REAR-ENGINE CAR

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 147, 23 June 1928, Page 19

REAR-ENGINE CAR

NEW FRENCH MACHINE A FAVOURABLE NOTICE . -The practicability 'of tho roar-engine car continues to occupy the attention of investors, particularly on the continent, and the following excerpts from a description in "The Motor" of a French car of this type will be interesting to~ many readers. Tho car is an improvement upon v. model brought out by the inventor, M. Jacques Germ, about four years ago:— "The Beating accommodation is for fivo adults. Tho body and chassis are in one piece and constructed of duralumin, the duralumin frame bearing a wood frame on which the Weymanntypo body, is laid. ■ .. • "Tho battery occupies a commodious 'box' under-tho left rear seat, with an inspection door, "and tools are loc.Ked under both front seats, where they can be reached without disturbing the passengers, the tool lockers opening on the sides of tho body, immediately \ after the main body door is.opened. "The floor includes exhaust heat.ers and inspection doors'to the brake gear. The whole design seems ,-very neat throughout. ••'•'. "Tho car is suspended on.heavy bellcrank levers, all vertical shocks from the road being turned into horizontal displacements by a set of compensated coil springs. Wo have tried this design on rather uneven ground, and we must say that, notwithstanding tho presence of those painful solid tires, the chassis was remarkably well insulated from road shocks. This ought to be practically .perfect on pneumatic tyres... . • ' "The brakes, on account of the rather unusual design, of the front part of the car, are Lockhead hydraulic. NO NOISE OB FUMES. "The noise of the engine is completely suppressed,; although the power unit in itself is none too silent.' As a matter of fact, all experienced drivers know that it is quite impossible to drive an engine properly without hearing it. Something, will therefore have to be', devised to make the driver,' but the driver alone, 'hear.his engine as it runs. But such' total silence could hardly be called,a fault by his fellowpassengers. ,■..','.. "Fumes afjv.noticeably absent from the body, as" all .exhaust gases are, "of; course, swept away .at the rear. ■>'! "The power unit includes'a short, three-speed gearbox,.-, with ■ central change, and an especially short'trans-' mission to the rear wheels. The reduced length of its axle's ;goes a long way towards the suppression of transmission noises. ■ ■ . . . „:.■ "Good accommodation is provided for a small trunk inside the body. "The aerodynamical efficiency of such a car is without any possible comparison with the conventional type of car, as our readers are well aware And this should probably be the gwatest claim of M. Jacques Germ's new car if he did not hold in reserve a greater invention still. The engine as a whole or the bloc-moteur, is separable from the .body.,, ,-..... „. .... .„, "In ;lcss than seven minutes, and -by undoing -twelve nuts only, the whole of the mechanical parts, engine,' clutch, gear box, and transmission, still resting on the rear wheels, and thusrquite easily accessible for repairs, come away and are 'unharnessed' from the chas- : sis. ■ '■ ' ■ v . ,■•■.'..' "They can be wheeled away into the repair shop, just as a tired horse is taken away to the stable, aijd replaced in seven more minutes by another power unit. The1 side members of the frame are built as sliding rails to allow of such a movement. "Tho inventor claims the following, outstanding advantages for this design. He considers, by the,way, that on account of. streamlining considerations, all cars in -the future wili have_their engines at the rear, and' this being quite possible, one .must admit, after sitting in one of these cars, that the driving t position is really delightful. The visibility from the seats is most, extraordinarily increased. "A, very great feeling of safety is experienced/by the occupants of the car, and if, as the.inventor seems to think practicable, the roof is replaced by large safety-glass panels, one would have a '''sunshine saloon" which would compare very favourably with any other."