Production Car Race

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31344, 14 April 1967, Page 11

Production Car Race

A 30-MINUTE race for production saloon cars will be the feature event at the Canterbury Car Club’s race meeting at Ruapuna Park on Sunday. The race has drawn a good

entry, and will be supported by the usual scratch and handicap events for saloons, sports cars and racing cars. The feature race will be fought out in five classes: up to 1000 c.c., 1001 to 1300 c.c., 1301 to 1600 c.c., 1601 to 3000 c.c. and over 3000 c.c. Entries so far are E. Sprague (Jaguar), W. Collins (Cortina), I. Dow (Jaguar), J. Miller (Renault R 10), J. Ogier (Cortina), R. McPhail (Vauxhall Velox 3.3 litre), L. Leonard (Fiat 1500), E. Henshaw (Volkswagen), H. Atkinson (Hillman Imp), E. Latta (Triumph 2000), and A. Rhodes (Studebaker).

At this stage it seems E. Sprague is the pick for the over-all win: last year he had a race-long battle with R. J.

Archibald in another Jaguar, making a slight mistake after 26 laps to allow Archibald slip through into the lead. However, Sprague may be challenged by I. Dow in the other Jaguar, and the 3.3 litre Velox is likely to be not far behind. After his performance last year, E. Latta in the Triumph 2000 will certainly be a man to watch, while L. Leonard last year showed himself capable of taking the Fiat 1500 around remarkably rapidly. A. Rhodes in the Studebaker is rather an unknown quantity, and in the smaller capacity classes there may be a good tussle between the Hillman Imp and the Renault. W. Collins will certainly drive the Cortina with his usual spirit.

maintenance of a fleet of business cars. The man in the accounts department ignored him when he came to the counter, and kept on ignoring him for about five minutes, continuing his writing. Normally a placid man, the customer found his temper rising as he continued to be studiously ignored. His reply to the eventual casual “Yeah?” was that he was taking his firm’s business elsewhere— and he did. Buying A Car Then there was the case of the man who wished to buy a car, and was visiting the city showroom of the dealer for a make in which he was interested. But when he tried to ask a salesman something about the car, the reception was so rude and casual that he soon marched off to another dealer and bought another make of car. Once Bitten Similarly, a motorist who feels he has had something put across him—even if he is wrong—is likely to take his business elsewhere. Deceptive advertising, too, may catch a motorist once, but is unlikely to catch him twice. One of my motoring friends recounts how, many years ago, he saw a firm advertise cheap mufflers “fitted free.” He duly took his car in to have a muffler fitted, but when he received the bill it was for considerably more than the cost of the muffler. When he protested that free fitting was advertised, the reply was: “Oh yes, but this is the charge for removing the old muffler.” Then a new motorist, he did not refuse to pay the extra, as he would probably do today. But he certainly never went near the firm again, and warned other persons away. Quote of the Week “In the majority of cases it seems to me that seats on cheap cars are made nasty so that the de luxe models can have better ones.” —Ralph Thoresby, writing in the “Motor.”