MOTORS and MOTORING.

Dominion, Volume 19, Issue 118, 12 February 1926, Page 6

MOTORS and MOTORING.

(BY

”SPOTLIGHT."

MOTORBODY BUILDING 1 1300 WORKERS EMPLOYED £158,000 PAID IN TAXES TO ENCOURAGE THEM New Zealand motor body builders have produced much good work, but the agitation being conducted by them against imported or locally-assembled motor bodies of outside manufacture should cause motorists generally to put on their thinking caps. So far there is no indication that a locally made motor body can be produced anything like as cheaply as an imported body. It is an excellent thing to support local industry, but the economic side of every local industry proposition none the less deserves to be most carefully ' scanned. In the present instance there is, to begin with, the broad question of how far the interests of the local body building trade should be permitted to over-ride the popular demand for inexpensive motor transport. There are about 100,000 owners of motor vehicles in the Dominion, and with every reduction in the price of motor vehicles a further section of the public invests in them. The latest figures for 1924 show that there were employed in the coach-build-ing industry in New Zealand about 1300 persons. The value of the motor bodies built by them is not disclosed bv the returns, but the principal statistics relating to the industry are as follow:—

N.Z. Motor Body Building in 1924. Persons employed 1302 Wages paid £242,857 Motor bodies built 2545 Other vehicles built 10,821 Value of total vehicles . built £260,371 Value of land, buildings, and plant £441,8

To encourage this industry a special tax on imported bodies is imposed. That is to say, an imported motorvehicle is first assessed for ad valorem duty on its total value, body included, and on this value there is levied a duty of 25 per cent, under the general tariff, or if of British manufacture, 10 per cent, under the prefertial tariff. Having thus paid 10 to 25 per cent, in duty on the value of an imported motor body, the importer has also to pay a special body tax. This duty ranges from £7 10s. to £22 10s„ per body, under the general tariff, to £5 to £l5 under the preferential tariff.

While the ad valorem duties were levied for revenue purposes, the local body builder has the advantage of them, plus the special duties imposed to protect his industry. The latter duties produce per annum the following sum: —

Special Body Tax on Imported Motors Receipts for 1924 £158,944

It will thus be seen that to encourage the body-building trade the importers of motor-cars in 1924 paid a sum equal to £122 per head for every one of the 1302 persons engaged in the coachbuilding industry, which industry is by no means solelv confined to the building of motor bodies. Looked at in another way, it will be seen that the special tax on motor bodies would in three years, at its present vield, exceed tlie total sum invested in land, buildings and plant in the whole coach-building trade of the Dominion. The wages paid to the 1302 persons in the entire coachbuilding trade totalled £242,857.—T0 enable a portion of these - wages to be paid the purchasers of motor vehicles were taxed to the extent of £158,000. The total value of the 2545 motor

bodies and the 1082 carts, carriages wagons, etc., built in the Dominion was £260,371. The value of flho motor bodies built is not disclosed but it cannot have been very much greater than the £158,000 paid in the Customs motor bodv fax.

The coach-building trade says the tax on motor bodies is insufficient. A motor-car with a local body costs as a rule about £lOO more than the same car with an imported body. The local body is usually excellent, but are the benefits to be derived by building up the body-making industry by increased Customs duties commensurate with the benefits to be derived bv bringing motor vehicle ownership within the means of as large a number of people as possible ? There is a good deal to be said on both sides of this question. Australia put a dutv of from 74 r o 124 per cent, on motor chassis, and from £5O to £75 on the bodies. Its local bodv-makers have a population of 6,000,000 to cater for; ours have but 1,300.000 This smaller field naturallv reduces the scope for economic production. Motorcars generally are dearer in Australia than in New Zealand, the ranging from about £2O to £5O In view of the proposal now mooted i>v the ccuntv councils that the whole cost of maintenance of main highways should be thrown on to the shoulders of motorists bv the imposition of a petrol tax, the ambition for increased bodyduties deserves the careful attention of all motorists. Already motor vehicles are being taxed in t'ustoms duties, annual license fees, and heavy traffic fees, to well on for 21,500,000 per annum—a total in special taxation averaging out at £l2 per head per annum per motor vehicle owner.

EAST COAST ROADING / — A GREAT METALLING FEAT.

Last winter road traffic of any kind was bogged almost beyond hope on long stretches of the Gisborne-Toko-maru Bay road- Under the Highways Act the local district council has put its shoulder to the wheel with such effect that there is every prospect of a solid metalled road this winter riming continuously from Gisborne through to Tokomaru Bay, nearly 60 miles away. If this is achieved, it will be just about a record in roadmetalling for ithe Dominion. The chairman of the District Highways Council, Mr. G. W. Albertson, states that both the Uawa and Cook Councils have achieved splendid results. They have concentrated all efforts all plant on completing the undertaking this summer, and unless something unforeseen happened their efforts would be crowned with success The task had been viewed from a district standpoint rather than from the particulai interests of the respective counties, and the manner in which the counties had cooperated with the Highways Council was a striking indication of how the reading problem could b< overcome by joint action. Between Whangara and Tolaga Bay there were only three or four miles of road upon which the bottom course of metal had not been laid and the gap was being shortened every day 1 The season’s programme had been an unusually heavy one, and it was only combined effort that had made it pos sible to get so much done. An indication of the exceptionally fine work accomplished was gained by recalling the remarks of the engineer-in-chief, Mr. IL \V Furkert. when hr was in Gisborne recently. Mr. Furkert said the Highways Council had sei itself a huge task, and if work wacompleted this season it would go down as a hitherto unaccomplished achievement in road construction in th* Dominion.

OILING A NEW ENGINE WHY CARE IS NEEDED. The recommendation to drain crankcases and renew gear-box and differential lubricants after a short mileage has been done is made with all seriousness. The new bearings, piston rings, and cylinder walls, although to the eye as smooth as glass, are, mechanically’ speaking, exceedingly rough. With use an oil glaze can be secured, and when this condition is reached and maintained friction losses and wear can bt said to be almost entirely eliminated A lubricant under a microscope is made up of minute balls, and a good oil can be described as liquid ball bearings When the oil is fresh these minutq spheres are resilient and return to their spherical shape. When torn about as they are in a new bearing they lose their resiliency. That is why it is essential to drain the oil aftei the first 250 miles. Again, when another 400 miles has been run and for the first 5000 miles drain every 500 to 600 miles. After 5000 miles a complete replenishment every 1000 miles will suffice. 1 Remember, it depends on the care and treatment given an engine in its first 5000 miles whether it will be a good engine requiring little mechanical upkeep during its first 30,000 miles. Never overdrive a new car. For the first 1000 miles keep down speed and never be tempted to travel fast even for a short distance. Break the car in first; treat it like a young horse, and remember gear-box and transmission require the same careful nursing when new as the engine Do not buy cheap oil and cheap grease The reason of the lower price is that the quality is poor. It is a wasteful policy to stint lubrication. Great care should be exercised in keeping dust and grit away from oil and oil funnels. A piece of grit the size of a pili’s point can cut a bearing out. If vour car has a mechanical oiler with grease strainers, learn how to clean them. If they get . choked lubrication will be stinted and mav fail entirely on hills when extra oil is needed.

Do not follow the experience of other users of the same car as vours; each car varies because it. is driven differently. Check your lubrication almost daily until you learn from experience with your own cor just how much lubricant it uses up. Lubrication is the most important thing to watch about your car Ketosene to sluice out the engine may be used at the first drain ing of the crank-case, but the greatest care must be taken to see that it is entirely drained out. Kerosene is not a lubricant. See that the car is at such an angle that the draincock is at the lowest point Do not spin the engine with kerosene in it after the first cleansing out, as the oil glaze which is required will be destroyed Drain out the oil at the end of the run, when, due to the oil being hot, it will flow rapidly, carrying out any dirt that may have reached the crankcase.

Some months ago the Great South Road from Auckland, between Taupiri and Ngaruwahia, was in a deplorable condition. After some delay the urgency of effecting repairs was recognised, and the Public Works Denartment took the work in hand on the' county authorities failing to do so. The surface has been graded, the holes filled in, and the road gravelled, with the result that it is now in excellent order.

To induce sales a Texas dealer has opened a park for the accommodation of cars that are purchased from him This parking space is in the business centre of San Antonio, close to theatres, department stores, auu hotels. Those privileged may leave their cars in this park day or night without charge. It is the intention of the dealer to open a service station adjacent to this park, where repairs at flat rates will be undertaken by expert mechanics.

DRUNKEN DRIVERS PENALTY IN ENGLAND. Motorists convicted of drunkenness while driving will in future lose their driving license for 12 months. The House of Lords recently inserted an amendment in the Criminal Justice Bill to this effect, and when the amendment came up for consideration by the House of Commons it was in effect accepted by the Government and became law a few minutes later, when the Royal Assent was given to the Bill. One important provision was added by the Commons at the request of the Solicitot-General, Sir Thomas Inskip, and that is that a driver so disqualified may, after three months from the date of his conviction, apply to the Magistrates ’’from time to time” for the restoration of his license, and the magistrates may give it him back, if after considering his character since conviction, they are convinced that he deserves it. Hitherto suspension of license has been an optional punishment in the hands of magistrates; now it will follow automatically on conviction for drunkenness while in charge of a car. Some members saw objection to this procedure on the ground that it would make magistrates chary of convicting, but other speakers were definitely in favour of the severe penalty, a notable supporter being S. March, who has been a van driver and secretary of the National Union of Vehicle Workers. Under the New Zealand Motor Vehicles Act there is no provision bv which a driver whose license has been suspended for a long term of years can have, his case reviewed. AUSTRALIAN MOTOR DIRECTORY ( The third edition of the '‘Motor Trade Directory of Australia,” to hand from the publishers, is an invaluable reference book for all who have business connections with Australian motor firms. Under classified headings all the houses in the various branches of the trade are listed, and the chief agents through Australia for the various motor vehicle, tire, and accessory manufacturers are shown, while all local manufacturers also duly find a place. A useful feature of the book is the series of reference tables at the end. In these are shown the serial numbers of all American motor vehicles known to be running in Australia, thus enabling dealers at a glance to ascertain the age of any particular car. Another table gives the specifications of current models of British and Continental cars, while still others give the American makes such data as the various sizes of brake-linings, fan belts, headlight lens, spark plugs, exhaust pipes, pistons, piston rings, and piston pins.

The British car is in the ascendancy in Auckland (states the "Herald”), and prejudice against cars of lowrated horse-power is being speedily dissipated as the performances of some famous English cars ars observed. It is to be hoped that another five years will see English and American cars sharing the New Zealand market on a fifty-fifty basis. Some of these wellmade little English cars with efficient high-speed engines and smooth clutches and gearboxes are quite as pleasing to drive as the big-bore American unit with heavy reciprocating parts. It is remarkable what excellen! service is being given by some light British fourseaters.

A psychologist has been analysing the characters of mascot carriers. “Besides,” he says, ‘detecting the type of man a motorist is from his mascot, you can tell his mental age ” It’s a polite way of putting it, anyhow.

PAVEMENT WIDTHS IS TOO WIDE A SURFACE A BENEFIT ? A correspondent writes criticising the view put forward in these columns recently that a twenty-four foot pavement was either too wide or too narrow. Says this correspondent:—“lf a bitumen road is a bit wider than necessary the traffic does not run very much on the join between metal and bitumen—thus the edge of the bitumen will not be so liable to be broken away if the road is a bit wider than required. You will notice many Taranaki roads are broken up at the edges. Therefore I think that the bulk of the traffic, especially heavy traffic, wants to run, say, over two feet away from the edge of the bitumen.” If our correspondent will examine the Taranaki roads, which have worn at the edges, he will find that most of them range in width from 10 and 12 to 15 feet. All of these widths mean that on two vehicles meeting one at least is obliged to run over the edge of the pavement.

The standard track of motor vehicles is 4ft. B}in., and the standard width I of a line of traffic, as adopted by the British Roads Department, is 10 feet. As stated previously nine feet of traffic I is considered • ample for a moderate volume of traffic, such as runs over an arterial road. 10-feet allowing for fast traffic, or a big volume of motor trucks passing and re-passing each other. Both these widths provide room for traffic to run one or two feet awav from the outer edege of the pavement. On an 18ft. pavement, taking the over-width of a car as 6 feet, there is room for two cars on passing each to run a foot from fhe edge of the pavement. On an 18-foot pavement, taking the over-all width of a car as six-feet, there is room for two cars on passing, each to run a foot in from the pavement and vet have four feet clearance between them. The wheels in this case would be about eighteen inches away from the edge. On a 20-feet pavement the clearance between the cars would be incrased. to six feet. The disadvantage of a 24-feet pavement is that it is much wider than is needed almost for two lanes of traffic, but it is not wide enough for three lanes. At the same time the width is such that a third vehicle is tempted to cut in between two vehicles passing each other. This very frequently occurs at very busy periods on the Hutt Road, and almost invariably on three vehicles getting in line across the pavement one, or both, of those, on the outside, is forced over the edee. Thus arises undue wear on tile edge of the pavement. If the pavement were 20 feet in width, this wear would be much reduced, for the width would be quite obviously inadequate for three lines of traffic, and the third driver, instead of cutting in, would wait until the off side of the road was clear, and then pass without running off the pavement, or freezing the other car off. Evidence of such marginal wear can be seen along the Hutt Road, little of it on the pavement edge, but plenty of it in the breaking away of the macadam shoulders. Thus twentyfour feet tends to increase the marginal wear instead of decreasing it. It means a great extra cost in ■paving; it Goes not provide a useful extra width: and there is very little that can be advanced in its favour.

In Bridgetown, Barbados, the increasing competition of public motor vehicles has led to the stoppage of the tramway services.

SEEING IS BELIEVING OFFICIAL ROAD-MAKING LANTERN SLIDES. lhe Main Highways Board has secured from America an extensive set oi lantern slides of considerable interest to road-makers in New Zealand. These show the process of construction of various types of road surfaces, typical defects in pavements due to various causes, and methods of repair. lhe slides are a set prepared bv the United States Bureau of Public Roads, and the pictures of the defects that develop in bitumen roads from bad foundations, bad drainage, defective mix, etc., are instructive as pointing a strong moral for the need of great care in this class of work. The slides will be exhibited bv Mr. A. Tyndall, engineer to the Main'Highways Board, at the forthcoming conference of the New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers at Dunedin. The recent prophecy made bv Sir Richard Redmayne that the petroleum supply of the United States would be exhausted in 25 years’ time is officially denied in that country. It is agreed that petrol will be twice as dear in 1950 as it is to-dav, but one-third of the area of the United States shows indications of oil. The shale deposits, for instance, are unlimited, and it is declared that in Indiana alone as many as 10,000,000,000 barrels of petroleum can be extracted from shale. This is another swing of the pendulum. When one authority makes a pronouncement one way another always comes up with a contradiction and a counter statement. 4 During the first nine months of last year France exported -12,670 cars. Of these Great Britain received 12 386 During the same pet.'od 13,713 cars were imported bv France , only 60 coming from Great Britain, while the U.S.A. accounted for no fewer than A unique feature of a Detroit service station is the installation of a washing pool for motor-ears, 65ft. across, and built of reinforced concrete. The depth of the water in the centre is Ilin., graduating to 4in. at the ritn. The whole is enclosed bv a wall 2ft. high, except at a raised point where the cars enter and leave the pool. The floor is corngated with a view to imparting a succession of ■wks to the car. This action releases the water-soaked mud from the undercarriage. After the car has been driven round several times it proceeds to a washing room, where the remaining road matter is removed by a low-pres-sure stream of water. At the annual meeting of the American Rational Paint, Oil, and Varnish Association, recently held in Cleveland, Ohio, a speaker stated * that it •would shortly be possible for a motorcar to receive, not only a new coat of paint, but for it to be dried and lolished whilst the owner is eating his 'uncheon.

Owing to the increasing competition of bus services running to New York, a suburban railway line contemplates reducing the number of trains. Convenient termini and greater adaptability naturally give buses great advantages over trains.

At a meeting of the Cleveland, Ohio, section of the American Society of Automobile Engineers, it was ” prophesied that a 10001 b. six-cylinder three-passenger vct’cle may be the future American small car.