MOTORING AT HOME.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18242, 28 November 1924, Page 5

MOTORING AT HOME.

tendencies of the ENGLISH TRADE. POINTS FOR OVERSEAS OWNERS. (From Our Motoring Correspondent.) LONDON, October 16. Although, the great motor show at Olympia only opens to-morrow, quite a number of 1920 model cars have been on view during the last few weeks, either in London showrooms, or at tho Paris Salon. As already stated 1 , no outstanding changes in designs hare been revealed, the leading features for next year being four wheel brakes and balloon tvres. <

What ivill please oversea motorists more than anything else is tho evidence of a desire to secure greater reliability and simplicity. In England, where you seem to see a garage, or else ono of the "Scouts" of two great motoring clubs, almost every mile, some minor failure is not a matter of great moment-. But reliability is of first importance oversea, for there one may be held up by a breakdown mauv miles from expert assistance of any kind. The oversea driver, therefore, wants a car practically guaranteed not to go wrong with ordinary care"; and if anything does go amiss, he wants a car in which every moving part is as simple ami as accessible as possible.

Accessibility. Accessibility is studied with special car© nowadays, and the latest models leave very little to be, desired in that respect. Reliability is being improved by attention to buch minor points as the better filtering of oil and petrol, and air, and thus guarding against somo of the _ slowly-forniing hidden .troubles, which sometimes aro so annoying. As a matter of fact, there is really no excuse now for an unreliable car. A new model ought to run for at least two years without having to go in for repairs of any sort. Tliei average owner-driver, however, would as a. rule ho well-advised to spend. l a little jnoro than ho does in keeping his car in .perfect order. How often does the ordinary motorist leave his car in a garage even for an hour in order that a. mechanic'may go over it with a spanner and tighten up everything requiring attention? Very seldom probably. He runs it month after month, until something cojines adrift from sheer vibration, and causes linn irritation and expense which he might_ easily have' avoided. Some motorists are said to he very "lucky" in that they never get let down. But if you enquire you will probably find that their "luck" is mainly a little • ordinary-attention and care at regular intervals.

Increased Sales Expected. Manufacturers in England and on tho Continent are looking forward with confidence to greatly increased sales next year. The French factories have' planned an output of over 200,000 cars in 1925, compared with only 120,000 in 1923 and 90,000 in 1922.. Tho English output' in 1923 was only 70,000 cars, but with tho latest price cuts it declared that the English makers ought to bo able to sell 200,000' cars next year if they can make them fast enough. Of course these figures aro trifling contrasted with America's gigantic output, hut still they show that tho European industry is going ahead, and they support the contention that it will have to be reckoned with in years to come. The medium-priced cars turned out by tjic big firms in England, France, and Italy hro extraordinarily good machines. They are well finished, have excellent bodywork, aro fast, very nice to drive, and keep running costs down to the lowest level. It is too early yet to say liow they will sell oversea, but in their own countries they will undoubtedly cut into the American sales before long. The English stuff eertainly lasts. There aro ears lictc built in 1905 and still running without giving any mechanic.*jl troublo at all. One man purchased a fifteen-years-old English car in 1920, and has been getting ,5000 miles a year out of it ever since without spending anything on repairs.

Balloons and Steering. No doubt many oversea motorists are thinking about fitting low pressure, or balloon, tyres directly their present sets are worn out. There is one point, however, they should first test if possible. That is how the steering on their car will answer with the big soft tyres. A number of new models with balloons fitted as stock tyres have their steering gear especially built for the low pressure tyres. Some cars constructed for ordinary size tyres do not take kindly to the big ones. The steering seems very hard at low speeds, whilo at higher speeds there is distinct wheel wobble. Other old cars run perfectly with the bigger tyres. It is just as well to try to ascertain to which class your car belongs before making the change, or you may be disappointed with the results.

Prejudice Against Bumpers. Defenders of the bumper have sprung up even in conservative old England. ISTo doubt it seems incon-

ceivable to oversea motorists ili'ai the fitting' of bumpers should be denounced as an "insult" to English drivers, and that they should be indicted as a fitting only required by the incompetent owners of "cheap and nasty" American cars. Such, however, is the ridiculous attack launched against them iii the correspondence columns of the motoring Press. However, a number of more sensible people have now been writing that bumpers have nothing to do with driving ability, and pointing out that they possess undeniable advantages. I am convinced England will come to bumpers in time, but at present you don't see two in a day's march. One of those weird prejudices that- England gets hold of now and then has almost barred them.

Engine Deßign. The straight-eight engine is making headway in England, and perhaps still more headway on the Continent. A Manchester firm lias included a straight-eight rated at just over 20h.p? in its 1920 models, and this typo of engine will probably grow in favour with those able to have expensive cars. For the cheaper lines, however, England sticks ■to the fourcylinder engine, and the six does not as yet signs of gaining the place it has attained in .-America. However, some of the English, four-cylinder engines are so well balanced that it is almost impossible to • distinguish the'm from a six-cylinder.

Body Design. Sports model cars are on the increase in Europe, and particularly in England, where in the past they have not caught on as much as in tho past. The tendency seems to be to choose between a closed car and a sporting car, and to leave the old open tourer out, These sports models have not big en"gines, but as a rule a speed of 7-> m.p.h is clnimed for them, going up to 100 m.p.h. in tho case' of a few more expensive and more definitely "speedster" designs. One Hjnglish firm is turning out a sports model witli a neat and novel body, which looks like a two-seater, but opens up into a fourseater when /lesired. It provides a proper tonneau, though, and not that abomination, a "dicky seat." '1 hern is a big future before the sports model in England, because the touring car buying public of a few years ago in splitting up—the more sober-minded and elderly go in for the closed body and comfort, and the younger and more daring plump for the sports mocfel and tipeed.