THE MOTOR

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 26, 31 January 1923, Page 15

THE MOTOR

FURTHER FALL IN PRICE?

(By "Autos.")

After the Olympia Motor Show there is always more or less of a boom in the English motor manufacturing world, and. the question of a further fall in prices may be considered. ,

, The chances of a fall in prices Hinge npon the amount of business that can be looked for next year, says R.C. in the "Manchester Guardian." Already the manufacturers have some idea how they stand; they will have a still better one in about- two months' time when the various distributors report upon the effect of inquiries they are now receiv- ■ ing, inquiries not infrequently based upon a visit to the show by prospective buyers. So far as things have gone, it may be said that the outlook for business is good, better and more substantial than at any time since the boom of 1919. But there is no promise in it that prices will come down still more. Within the past few days there have been some reductions, but there have also been increases. It is not likely that' either one example or the other will be generally followed. In point oE fact the manufacturers did all they could, and it may be said that some of them did more than they really could, in the way of price-cutting before the show.. Prices were brought down tq bedrock level in the hope of stimulating sales, and being happily accompanied by a drop in the cost of tires and of petrol they we're not without effect, and even instant effect, notwithstanding . that next year's models were to be on show; jvithin the course of a, few days. .;•::.''' EFFECT OF THE BOOM.) But although' there is a ferighteiifng. of prospects, the volume of business done and promised is hardly such as to justify any hopes of lower figures. The motor trade has to win back the losses of the lean years, and it has also to make internal adjustments. As things are to-day,' the production capacity of this country alone is ahead of present demand, or of the possible demand for a year or so. The crippling effect of the boom is still being felt- Thjit boom brought a rush of new people into the motor manufacturing business, and the weeding-out process, long foreshadowed, has yet to come. The effect of it whilst yet it hangs over th« industry was outlined to the writer by a big distributor during the show week. He spoke of: it from the trade point of view, arid in effect saitf" that until it was done it meant that traders were limited in their dealings to a relatively narrow circle of manufacturers. This is a factor that operates against lower prices, and there is the further circumstance that we have not yet redeveloped our export trade. Unless there is a big break next year, then, wo are not likely to see much price-cutting. ' SECOND-HAND CABS. An interesting but not too pronounced a feature of tlje show was the offering of fairly new second-hand cars in part exchange, for next year.js models. It is interesting because these are the first post-war year cars, bought at the height of the boom when priceß were absurdly high and quality of material was low. Quality was suffering then because there was a shortage of skilled labour; it had not all been demobilised, and in the face of numerous orders makers had to turn out and use what they could get. The trouble was not peculiar to the motor trade, and it would be unkind to remind owners of these cars that they were warned what would happen, i What is happening now is that, having held off against loss, and finding it a hopeless situation, they are now facing that loss^ and are open to trade for better and more up-to-date cars. The distributive side of .the industry is none too keen on accepting these models as part-payment but as deals of this kind are old history in the motor business, probably some adjustments will be arrived at. The coming into the market of these ■ owners had certainly something to do with the stimulus, which the show gave to business. '". . QUALITY BETTER THAN EVER. Taking it all- round, the quality and j price of the new" machines are better than ever. Valuers higher than immediate pre-war value, this in some cases without taking into account the depreciation of the sovereign. What the show emphasised more than anything eke is the fact that to-day thd motor-car is no mere pleasure vehicle, ..but a vehicle essential to business. Hence it was we had such a marked advance in devices for protecting 'the occupants against bad weather, an advance which is a recognition of the fact that motoring is no longer a, seasonal pastime. It accounts, too, for the inquiries for cars* of the medium-power type, at prices running up to four figures. There is a modest revival in the demand for these machines, and it is likely to' develop as trade improves.. For the rest, however, it was a small and medium car show. It was, of course, bound to be that, because j^his type of care appeals to a wide class, prospectively the widest of all the motoring classes in this country, and one which hitherto has not been too well cateied for. The small car has now passed beyond the experimental stage, design has more or less settled along .normal lines, and with better cars, better tirea, the prospect of all-weather equipment!and a sum of of things that means cheaper motoring, we shall 6ee a good demafld for this type so soo as the new year is with us. Thqr_e are signs of that demand already. The following is from "The -Motor" (England) in reference to ''Dope" for motor engines or the effects-of • various chemicals that may be added to the fuel used in an automobile engine in order that its performance may be improved: Research work that.has been done in this connection has a great bearing on tile future of automobilism. ■ To'state the case briefly, it may be said that up to the' present detonation or pinking has been'the enemy of power output and thermal efficiency. In order ■to obtain -maximum power from an internal combustion engine, it is advisable that the compression ratio be as high as is mechanically possible to be used. Up to the present, any increase in the pressure to which the mixture is compressed before it is fired has resulted in the charge detonating instead of combusting properly. The most, advanced students of the phenomenon admit that they are still uncertain as to the precise nature of detonation; but it is sufficient at .this juncture for us to lealise that this undesirable tendency "pinking" can bp. minimised ;uid almost completely eliminated by the addition of certain substances to the..fuel. Unfortunately, 'his practice, which has l.ccii l'scd by racing men for some considerable 1 time, has had attached to it the undesirable name of "dopinjr." The name suggests something, .ui-derhand — or, at leAst, not quite straightforward— and, as a, result.'the public might' obtain the imm'fifSion that there is some-Ib'-'ir; intrinsically wiring and undesirable in the fiction of adding'substances t0 *h« Pit-vol.in order rVat mi increase in speed r.nft vwwisv can bo nbtninod. It i& fvus that th*-»ier«t-hairkeen closely guarded, among the neing ir*ter)afry,..aad y* »ay

now state that all the big races, both in America and in Europe, that have been held within the last two years, have been won by cars in which "doped" fuel wa« used. There is no reason, however, why special treatment should not be applied to the_ petrol sold to the rank and file of motorists in order that detonation may be out out. Already there is on the market a brand of pet-ol which, for perfectly straightforward and easily-under-standable reasons, is less prone to pink than are other brands. It is certainly not going too far to say that if all petrol is treated at the. refinery in such a way as to make it exhibit a tendency, towards decreasing the possibility of detonation, it will then be possible' for car manufacturers to provide engines which have a higher compression ratio as standard, and thus work more efficiently. As the result, our motoring will be cheapened to: a certain extent without any countar-balance of disadvantages being involved. The lerm "dope,',' when applied in a motoring sense, should be regarded in the same way as is benzole at the present moment,.

In connection with the above it is interesting to note an instructive fact concerning the action of teiraethyl lead, one of the most potent of fuel dopes, that recently came to light. On a bench test a high-compression engine was running under conditions of speed: and load that intentionally caused it to "pink" -wholeheartedly. Near the air inlet of the carburetter was placed a beaker containing a solution of tetraethyl lead', so that the air for the engine, was drawn over its top. The actual vapour given off by -the substance was -sufficient to stop the pinking completely.

AND