SAFETY OF 1100'S

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31000, 4 March 1966, Page 11

SAFETY OF 1100'S

JTXPERTS from the Ministry of Transport, the British Motor Corporation, and Hardy Spicer have unanimously agreed that a fractured universal joint ball cage on an Austin 1100 which crashed was the result of the crash and not the cause, the “Motor” reports. The safety of B.M.C. front-wheel-drive cars was questioned recently when a metallurgist said at an inquest that metal fatigue in part of a front-wheel-drive universal joint might have caused the accident to an Austin 1100. B.M.C. denied this, and started an immediate investigation. The chief engineer of the Royal Automobile Club

(Mr L. Webb) said the R.A.C. had met no trouble with such joints on their fleet of about 500 Minis, which had covered millions of miles. After the result of the investigation had been anannounced, the Minister of Transport (Mrs Castle) said she was “delighted” that a thorough investigation had cleared the car of any design fault, the “Motor” reported. The editor of the “Motor” commented that Professor Derry, whose original report had sparked off the affair, also remarked: “If I had to go out tomorrow and drive a Mini or an 1100 I would do so with the greatest confidence.” This aside, unfortunately, had not been quoted in every newspaper. The story had been “blown 1; up” by the press until wori: ried readers were telephoning ; by the dozen, the “Motor” I; said.