, and had for all that an amazing gearbox driven off the friction wheel. Kind of half-baked.

Nevertheless, despite the fine engineering and great engine that Outboard Marine lavished on Lawnboys back then, the limitations of friction drive meant I was constantly replacing the friction element, and that cut into my allowance in the worst way. The tractor itself was bought from funds relatives had apparently given me as a first-born, not by my parents!

Still, it was stuff like that and my need to understand things in detail which led to a mechanical engineering degree and career. I never was tempted to employ Friction Drive again, though!

Dealer Plates

I assume the "D" on 3 of the license plates stands for "Dealer"?
I guess the rakish guy on the left had already purchased his car.

Photo taken in Potomac Park looking back toward the Tidal Basin
with the old 14th Street Bridge in the background?

Metz Drive

Metz cars had a unique continuously variable transmission (now called CVT) that became known as Metz Drive. Some of today's new garden tractors employ a version of the Metz Drive system.

Time traveler

in the second car from the left. Mr Sunglasses looks out of place, making sure he's seen above windshield. Rare to see someone wearing them in 1920.

["Sunglasses" as a retail marketing term didn't become common until after the late 1920s, but tinted spectacles, serving the same purpose, have been around much longer. They were common enough in 1920 to be sold at a military PX as shown in this Shorpy photo]

Tread cost extra

The era was coming to a close but tread on your tires was still a premium feature. Black coloring cost more too but it got popular fast when people realized it made the tires wear longer.

Don't tread on me

Or it should be, no tread on me (the tires that is). They all can't be bald, can they?

You're Under Arrest

OK listen up, the driver of the second car from the left, DC Plate D-3-995, step out of the vehicle and put your hands up. The charge, driving without a hat.

He looks rakish

and obviously is enjoying the ladies in his automobile, on the far left of the screen.

This is our idea

of what parking will be like in the future.

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