WITH WINTER COMING ON.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 17 April 1926, Page 13

WITH WINTER COMING ON.

UNSATISFACTORY MUDGUARDS. The whole conception of mudguards needs reconsidering, says lI.C in the Manchester Guardian. \v'e want them to give more protection, which can he obtained by making them a. little wider and something aeeper, whilst keeping proportions that please the eye. Ann we need that they shall be so constructed as to be easily detached, so tnat tne sides oi the car may be more thoroughly washed down, and we can easier get to the springs and the grease oi oil nipples that serve the brake mechanism. Especially is this the case with the rear guards. Front wheel guards are usually so arranged that one can get round them to do these cleaning operations with some degree of comfort, but in the rear design is close packed. Id many a small car owner, wlio lias neither washing accommodation nor washing equip, ment, the best, and, indeed, tne easiest way of cleaning the rear wheels and the parts round about is to remove the wheels. It isn’t a. long task, nor is it a hard one, and it results in a more satisfactory job. But it would be better still if the guards could be removed, and when replaced could be clipped rigidly into position, with no fear of the supports working loose under vibration.

Attempts have been made to manufacture shields out of material other than the usual sheet metal, but they do uot appear to have met with success; certainly the motoring public has shown no great desire for them. But whilst they may have advantages they do not touch the idea I would like to see wrought into a practical proposition—a design of shield that is wider, deeper, and detachable.

That there is need for something of the kind is shown by any car oil a wet day in wet weather. Many of them are reasonably clean, certainly at the beginning of the day, in the matter of coacliwork and bonnet and plated parts, but the wheels are dirty and foul, showing where the difficulty lies. They look like boys whose washing operations have been of the liclt-und-promise order and have escaped the vigilant .eye of the feminine ruler of the household 1 . We want something more than neatness' in the design and form of our shields; in large degree we have that already. There must be better protection and better facilities for getting down to the car for cleaning operations. Visitors must remember that it is the multitude they have to cater for to-day, and the multitude includes a large number of car owners who have no adequate accommodation or equipment for these cleaning processes.