MILLIONTH MORRIS TAKES THE ROAD

Manawatu Times, Volume 64, Issue 153, 1 July 1939, Page 2

MILLIONTH MORRIS TAKES THE ROAD

Monday May 22 will go down in history as a date unique in the annuals of the British Motor Industry, as it was on that day that the 1,000,000 th Morris from Viscount Nuffield’s famous factory at Cowley was placed on the road: the first British factory to manufacture 1,000,000 vehicles.

Behind this fact lies a story of stern endeavour and uncompromising courage which is largely the life history of William Richard Morris, Viscount Nuffield, the man responsible for designing and building the first Morris car, and who has always been personally responsible for initiating each progressive stage both in the development of the company and its products.

The original shops which served as the factory still stands behind Hurst’s grammar school, Cowley, England, where W. R. Morris first began to give practical expression of his ideal of building a motor car for £165, although it is overshadowed by the 120 acres of factory space which now cover the fields nestling at the foot of the Berkshire Hills.

There appears to be a tendency in U.S.A. to depart from the common-law rule that no person shall drive a vehicle on a highway at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under existing conditions. The swing, as regards speed laws in that country, with its 29J million automobiles, now appears to be towards maximum speed limits for private cars on open highways, under the primafacie rule. Under this law, the motorist charged with exceeding the speed limit may show that, whilo he was driving faster than the statutory speod, he was exercising reason and prudence in so doing, but the burden of proof is on the motorist who exceeds the primafacie limit. Of the 34 American States which have adopted maximum speed limits for cars (the highest being 60 m.p.h. in five States, in most of the others from 40 to 50 m.p.h.), 29 states are operating the prima-facio rule. As the toll of the road in U.S.A. for 1938 showed a material decrease over accident statistics for 1936 and 1937, it may reasonably be assumed that the implementary of the speed limits played its part towards reducing traffic accidents in that country. As regards the limitation of speed of commercial motor vehicles in U.S.A., 19 States have fixed maximum speed limits which range from 35 to 55 m.p.h., based on weight of trucks, and in some instances on other qualifications such as obedience of posted speed indicators on some sections of highways. Despite the extensive use of aluminium in tho construction of automobiles not so many motorists know much about this curious and valuable metal. Both of these adjectives are justified because aluminium is odd in several respects, while the fact of its being available has been of great help in the development of modern means of transport. In the first place, aluminium is a manufactured product. It is not simply dug out of the ground like certain other metals. There are no aluminium mines. Further, aluminium is practically never used in its 11 straight ’ ’ condition in engineering construction. It is always alloyed with some other metal to give it additional strength, and approximately has only one-third the weight of steel, while in certain alloys, it possesses roughly the same strength. Aluminium is quite a modern innovation. It was commercially unknown less than 100 years ago, and was a product of no apparent importance until well within the last 50 years. It was really not until 18S6 that aluminium production was placed on a really satisfactory basis and the foundation laid of the present-day huge output of this product, which is derived from bauxite, an ore that occurs in many parts of the world. Bauxite has the appearance of clay, but is much harder, and its colour ranges from grey to brown and even red and pink. Rocklike in substance, it is quarried; the precise methods used vary with the nature of the deposits. In the reduction of this clay to aluminium, great heat—about 1,000 deg. C. is required, and ample electrical energy must be available, consequently tho availability of cheap electric power is often the deciding factor in the location of a plan. Pure aluminium has a specific gravity of 2.7 as compared with the figures of 7.8 for mild steel. It is also a far better conductor of heat, which gives it a decided advantage for such parts as cylinder heads, pistons, crankcases, etc. It is easily machined. Copper is the metal most generally used for alloying, about four per cent being a typical proportion. It will surprise most motorists to learn that the proportion of bauxite in the earth’s make-up to a depth of 10 miles is computed to amount to 31.9 per cent, as compared with 39.9 per cent. Prince Birabongse of Siam, popularly known as “B. Bira” in European motor racing circles, has been one of the most successful racing motorists in England during recent years. On track and road circuits, he has scored many notable victories, mostly at the wheel of the British light car, tho “E.R.A. ” Recently, Bira decided to register and race as a representative of Siam, he previously having driven as a member of English motor racing organisations. At his first public appearance under his national colours, Bira repeated his 1938 success in the coveted “Nuffield Trophy,” decided on the Donington road circuit (Eng.) by winning the 200 miles contest in 2 hrs. 38 mins. (75.78 m.p.h.) on an E.R.A.—Dunlop outfit. Last year, when driving a similar make of car, Bira’s winning average in this event was 72.54 m.p.h. It. was recently cabled from London that Prince Birabongse is endea.vouring to arrange for a select team of racing motorists to visit Siam in December next, to compete in a rich race he proposes to stage in the Palace grounds at Bangkok. Generous expenses are being offered by the Frince to some of the Continental and English motoring aces to make the trip. One of the features of the modern chassis is the liberal use of rubber, not

only for the mountings of the engine, but for many components and minor fittings. The results obtained to date have been so good that still further advantage will no doubt be taken of rubber bushings and mountings throughout the chassis.

Some very interesting results have been obtained from tests using a system by which rubber can, as it were, be welded to metal, almost as though the two were chemically combined. That the rubber does, in fact, combine with the metal has been demonstrated by a special testing machine. A test piece, consisting of two motal faces, connected by rubber, had to be subjected to a very high stress before the rubber itself could be persuaded to break, and even then, rubber was left on each metal face. To take an example of where these components can be used, perhaps one of the most satisfactory is the rubber for the damper employed on the crankshaft of multi-cylinder engines, for the damper thus constructed consists very simply of a heavy rim connected to a centre through rubber, so that when it is once right, the damper remains a permanent fixing, requiring no adjustment. The flexible centre of a disc clutch is another instance—and a universal joint a third, having, incidentally, the advantage that there are no wearing parts. In rubber suspension, in fan mountings in the coachwork and in tho mountings used for the power unit and gear box, this new system has proved its value, and, says the Dunlop Bulletin, it requires little imagination to show how many other portions of tho chassis can be adapted to take such joints. CHANGE TO WINTER OIL REDUCED WEAR—EASIER STARTING There would be less starting trouble in the cold weather, and far lees engine wear, if more motorists would bear in mind the advice of the car manufacturers and the oil companies to change to the special oil recommended for winter driving. Tho body or viscosity of tho engine oil has a vital influence on starting and on starting wear. Striking confirmation of this is contained in an engineering bulletin recently issued by Vacuum Oil Company. Tests were conducted with oils of different body, at different starting temperatures, and the power required to turn the engine over was carefully measured. The results are well worth noting. A high quality summer oil of viscosity S.A.E. 40 gave easy starting at an atmospheric temperature of 70 degrees F. (summer conditions). The tests showed that when the thermometer dropped to 40 degrees F. (winter conditions), it required exactly twice as much power to turn the engine over. But if a high quality winter oil of viscosity S.A.E. 20 is substituted, the engine starts just as easily at 40 degrees F. as it did on* the heavier oil at 70 degrees F. For easy winter starting it is, therefore, wise to use the recommended grade of high quality winter oil. To what extent the authorities in Japan will go in preventing a possible increase in petrol consumption is illustrated by the fact that the Metropolitan Police Board in Tokyo has been instructed by the Home office to refuse the registration of new passenger cars unless they are equipped to run on charcoal gas or other substitute fuels. A further development in this connection was an official decision to prohibit the transfer of used vehicles. This step was taken to forestall any undue boom in the second-hand car business, which was foreseen as a sequel to the ban on tho registration of new petrel cars. Some of the leading automobile manufacturers in Japan have already suspended the assembling of passenger cars for civilian use, with the exception of a few units which are to be equipped with charcoal-gas generating equipment in the luggage compartment. To pass the official inspection, the engines must be without carburetter.