MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 193, 10 May 1924, Page 24

MOTORS & MOTORING

JOTTINGS The new bitumen surface beinjr put down on the main road in Inglewood County is costing £39 12s. per chain for tho 16-foot roadway so far laid down. This works out at 1 £3IGS per mile.' About 26 yards of new metal is being laid per chain. Complaint is made as to the arrangements for the diversion of traffic during the surfacing under the bridge on the Hutt Road. Owing to work in progress on the side of the road as welf as in the centre, motorists have been left in doubt until the last moment as- to whether they can keep on their proper side. A notice board in such cases would greatly facilitate the movement of traffic. Manawatu County Council has set up a committee to meet exceptional cases after it closes its roads to heavy traffic next week. Six motorists exceeding the speed limit were caught by the Manawatu County inspector during the two days of the Feilding races. Awaterc County, Marlborough, has decided to put on a special gang to improve mid widen the main road through tho county, particular attention to be paid to cutting back cornels. It was remarked at the County Council meeting that there would not be the same wear and tear on the roads if they were widened so as not to force vehicles to run in one lot of ruts. Tatapouri Hill, on the East Coast road north of Gisborne, is in a bad state, but the district Public Works engineer promises that whether or not the metalling is completed it will be kept open for traffic through the winter. According to the levels taken by the Public Works Department, the height of the summit on the main road on tlie Mungaroa Hill is 1009 feet. Old levels give it as about 900 feet. The Railway Department’s levels show Kaitoke station as 836 feet. The height of the Rimutaka summit is 1820 feet, and not 1760 feet, as stated on the notice board on the road. CARS DESIGNED WHILE YOU WAIT Pasadena. California, is reputed to be tho winter home of more millionaires than are seasonably gathered in any other spot on earth. With a vast colony of millionaire castles assembled in one city, and nestled in magnificent estates that resemble great parks, it is not surprising that this community revelling under the benign climate rivals cities like Paris and New York for leadership in tho sales of costly motor-ears. Selling dozens of cars of the £lOOO to £2500 class is everyday business in Pasadena. Wealthy buyers are usually fastidious, but one firm of coachbuilders has a department where the prospective purchaser may see any kind of coach job ho desires—designed before his very eyes. An expert works with lightning-like speed. “What sort of a coach would vou like?” asks the designer. The prospective buyer tells him as nearly as possible what his ideas are, and the designer immediately “builds up” that type of automobile —actual size, on a. huge blackboard. “There you are!” says tho designer. “How do you like it?” In a very few minutes a few linos are changed here and there, until tho customer sees a lifesize sketch of what his car is going to be like. Once tho design is approved, it is photographed and transmitted to tlie specifications stipulated by tho prospective buyer.