BRITISH MOTOR TRIUMPH.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18551, 28 November 1925, Page 7

BRITISH MOTOR TRIUMPH.

PRODUCTION FOR 1926. Tho British motor-car has at. last como into its own—and with a vengeance (says the motoring correspondent of tho "Daily Mail")- Ono phase of tho motor-touring season has been the preponderance on our roads of British-built motor-cars.' When it is remembered that only a few years ago our own cars were in a minority the change that has taken place is little less than revolutionary. To the motor tourist this summer the sight of thousands of British cars jostling each other on the great highways has been! an exhilarating spectacle. Ocular evidence is fully borno out too bv figures. Growth in output of one firm since 1919 illustrates tho rapid rise in popularity of the: British small car: — Production figures. 1910 ... ... 357 cars 1021 2,927 " 1922 5,156 " 1923 ... ... 17,286 " 1924 ... ... 27,551 " 1925 ' -18,712 " The output of this_ firm I understand is to bo increased to 65,000 in 1926, or 1250 vehicles a week. Another firm, which started manufacturing cars in a small way a few years aso, has increased its plant and is budgeting for an output of 15,000 cars in 1926—tw0 British firms alone are to build 80,0C0 vehicles between them. Other firms are also considerably increasing their output. 3000 Cars a Year. I well recollect at tho motor show of 1921, ono of the great boom motoring years following the war, a manufacturer told trie in a hushed whisper that he was producing no fewer thau 3000 cars in tho year—such a figure was then considered an amazing feat for the British industry.

In spite of the vast increase iii the number of British cars on the road this summer the production figures for 1926 will beat all previous records. An interesting sidelight on the change in car population uoticed on the roads this summer and generally commented on by tourists has been the scarcity of Ford touring cars. I have heard this topic discussed by touring motorists in various parts of tho country. Once upon a time, not so very long ago, in fact, the Ford tourer was the most common sight on our roads. Now to meet a car of this make is a. rarity. The once familiar Ford tourer, has. in fact, become unfamiliar. Ford vans and commercial vehicles aro commonly met with, but the passenger vehicle in comparison with the number of other cars seems almost to havo disappeared. This, of course, may be an optical illusion. I do not know the present output of the Ford Company in Manchester. It is possible that with the vast increase of British cars our old friend may have been missed in the crowd. Small Car Popular. What is specially pleasing and a good augury for tho future is the fact that the British small oar is becoming popular in places where at one time it was considered unsuitable. Recently on a visit to tho Highlands I was told by ono of the largest distributing agents that farmers and traders who at one time looked on the British small car as being too fragile for the rough conditions of the Highland roads are. now buying nothing else. They find that the small track of these cars, their easy steering, their cheap upkeep costs, and the light tax imposed on them are an immense asset. The well-built small car has just as long a life as, if not longer than, many of the cheap imported cars of medium h.p. This is now being realised', and there is every indication that tjje British small car is finding favour overseas. At one time the overseas market? would have been no use to us, as wecould not. deliver in large numbers, but the British maker, has at last mastered the problem of quantity production.