CARNIVAL WEEK

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20084, 13 November 1930, Page 26

CARNIVAL WEEK

MOTOR DISPLAYS

MADE LIVING EASIER

Car in Everyday Life

Benefit to Farmers and City Dwellers

There is no calling more indebted to the motoring industry for having made life easier than that of the farmer. Thirty years ago, when motordom was in its infancy, breakdowns were so frequent that no one had any faith in a car as a reliable means of transports, If a farmer wanted to reach the city, he drove in behind a horse, that was if his farm was not too far away. If, however, the distance was beyond a horse, he took a train, provided there was one to suit his arrangements. To do this he often had to drive in a horse-drawn vehicle some distance to the station, and undergo what was often a dreary, cold and protracted journey. When he reached town, he had to hustle in order to get his business completed the, train left on its return journey. While in the city he was generally put to the expense of engaging a cab; otherwise he would not have been able to do all that he had set out to do.

What a difference the motor-car has made to him! To-day he is able to leave his farm an hour or two later than was previously possible, and to drive his car into the city, transact his business conveniently (for he has no train time-table to~ watch) and leave on his return to the country with no doubts as to his being able to get there at a given time. The motorcar has made an appreciable difference to hotel business. A few years ago if a man desired to see the Canterbury, Agricultural and Pastoral Society's Show, he had, if he lived some considerable distance out of town, to engage accommodation. Now he simply drives into the city, spends the day at Addington and drives home in the evening in comfort. Ask him if he would care to /go back to the "good old days" and you will be answered with a most emphatic "No."

A good many city dwellers have just as much use for a car as their country cousins, and a conversation with any

real estate agent will disclose the fact that, whereas a few years ago it was the ambition of the average young man contemplating matrimony to deposit £IOO on a house, to-day a very big proportion of them prefer to put such a sum down as part payment for a car. Such is the change that has taken place in our social conditions. So keen is the desire to own motor transport of some description or other that there is a ready sale for motor-cycles and "baby" cars, as well as the bigger type of vehicle. More recently motor camping tours have become very popular, and to meet the requirements of their members automobile organisations all over the Dominion have provided suitable grounds where first-class sites may be hired at a reasonable figure. Some of these sites are situated in beautiful surroundings, and are equipped with almost as many conveniences as a house. In the circumstances, it is not prising that the number of motorists who "make such tours is growing each year by leaps and bounds. Some fortunate people have the interiors of their cars so constructed that they are able to sleep in them by simply turning back the seats. Others possess a trailer in which they carry all the articles necessary for their comfort when on the road, and in which they sleep at night. It is some distance off yet, but the day is coming when there will be one car for every member of a household. Such a position is already nearing reality in America. Originally one car did duty for a family in that country. Then came two cars, and to-day the demand is growing steadily for mo^P.

The reasons for this are obvious. When cars were new, it frequently was the case that only one member of the family knew how to drive. Usually the head of the family did this, and when he was at business, or away from home, the others were deprived of the use of the car. Gradually the other members of the family learned to handle the car.

The women took to driving and liked it. They -were quick to appreciate the manifold advantages of a car in their everyday lives, for it enabled them to complete their shopping rapidly and comfortably. Furthermore, distance was no barrier- and with a car they could easily go ten or even fifteen miles out of their way to obtain better prices and better products. In tlie. afternoon, it enabled them to visit friends and relatives. The car became such a part of their daily lives that they soon found it not only convenient but necessary to have their own cars.

Lower prices with improved quality have made it economical for a family to own several cars. So the car-foi-every-member-of-the-family idea is a natural evolution of the / two-car-per-family idea.

Perhaps the mere thought of selling every family a car for every member would have been, considered ludicrous a few years ago. To-day, however, car dealers and are cognisant of the fact every family is a prospect, regardless of the fact that the family already has one, or even two, cars. Unless there is a car for every member, the family of to-day,, and even more so the family of to-morrow, is not 100 percent, motorised.

OUTSIDE PAH]

DOUBTFUL ECONO:

habit of parking his ear for togtalillffljl a time in the open air—in pnM I n pjaBBB that practice is adopted £or one of two reasons, viz., convenieii'eo^jiSffiHfl in most cases, the desire being the cost' of garaging—a matter ultimate economy can be in mind the risks of direct and damage to the car that are Such risks are" doubtless Effects of Bain and on the the heat of the • car is