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Twelve WrecksWith Flora FordsIn Free DrivingFLORA, 111. (AP) -A six-day test drive of 1,500 new model automobiles ended today for Flora motorists and a Ford Motor Oo. spokesman said there had been at least 12 wrecks including one total loss. No one was injured.M. D. (Pete) Bullard, coordinator of the Ford promotion, said 200 cars were returned Wednesday to the wheat field parking lotnorth of town.State Police Lt. Harold Crockett said troopers found new Fords being misused in a number of instances, mostly by teen-agers. “We have made quite a few arrests,” he said.“There have been cases or irresponsible teen-agers racing the new cars on country roads,” Crockett said. “These kids, idiots I call them, take risks with the cars with the attitude ‘this is one time dad is not going to have topay for damage.’Capt. Kenneth Moore, state police commander for the district,said there had been 21 arrests by troopers during the test period, “five or six of which were drivers of the test cars.”He said state police investigated seven accidents involving test cars. Both the arrest and accident figure, Moore said, were considered relatively small. He said 25 state policemen have been assigned to the area on three shifts during the test drive period compared to the normal complement of two state troopers.Motorists in Flora, a town of 5,700, drove the cars away from the field Saturday. The company plans to use their reactions to the 1961 models for an advertising campaign.The total loss involved a teenage driver who attempted to soup up a new car by removing the air cleaner.Bullard said, “He was hot rod-ding west of town Tuesday night when the car left the highwayand overturned. With the aircleaner off, gasoline spread to the engine and ignited. The car burned.Another wreck was a chain reaction mishap involving three new fords. It occurred in downtown Flora Tuesday during a rain storm.Bullard said another test driver burned out a transmission by driving his new convertible in low gear at high speeds.“Generally the car* are in fair shape,” Bullard said. “We’ll wash and repair them here before send-tiaevIaciitlscIesutiing them to various places.” Noneof the Fords used in Flora will be sold as new automobiles.Hollow auto crankshafts made of ductile iron are about 46 per cent lighter than those nude of forged steel.Brewers use charcoal to control the flavor of their beer*
Newspaper Details
Mt Vernon Register News
Mt Vernon, Illinois, US
Thu, Sep 29, 1960
Page 1
Full Page
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USA 23 Jan 2019
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