Cycling and Motoring.

Free Lance, Volume XVIII, Issue 972, 13 March 1919, Page 27

Cycling and Motoring.

It is interesting to note that all Ford cars for 1918 are to be equipped with electric self-starters. No extra charge is to be made for the fitment, which will be part of tbe standard equipment. It is anticipated that the American output of motor cars will be back to normal about June of this year, whilst the majority of manufacturers hold the opinion that prices are likely to stay up, owing to increased cost of material and production. The storage of petrol aboard aeroplanes required for long-distance flying is going to present a problem on high powered machines. The Liberty standardised engine consumes 36 gallons of petrol an horn- with open throttle, and 30 gal'-ic an hour for average travelling. The oil consumption is about 14 gallons per hour. It therefore means that any aircraft meant to travel a number of hours without alighting must carry quite a load of petrol.'lt's not the weight, it is the bulk that is going to trouble designers of the commercial long-distance aircraft. Who will be the Henry Ford of the motor-cycle industry P is a question asked by one of the leading American motoring journals. There is no doubt a tremendous market is awaiting the designer and manufacturer of a popu-lar-priced fool-proof motor cycle that anyone can ride—in fact, a machine for the masses. There appears to be no reason why a meaium-powered machine —built in huge numbers, on the standardised system adopted with such great success by Ford with his car, should not be marketed in the region of from £20 to £25. Everybody knows that kerosene is a perfectly good fuel; but every motor engineer knows that "there axe difficulties in the way of his using it. If he could burn it in the liquid form, as the housewife has been doing these many years, all his troubles would be solved; but he cannot so burn it. He must burn it much more rapidly than the housewife does, bo that he will have, not merely a flame, but actually an explosion, and to effect this he must first vaporise it. The cleverest engineering motor experts the world over are endeavouring to devise a successful carburetter or atomiser so that kerosene can replace petrol on any car, but it has not come to light yet. It is anticipated that 20,000 motor trucks constructed for use by the American Army, will, when released by the war authorities, be turned over to the American postal service for use in country districts.