OLD-TIME CARS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 128, 1 June 1937, Page 16

OLD-TIME CARS.

HORSE'S HEAD IN FRONT.

K( ()\< >M |< ( u.M M ITT EK'S BOOK. i "In fp'iit of tin' <la-hbi>al'd of a car of th.it period (i.'.. lMlli was litted a v i«ml"ii ii,"del nf the head and shoulders of :i 11• ■i -e tn prevent genuine horses f i - hi; \-h\ in-' mi tii" road, and for many years a whip--orket \\ as still found on rnotur <-;n bodies. "Need it. be said that this priceless specimen comes from the U.S.A.?'' asks tiie '•All-tin .Magazine." "One might assume it to be merely another 'tall story' but for the fact that it appears in a perfectly serious official document, to wit, 'A Survey of the Trade in Motor Vehicles,' published for the Imperial ' Economic Committee hy H.M. Stationery Office. At first glance, such a document look* rather heavy and dull, but first ; appearances are deceptive, for even apart from it- importance as a review of one of the world's greatest branches of trade this survey contains much entertaining reading. The paragraph quoted above is M'l"cted more or les- at random, and if it is hard to believe that there could ever ha\e existed people eo stupid as to imagine that it was the' appearance of a motor ear which made horses restive (actually, of course, it was the noise) there are many other titbits of information hardly less striking. Empire of Motorists. "Our 'motor-minded Dominions' come to the fore in a section which shows that Canada has more motor vehicles on the road than Germany, while Australia has more than Italy, and New Zealand more than Belgium," states '"Austin." "Canada and .South Africa can now show one motor vehicle for every nine persons in the population, and New Zealand one for every eight. With the single exception of the United States these ratios are much the highest in the world.

"The countries of the British Common- ! wealth now absorb one-third of the motor exports from the United States, three-quarters of those from the United Kingdom, of those from Canada. The two outstanding markets for the motor exporter are Australia and South Africa. Together they now absorb nearly a quarter of the total I world export. India and New Zealand I also stand high in the list of leading' markets, particularly for British motor™. '

"Although the production of cars in the I. nitcd Kingdom is still much below the American figure, the report notes that the English industry was more steady during the depression. Production in the United States in 1933 fell to a quarter of the 1029 level. Production in the United Kingdom, after a elight setback, recovered rapkllv. In 193.-> it reached 417,000 units, which was. per cent above the figure for 1929. United Kingdom exports have made similar progress. The export of 72,400 units iti 193.) was a new record, and exceeded that in 1929 by 30,000."