OLD TIME PRACTICES

Hawera Star, Volume L, 25 October 1930, Page 13

OLD TIME PRACTICES

accepted practices of only a Jfc&tv years tack in the automobile in- ’ t/ustry are to-day only memories amongst old-time motorists and entirely unknown to the present generation of car owners In early days, tiller steering was standard on one or two makes of cars, whilst such popular makes as the lie Dion and .Darracq had the change gear lever on a quadrant, set on the steering column under the steering wheel, it is interesting to note that there is a definite tendency to revent to this practice. Acetylene headlamps were standard on all makes, with Kerosene side-lights and tail-light. Detachable or spare wheels, also demountable rims, were unknown, and a roadside tyre repair was a laborious, backbreaking job Many a pioneer motorist was lucky if he could effect a tyre repair—patching tube and often the casing—within an hour. Steel studded covers were popular with many motorists in those days. A handy auxiliary that used to be carried by some of the early motorists was a cylinder of compressed gas—Co2—carried in steel bottles, there being sufficient gas in a contained to inflate 6 to 10 tyres, according to the. size of the bottle. Such things as grease guns were undreamt of in the early days, and greasing a car was a long, tedious, and often unsatisfactory job. Mow, on some makes of cars, a push on a tefedal lubricates all necessary chassis points almost instantaneously. In those days engine speeds ranged from about 800 up' to a maximum of approximately 1500 r.p.m.; one of the slowest running engines at that time was one with 600 r.p.m., whilst another ran as high as 1650 r.p.m. Many cars had low tension magneto ignition, others accumulator and coil, whilst some engines were fitted with a. centrifugal throttle governor. Many highclass cars, 25 years ago, were chain driven. Practically all car bodies were of the open tonneau type, with a door at the rear, although a few closed-in' bodies were made.