HOLIDAY CAR TRIPS

Evening Star, Issue 25996, 10 January 1947, Page 8

HOLIDAY CAR TRIPS

OLD CROCKS TAKE THE ROAD ALL TYPES, SHAPES AND SIZES Fitted with odd parts, and all manner of make-shift . components resurrected from junk heaps throughout the province, old model cars of varying makes, shapes and sizes have made an appearance on Otago and Southland roads in surprisingly large numbers during the holiday season. EVIDENCE OF INGENUITY. No small amount of ingenuity has been necessary to get some of the cars ready for the road, and although many of them have presented odd sights as they have chugged. down country roads, the proportion of breakdowns due to mechanical defects in the somewhat ancient vehicles has not been any higher than with modern cars. TYRES THE PROBLEM. Certainly tyres have been a source of worry to owners of the old vintage types and Model T Fords, 1926 Dodges, and Buicks and Chevroletsi produced around about 1930, have left the city with tyres literally hanging all over them. Despite this foresight, several drivers have been marooned, and only prompt attention by Automobile Association patrols has rescued them. It is oyer six years since old model high pressure tyres have been imported into the country, and the limited numbers available to-day have been patched, fitted with sleeves, strapped with leather, and even, in cases, of emergency, stuffed witli grass. Drivers of old models, fortunate enough to own a reasonably good-set of tyres have been subjected to a rough ride. The high pressure tyres, combined with a lack of shock absorbers, have not taken kindly to the corrugated country roads. NECESSITY THE MOTHER OF INVENTION. Necessity is the mother of invention, and, faced with the alternatives of purchasing a new model car at a stiff price or patching up a product of 1930 in which to take the family on the summer holidays, numerous drivers have produced some amazing results. One farmer with a large family, from the bush country of Otago, acquired a dilapidated Chevrolet truck and the body of an old Buick sedan. With the aid of ropes, he attached the sedan body to the tray of the truck. While he sits in the draughty cab behind the wheel of the truck, his family ride in state in the ancient, but comfortable, sedan body. There have been a number of cases of youths grouping together, and with combined financial resources, purchasing some sort of vehicle to which to apply not a little wood, canvas, and glass to give added comfort. Patrols have discovered cars, that could easily be called crocks negotiating hills and terrain that even modern vehicles would find difficult. This in itself is a tribute to the mechanical efficiency of models produced in the ’twenties and ’thirties. The feat performed by a model T Ford in towing an 18ft caravan from Invercargill to Dunedin adds a further feather to the cap of the makers of those days. NOTE OF WARNING. Although the accident rate among the old models has been negligible the average number of these types rejected by the city corporation testing station has been higher than in previous years. Many vehicles have shown signs of wear which would be dangerous to owners. “ There is a grave risk of accidents due to repairs being effected on old cars with shoddy materials,” said the city’s chief traffic inspector, Mr E. H. Barrett,, to-day. This was due entirely to the inability of service stations to obtain spare parts, and car dealers eager to make a sale were patching up cars sufficiently to pass the testing station’s inspection. Buyers of secondhand cars should have them overhauled thoroughly by an expert mechanic.

Air Barrett added that the City Council was. of the opinion that the time was overdue for warrants of fitness to be renewed every six months instead of every year. The matter was under consideration by the Government.