MOTORING

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXIII, Issue 4820, 7 August 1939, Page 3

MOTORING

STEAM CAR AGAIN. AN AMERICAN ATTEMPT. An interesting development in the United States is an 8-cylinder steam power unit designed for use in cars. The cylinders are geared to a mainshaft and the engine is designed to lie flat under the floorboards in place of the gear box. It drives through the usual propeller shaft and back axle. The engine, which develops about 60 h.p., is said to run without vibration. The boiler is of the usual water-tube type, compact, efficient, and of large reserve capacity. It is fired by an electrically operated atomising fuel-oil burner of patented design, which lights from cold at the turn of a switch and raises full steam in three or four minutes. The weight of the boiler, which is intended to be housed under the bonnet, is 4101 b. It is anticipated by the maker that, when fitted to an experimental car, the consumption of fue! oil or kerosene will be from 16 to 18 m.p.g. and the maximum speed in the region of 75 m.p.h. Regulators of simple design have been developed for use with the engine, so as to maintain the proper head of steam pressure and water level at all times. All the driver need concern himself about would be the actual driving. The car would be equipped with three pedals, one for the throttle, one for the brakes, and the other for the reverse, the engine iteslf reversing. No clutch or gear-box is required.

THAT HORSE-POWER TAX.

INCREASE IN GREAT BRITAIN. MOTOR TRADE INDIGNANT. There has been such an outburst of indignation in Great Britain by car owners and leaders of the. automobile industry against the proposed 66 2-3 per cent, increase in the cost of registering cars in the United Kingdom as from January next, that probably the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir John Simon, is already doubting the wisdom of his putting into operation the increased tax of from 15s to 25s per horse power on the 1,944,394 private cars now in use in the Old Country. Of these, 322,362 are over 14 h.p. The new horse power tax has been described by one of the leaders of the British motor industry as a “blow unparallelled in its history,” and one that will adversely affect not only the home trade, but also Britain’s export trade, particularly in the more powerful models. Recently there has been a tendency for some of the leading British makers of baby cars to scale up their small vehicles more into line with the roominess, comfort, luxury and appearance of the larger and more expensive type of car. The outcome is a range of beautiful small cars of slightly higher power and better performance.

On the English market there are to-day five British makes of small cars in the price range of from £IOO to £l5O each. The present horse power tax is about £6. Again, among cars ranging in price from £l6O to £196, there are seven British makes, with a horse power tax in the region of £7 10s.

The fact that the present tax of £6 on a 8 horse power car in England will, in 1940, be raised to £lO is hardly sufficient to force motorists who favour this type of car over to yet smaller powered machines. The difference between the tax on the proposed 6 horse power cars and existing eights will be £2 10s, plus slightly better petrol mileage.

COMPARATIVE EXPENSES. Many owners keep records of their expenditure in connection with motoring throughout the year. An analysis from figures has shown that after depreciation, which represents 30 to 40 per cent, of the total cost, 'the heaviest expense is in petrol, totalling about 18 per cent. Tax and insurance cost 11 per cent; garage 10 per cent.; service 7 per cent; repairs 4 per cent.; and loss of interest on capital and various, 7 per cent. Oil, the most vital component of all from the point of view of reliability and longevity, represents just over 2 per cent., the lowest expenditure of all.