Word: stilles
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Dates: during 1930-1939
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...personal public relations staff, wondered what the public thought. On his own he sent a questionnaire to a few hundred automobile owners. Some 60% voted for freewheeling. Then a few months later a second questionnaire showed that only 50% wanted it on their cars. GM abandoned freewheeling. It still took Weaver some time to persuade the company that a regular customer research department was warranted. Allowed to try it for GM's Canadian affiliate, he got results so successful that in 1933 customer research was extended to the entire company...
...cars as lower centre of gravity, improved visibility, partial elimination of running boards, gear shift lever on steering post, door locks on both front doors in some models, locks on ventipanes. Most 1939 cars have the headlights submerged in the fenders; GM's still have their lights mounted independently. Other Weaver conclusions about the public...
Jittery as a terrier, he cannot sit still, swivels between two desks, hops up to flip some papers, peers through a cloud of smoke with his one good eye (he has been blind in his right eye since birth). Likable and expansive, he talks incessantly, wrinkles his nose when amused, which is often. Though his job is listening to the public, he is a poor listener personally. Visitors have a hard time getting a word in edgewise but rarely mind because the Weaver conversation is equipped not only with a store of fresh ideas but with an incredible volume...
...consumption and in wear & tear are promised from the overdrive, an automatic super-high gear that engages somewhere between 23 and 35 m. p. h., cutting the motor speed down almost to that of the drive shaft. Not the same as freewheeling, the overdrive provides free-rolling efficiency while still retaining the braking power of the engine; is conceded wider favor than free-wheeling since it requires no manual operation...
With the slate thus wiped clean, with the new cars full of genuine mechanical improvements and priced below 1938 (though still above 1937), and with the public snapping up the advance models and ordering more, Detroit was sure its 1939 fashions would click...