ALL WEATHER CAR

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 107, 7 May 1924, Page 19

ALL WEATHER CAR

THE QUESTION IN ENGLAND,

To meet what is considered one of the most urgent motoring needs, the Insti-' tute of British Carriage Builders, with' other, trade organisations, has .decided to offer prizes for designs of a new .type of all-weather motor-car body. "; An all-weather body, is one that can be easily opened up; in fine weather and completely closed in wet weather.It is considered that,no really, satisfactory, coachwork of this description has" yet been placed on the market. Defects are stated to be :— i. Noise. ■■.:■' -: - - ■_' ■ .The vision of the driver is often im- i peded when the all-weather equipment is in action. " ..•'•-.*■ ■ Not thoroughly watertight. Access ot the car is difficult. All-weather curtains are often lit sufficiently rigid. ' ■": The absence of these defects . has helped .the recent popularity, of the saloon ■ ■ types 'of; bodies, wljich have ■ one 1 drawback—:they cannot be1 opened fully during fine weather.; , ' . THE :DANGEK OF DIMMING HEAD- . '. ." ■ ' LIGHTS.' . ■■ In a very. .interesting article,. "The Menace of the Dimmed Headlights," which appears in the January issue of, our American .' contemporary, "Motor^ Life," it is stated that data gathered by. the United. States Bureau of Standards established the fact; that 73.2 per cent, of headlights on privately-owned J oars were out of focus. The matter I is receiving considerable attention by-the various. States. For example, the. California motor vehicle law requires sufficient light to Tender clearly discernible, a person or. vehicle 200 ft ahead; it provides for arrest for improperly foeussed lights, and also ma,kes it. unlawful for any dealer to sell an antidazzle device unless "approved and accompanied by a complete description and instructions for use, including photographs of the device and a beam, chart pattern.. The article points out;-that lights which are excessively dimmed,'are the cause of more accidents than glaring headlights,. and concludes with" the following advice: "Dimming is a mistaken idea of courtesy; Don't dim'; adjust your .headlights." . . ; ,:-■'.; TAXATION COIsfTBASTS.v ', ■ .In view of the impending motor taxa: tion in New Zealand, interest attaches to the following • from the London "Motor.;— ... : The. motor, industry" of this country is labouring under a heavy burden of taxation... The individual motorist is overtaxed, and it is advisable that iri'dusfcry must suffer as a consequence. ;We have, made;an analysis of the latest > American ■statistics, : particularly in rejfereriee to taxation. From the 14,500,----■OOO motor ■" vehicles < registered in . the , United States oE America a revenue of j japrji-oximately.. £35,000,000,i&,paid .to. the I rAnjerican .Government. Froai the ap- ! (proximate total ,of 1,079,000 veJiicle3 liicesed in this country at the. end of 1923, 'a ravenue-0f.£13,313,334:wa5.paid into :the -British; Treasury;.^;These-"are tlie. interesting facts which our. analysis re-/ ■veals':-^- -. .• ,- '. '.< ■'■:. .-^ 1„: ■-*;.-' ; The tax in America'is about £2 10s per vehicle per _ annum. ' . .- The tax-iiv Great.Britxiin is about' „.'£l2 10s per vehicle' per aunum. \, ;'■ Compared with America motoring development,, in this country must always be relatively insignificant, because of our geographical circumscription-: and our population limitations; but with a much more ..-equitable method., of taxation the development of motoring.here could 'he • hastened, and extended very considerably. . Whili? motorists are inflicted with such a crushing burden of taxation, how : ever, there wiir always be a restriction upon industry.

.'.,/.. MOTOR PARIAH. . . ■ A: member of ."the Ma'rlborough Auto-' mobile Association suggested to '.'lgnis," of the Maiiborqugh "Express,' 'that, farmers who ownedcars should tell lorry owners that unless they carried mirrors on their vehicles they wouldn't get the famers' haulage. No mirror; no trade. / Not a bad idea. A northern writer, in common with others, has frequentcom-, plaints from car owners who speak of lorries which lumber along.the country roads, mostly in. the middle, and sometimes ". steering an . erratic course. The noise of the- vehicle drowns the sound of. any" honker in the rear, and ■lorry drivers are. .supremely neglectful in looking round. If a car could bump such lorries some drivers 'would derive satisfaction', but the laugh goes with the juggernaut. .' .Have a., care, Mr.'.Lorry Driver, and you won't be the outcast yon are at present. ' [ . ■.'■■'■■'- : •.. {■ BATTERY WISDOM. V r: learn to read.the bydroineteiy.as it;is the best way of testing the battery, advises an expert. . A reading between 1275 and 1500' denotes that the battery -is being pi-operly charged by the generator. If "the hydrometer gets down to 1200. -you ; mny be .'using tlie lights or starter too "much. If the. engine is hard to. start, excessive use of the starter will run down the battery. If the- car is not operated much during the daytime, the battery may not get enough current to carry, the-lights. In case none of these troubles are.shown and the system stilj is at: fault, you should have the car taken to an electrical expert, as the generator may not1 be delivering' the, amount of current necessary. ■ Keep the battery terminals tight .and covered, with cup grease to prevent corrosion by the battery .'; acid. Prevent short circuits ,by watching, the insulation of the wires and -covering worn places: with tape. The only" attention the wires need.is to see that they do not come loose or become short circuited.-,By "going over the thumb ivut3 occasionally and glancing at the ..rest of the wiring, such troubles will be avoided. , Keep an,'eye on the ammeter to make :sure that the battery is charging when the engine is running. When the ear is running -about 20 miles an hour with all the light turned on the ammeter should show-, "charge." If it doesn't, the-bat-tery will be discharged. This calls for expert attention. If the ammeter needle becomes bent, giving wrong reading, this may be determined by. shutting off the lights and ■ disconnecting ,the wire from the ammeter to the switch. . The successful motorist is the fellow who learns by . observation > and . who is constantly tinkering with his car. Try it out and find out how. much you don't know about .an automobile. ...--... '.. A .TEN-YEAR-OLD' HAS AN OUTING. \Vhat amounts to an epic motoring trip,' considering the ;ige oE the car and the difficulties .on- the way. lias been completed by Mr. \V". R. Carey, a. niem-1 ber oE the council, of the Canterbury . Aukunobile Assocktiofl. . 3,' lie tour;'.

commencing at Wellington, ran right to Kaitaia, in the Far North, and the home journey included the diversion to Napier.. A' distance of 1623 miles was covered in the actual running time o£ 16 days. Besides Mr.* Carey, there, were Mrs. Carey, Mr. A. W. Shrimp ton, and Miss Shrimp-. I ton, arid the car used was a ten-year-old Hupp. GENERAL-' JOTTINGS. Motorists should keep to the left. The middle of the -road is reserved for politicians. '.. -,;:, .. • . .-. 'The prevailing colours for- the 1924 license tags in America are black or blue plate with' white numerals. Sixteen States use these colour combinations. There were 748,005 miles of railroad in the world in IS2O. Comparing this with highway motor vehicles facilities, some idea accounting for tile motor truck's popularity may be gained.. . ". " The valves of a new car are not so deeply. seated as those on one that has been ground in once or twice, and for this reason a small amount of carbon will hinder .'.the. efficient'.,action, of the' valves. • ■ '■-'."■'■■.' • "••...■ Georges Carpentier, the pugilistic idol of France, who-has just beaten Townley,is to become an auto race driver. He will compete 'on the Lyons tra,ck next spring. .-■■ ..' •' .. 0 ; .-''■. * ' - The railway strike was responsible for the appearance of cars that have had cobwebs ;on the dashboards for' years. But they went, and that was the. main thing when, the railway wheels were resting- ■ V' .':.:■; : There were 350,000' men employed in U.S.A. in building . new highways and keeping old ones m repair—a greater force .than the entire niale working population of Detroit, which is the fourth largest city. in. the country. '.- '•'■:■" If the windscreen: is wiped over with a film of the solution described below it will Be found that the glass will remainclear and free from mist or rain spots. The solution should be made up as follows :—Common salt, 1 drachm; water, l'fluid ounce; glycerine, 2 fluid ounces. With the object of providing .the country with* a national motor fuel, the Automobile Club of Italy, in conjunction with the Italian Touring Club, has appointed' a committee to' draw up the conditions for. aT competition to be held during the coming spring of fuels, having industruJ alcohol 'as-"a. base. '-..'.' ,Quite<a good terminal for joining the high-tension lead to the spark plug may be made from an ordinary • small , brass screw eye, such as may be found on the" back of a o picture, frame, for the attachment'of the hanging wire. Trim the stranded cable of the-high-tension lead flush: with the insulation, and poke the thread of the screw, eye into the centre of the .wire strands. Then screw tight home. ; :N : ' " : ' ■-,' The latest market letter from .Messrs. John Dunn, Son, and Co., of-New York, states that a.very important item:in present export shipments, is the large number of automobiles and trucks being sold abroad... Australia and New Zealand, are among the most important foreign buyers. Last year exports to Australia and New Zealand reached a value of nearly £3,800,000, .compared with ; less than £1,800,000 during 1922. : ; I The closing of roads in Wanganui' County to' heavy . traffic from May- to, September-is urged by the county.: engineer on the ground ,that the. damage dono, to ..'lightly surfaced roads in many. parts/of ;the country by the 'passage.of one or,more Heavily.loaded' Vehicles when the roads are in partially saturated condition is excessive. „■'-■ „,-'. - An almost immediate effect of increasing the price of petrol in Britain has been' the return to horsed transport on the part of numerous ]arge contractors. As a result, there has been a, slight,increase in the .average price paid for j horses/.but it is contended that the price ; of petrol imakes motor transport more ; costly: than'the horsed type, particularly i as fodder, etc., is very much cheaper | than it was a year ago.