NOTES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 9 April 1927, Page 14

NOTES.

•Speaking at a dinner given by tne owners ol tlie ear, oil- -vian ljiugoyne, M.± ~ m ilie toast of ti.e .oiitisii autom-otn.e iulemarkeu on tne- ciianges which

nan taKen place in motoring during the last quarter of a centuiy. no said: "in tne old days, next to owning a car, a man wisned more than anything eise that lie could stand on the pavement ana watch himself drive pa»L in it. ' Tnis reminds one of the truism that man’s hist great ambition was to get married and own a house, and his next was to own a car to get away nom nis house.

'the coining of the closed car has drawn attention to the convenience of wide rear view windows, and some or the open ears ate- being better equipped in this Direction than formerly. A wide rear window is a. safety measure from the driver’s point of view, but it is always appreciated by the passenger. Some of the folding touring car hoods still have ridiculously small glasses in tlie rear, and a central driving nnrror is quite useless. The only objection to a wide expanse of glass at the back is that it makes it possible for tlie driver to be dazzled at night by the leliection of fol low-head lignts. This may be a veiled if there is a passenger in the back seat who can be relied on to draw the blind when necessary.

Graphs recently published in "The Motor Cycle” snow that the value ol 1926 exports of .British motor cycles was approximately £200,009 below the 1925 figures, due, it is suggested, to the great strike which so disorganised industry in England in May, June, and July last The total, however, was ±.2,b14,i03, as <ompared with £ls.C9t> imports.

limited stop express omnibus services have appeared in Scotland. A large company, according to ”Motor Transport,” supplements its ordinary stopping-at-any-place service with additional cars that complete tlie journey in a shorter time and only stop half-a-dozen times in a 40-miie run. Exceptionally comfortable cars are used, and passengers on the “limited” buses pay a small additional charge. A traveller visiting Shanghai some time ago was rather surprised to see two extraordinary looking vehicles, which on closer examination turned out to be a pair of 2-ton English truck chassis which had been purchased by the Voluntary Defence Eorce, Shanghai, and converted into armoured ears. A revolving turret had been erected behind and above the driver’s cab, and this accommodated machine guns and small searchlights. The radiator, bonnet. and the whole of the chassis, with the exception of the wheels, had been protected by plating, and this had been cleverly arranged in such a way that the radiator could still get a good supply of air. These machines have doubtless been rendering yeoman service during the recent trouble.