DRIVING THE OTHER FELLOW’S CAR

Evening Star, Issue 22069, 1 July 1935, Page 13

DRIVING THE OTHER FELLOW’S CAR

In an emergency any driver may bo called upon to take over a strange car: a general knowledge of the systems of control favoured by light car manufacturers to-day should, therefore, form part of the education of every one of us (writes Norman Conquest, in the 1 Light Car ’). Experience of a largo number of cars helps considerably, of course, as one comes to recognise various types of control at a glance, but just the same principles apply in the case of tho garage hand, who may handle three or four different cars a day, as to the man who has owned and driven only one model. The first requirement is to find the ignition switch and the starter button. The former may be combined with the lighting switch or the dynamo switch, and in either case may be marked “ 16 ” or on older cars, “ M ” (magneto); if tlie car is a fairly modern ono, tlie switch will probably be operated by a detachable key. Many variations of the starter switch exist; it mav be a button or small pedal on the floor, it may be a fairly large mushroom-headed button on the facia board, it may resemble a small bellpush (if the car has a relay-operated switch), or it may bo a mechanical re-mote-control type (as fitted to modern Austin Sevens), in which pulling a knob operates a switch on tho starter itself through the medium of a wire. There is also the Lucas Startix system, in which the detachable key has two positions; turning it to “Hand” merely switches on the ignition; in which case the starter can be operated by pressing a small button just above, whilst turning it to “ Auto ” switches on the ignition and brings tlie starter into operation as well. _ _ ' If you can find neither ignition nor starter switch, the only thing is to make a few experiments until you do, but before beginning—in fact, in any case, before starting tlie engine—make sure that the gear lever is inj neutral; this can be seen at a- glance of the lever works in a gate, but if a ball change is fitted, a little judicious waggling of the lever will give the desired cue; sideways movement of the lever is at its maximum in neutral, of course. If there is the slightest doubt, however, depress the clutch pedal or its equivalent—fortunately the left-hand of the three pedals serves to disconnect tho engine from tho transmission on all light cars marketed in this country in recent years. I know of more than one case where neglect of this elementary precaution has caused a badly crumpled' wing or dented panel, especially where cars with self-changing gears are concerned; the reason in the latter case will bo obvious when 1 come to deal with their operation. Three other points remain to be discovered before starting the engine; one is the carburettor control, another the ignition advance and retard lever (if any), and the third the hand throttle (also if any). _ The first-named is almost invariably a knob protruding through, or placed under, the lower edge of the facia board. Sometimes it is marked “S’ or “ Start,” whilst, if the carburettor is an S.U., it*, may bear the inscription “ Pull rich—push weak.” in practically every case it has to be pulled to close the strangler or bring its more modern counterpart, the “self-starting” carburretor, into action, Tho control for enriching the mixture, whatever its nature, will, of course, be needed only if the engine is cold. The -ignition control is missing from quite a number of cars built in recent years, especially those manufactured in 1932 and 1933, as automatic advance was widely adopted about this time; most of the latest cars have this feature with a supplementary hand control. As a general rule tho ignition lever is one of the most obvious of tho smaller controls, as it is nearly always in the form of a lever working quadrant-wise and mounted on the steering column or on the centre of the wheel; in addition, one usually has the further guidance of the letters “ A ” and “ II ” or the full words “ Advance ” and “ Retard ” to show which way it works. _ In a few cases it is on the facia board; a notable modern example is the Hillman Minx, in which an unobtrusive knob protruding from the instrument panel is pulled for _ “ retard,” whilst an old instance is the earlier Jowetts, which had a twist control.

if nothing can be found there is no need to worry—it can bo assumed that the ignition is of tho automatic-con-trol type. Where hand regulation is provided, however, it is wise to use half-retard for starting. Hand throttles usually follow the same lines as ignition controls, except for their marking, of course, and here, again, there is no need to worry if none can be found. It is a control that one can always do _ without—which explains its absence in so many cases—but even if it exists nndis* covered, it is unlikely to affect matters as it is highly improbable that it would have been left at anything other than a tick-over setting. Nothing now remains to be investigated before the engine is started. If it does not fire readily a very slight depression of the - accelerator pedal—always easily distinguishable from the brake by reason of its lighter construction and “ feel ” —will probably set matters right. I should add, however, that this does not apply to cars with self-starting carburettors, as here a fast idling speed is already provided when the control is operated, and opening the throttle tends to derange the specially calculated starting mixture. Lighting switches are nearly always obvious, he they on the instrument board or the steering wheel, and call for no comment except to point out that, in some cases, dipping is effected by a separate switch on tho steering wheel or column or by a button on the floor boards. As for the controls for tho windscreen wiper, instrument lights, direction indicators, and such like, there is no need to go into details; a little intelligent experiment will show how they work, and quite likely they will not bo needed in any case.