Friday, January 16, 2015

The Oriental Motor

The Oriental Motor (1920)

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This is one of those curiosities that's just a bit confusing.  Was the market really large enough in 1920 Shanghai for an English-language magazine about automobiles?  I can find almost no info about it - doesn't help that there's still a company called Oriental Motor which dominates web searching.  If nothing else this is an unintentional document of imperialism consisting as it does of mostly Britons (I'm assuming) with actual Chinese mostly appearing in the background (both in the photos and the text). I suspect this is more a trade journal since many articles are about production yields, prices and design improvements.  Though how can you pass up an article called "What and Where is That Thing?" (p6 of the March issue) - it's a breakdown of some engine parts.