FROM THE JULY 1957 EDITION OF MECHANIX ILLUSTRATED.

AN ARTIST'S CONCEPTION OF A FUTURE VEHICLE THAT SEEMS TO COMBINE THE AEROBUS AND A RECREATIONAL VEHICLE IN THE DAYS BEFORE EITHER ONE EXISTED.
THIS IS A LARGE PAGE THAT MAY TAKE TIME TO LOAD.
Mechanix Illustrated Highway Cruise Car

You'll be glad you left home when you take a trip in
this luxurious and high-speed living room on wheels.

  Automobiles apparently have reached a crossroads so far as size is concerned.  Years of slow, redwood-like growth among major models came to a halt in 1957 and a few cars even began shrinking.  Manufacturers now are faced with a dilemma: bigger or smaller?  Out of the quandary may come some of the most revolutionary ideas since men first started putting air in tires.
  Very large cars are public favorites for long-distance trips but are hard to handle in city traffic.  Small foreign-type sports jobs, while not the ultimate for cross-country tours, are excellent for town travel.  Most autos now on the road are compromises with a little of both ideas in the design.  They're adequate for either purpose but outstanding at neither.
  An answer to the problem may be found by producing totally different classes of cars, each for a specific purpose.  Stylists then could match a car more closely to the special use for which it is intended.  Edmund Anderson, director of styling for American Motors, sees the emergence of three basic designs.
  "One is the personal or sports car." He says, "The second is a compact car and the third is a large, long-distance family car which seats several people comfortably and is used to transport the family on long trips and vacations."
  On this page Mechanix Illustrated presents its concept of the most revolutionary of the three types  the Highway Cruise Car.  Our air-conditioned living room on wheels, carrying six, eight or even more, would be a paradise on long trips.  After completion of the current federal highway building program it could go virtually anywhere in the country on a spider web of limited-access expressways.
  This Hercules of the highways would not be pleasant to wheel through city streets but fortunately urban driving would be encountered only at the beginning and end of a trip.  The design readily fits into the current pattern of more and more multi-car families.  For driving to the office or taking a spin on secondary roads, the man of the house might have a small sports car.  The middle-size compact model would be used by his wife for taking the children to school or carrying groceries.
  Mechanix Illustrated's Cruiser is designed for just one purpose  comfortable travel for long distances.  While its top pace could not be considered exceptional by today's standards, the plush buggy still might be classed as high-speed because of its ability to lope along for hours with not a single stop.  Cruising speed is put in the 70-75 mph range.  Pickup would be nothing to brag about but on a nonstop expressway it's also nothing to worry about.
  Although the Highway Cruise Car has not been built and must be regarded as a concept for the future, there is nothing in its design that is not currently available.  No new technical developments are necessary to make the idea a reality.
  Power plant requirements suggest the use of a diesel engine because diesels can hold a high rpm pace for long periods and never work up a head of steam.  A gasoline turbine or free-piston mill might be adapted to the Cruiser when these engines finally reach the production stage.
  Sleeping and eating accommodations make possible a Massachusetts-to-Oregon trip without one over-night halt and, indeed, only one stop for refueling!
  Both full meals and snacks can be served aboard the Cruiser.  Its bunks provide sleeping space for six persons and in a pinch a seventh bunk can be added.  With every seat filled the car actually could hold 20 people, although this would be considered beyond its comfortable capacity.  Maximum load with all bunks and seats occupied is 13.

  Let's take a closer look at the luxury land yacht.  Its size strikes your eye first.  Instead of today's 18-ft. lengths, the Cruiser is 25 to 30 feet long and up to eight feet wide.
  Drivers Bridge:  The bridge sits atop the engine and is covered with steel-hard glass to give the operator full visibility from his high position in the snub nose.  Lamination prevents glare and over-heating from the sun.  A remarkable feature of the bridge is its dual controls  a full set on each side.  No slackening of speed, let alone a stop, is required when a relief driver takes over.  The new operator merely slides into the unoccupied front seat, control is transferred to him and he starts driving.  Control can be switched to either side by flipping two selector levers located on the dash near the left and right steering columns.  For the sake of safety, each driver must throw the lever on his side before the change is complete.  The steering wheel and pedals not in use do not monitor the other set, as in dual-rigged airplanes, because of the danger that someone might accidentally grab the unused wheel and cause the driver to lose control.
  The driver seats are basically the airplane type with armrests added.  They pivot both ways to aid a person getting into one of them from the aisle or through either front door.
  Intercom microphone-speakers are mounted in the center of the steering wheels, connecting the bridge with stations in the lounge, galley and cockpit.  The circuit also is hooked to the radio and record player.
  Rear-View TV:  A small television screen in the dash directly between the driver positions probably has caught your eye by now.  This is a closed-circuit receiver showing images from a camera mounted on the rear of the Cruiser and trained on the lane directly behind, giving either driver perfect rear vision.  Large exterior rear-view mirrors cover adjacent traffic lanes and their ranges change automatically when control is switched from side to side.
  Access to the luggage compartment in the nose can be gained through a hatch on the bride or an outside opening.  Other hatches in the bridge deck and on the right exterior permit easy servicing of the engine and the air-conditioning  unit positioned beside it.
  Against the bridge's rear bulkhead are two passenger seats for those who like to watch the road ahead.  Mounted beneath them are twin tanks supplying water for drinking, cooking and the washroom.  The bulkhead is soundproof to cut distracting noise to a minimum if the driver desires quiet.
  Now slide open the bulkhead door (all interior doors slide rather than swing for reasons of safety) and go down one step.  Here is enough comfort to satisfy even the almost insatiable American appetite for luxury.

  Bar-Galley:  Immediately to your right is a large, deep closet for hanging clothes.  Opposite it is a bar (for those not scheduled to take the wheel) combined with a compact galley that serves tidbits or complete meals.  When you enter the Cruiser through the center door you walk between the counters of the bar-galley.
  Stowed under the counters are tanks of liquefied gas for the cookstove and water-heater.
  Dinette:  A couple of steps down the aisle bring you to the dinette on the right.  Heavily cushioned seats provide dining comfort for four persons.  Perhaps your wife and three friends with you on this trip have started a rubber of bridge.  The table doubles for gaming or letter-writing.  At night the dinette becomes two bunks  upper and lower.  Bedding is stored under the seats.
  Washroom:  Across the aisle is the washroom with complete toilet facilities.  This whole compartment becomes a shower stall when you slide the triangular lavatory into the wall.  A hatch on the outside gives access to the chemical sewage tank.
  Just aft the washroom are the water heater compartment and the buffet holding the TV set and the hi-fi equipment.
  Lounge:  One more step brings you to the travel car's piece de resistance, the lounge.  Thick piled carpeting covers the deck, muffling noise as well as being restful on the feet.  Two swivel lounge chairs and two divans offer rest and relaxation.  You can read, watch TV, listen to records or simply sit and watch the landscape peel by.  All bruise-producing corners and seat backs in the lounge, as well as elsewhere, are padded for safety.

  Observation Cockpit:  Sliding open another bulkhead door, you step onto the observation cockpit, an open-air fantail fitted with a lounge seat that curves around the back.  It has special appeal for the person who likes to feel the breeze on his face.  The cockpit can be left open in summer.  When foul weather strikes, a canvas top stowed under the seat fits quickly into place.  The windows roll up to meet the top.  In winter a plastic bubble mounts over the cockpit to close it in.  A section of the lounge seat swings up to allow passage through the rear door.
  In an emergency the cockpit seat can be made into a bunk for one person.

Stabilizer:  Exhaust fumes never bother you on the fantail because these gases are vented through the large stabilizer on the roof.  A small fin on the stabilizer deflects the exhaust skyward and away from the car.  Also housed in the stabilizer is the TV antenna, controlled by a compass which keeps it trained to a given direction regardless of turns.
  Besides its comfort, the Cruiser incorporates a high degree of safety.  The body has a low center of gravity that makes overturning practically impossible.
  Some car designers have looked even further and added some yet-to-be-developed features into the Cruiser type vehicle.
  Before many more years have passed a safety device called radar brakes will be in use on American cars, from all indications.  This equipment scans the road ahead and senses any obstacle in its path.  If there is danger of hitting another vehicle or some other object the radar brakes automatically slow or stop the car.
  Steering control itself could be built right into the highway.  The automatic driver system has been successfully constructed in pilot form by General Motors and one day could conceivably become a part of every American superhighway.  An electromagnetic strip running down the middle of each lane transmits signals to cars.  These control its steering and speed.  The impulses come from control stations spaced along the road to handle all traffic.
  The future is here today for an auto manufacturer with the courage to create on a grand scale.