MOTORING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15997, 16 August 1915, Page 3

MOTORING.

NOTES AND COMMENTS. ~*|i We have referred more than once in these " ,"." columns, says the Motor. England, to the . -7, possibility of a car famine, and there is no Q*J3 doubt that we are very near to. if we have -?S not. already arrived at. the time when, it may ;% truthfully be said that there is a new car faivip.e. Every important concern that manu- • factures motor-cars is now engaged wholly '010>S or :u part upon Government work, and it . :~t?s follows that the production of new pleasure ;Ssg|ji cars has now practically ceased in this "wJf country. That being the case, the second- -''''-3 hand car market is now particularly active Buying is keen, and values of pood cars of %-€SS recent construction have advanced from 15 - - to 20 per cent The country is being searched by dealers for good second-hand cars, and j§B there is_ no doubt that there is a keen, '»' demand for recently-built used cars. Anyone .7 in this country desirous of securing new * j Enelish-made cars should secure what is -. -- available without delay, for the shortage of first-class cars in England will be even more -■'■' intensified in the Commonwealth and New -j Zealand. . - ■% With a view of protecting the motor in . '-% 1 dustry of England, and retaining at least :' I part of its trade, it has been suggested that <*'■&! I the leading English manufacturers—all of I whom are now devoting their engineering 1 plants to making war munitions—should dur- ', ing the present crisis purchase component , --> I -parts from America and outside sources. and " ; 1 thus enable them to retain a portion ;of -;.*_*- . 1 home and export trade, which is threatened " : J with extinction during the war. The trouble l i is that the leading Enalish firms wifl for - 1 the present drop out of public notice- 60' far a? motor-cars are concerned, and when the . I j war is over they will be faced with the diffi--1 cult problem of regaining their goodwill and j trade, which to a considerable extent will - . have passed into American hands. The- sag- ■|h I gestion is made that all such models should j be described as "special war models.''*-so j that purchasers would then mere fully realise that such models did not necessarily-repre- . *•'!'■ sent the normal production of the firms in §j|§ question. If this suggestion be carried out. . ; it will be the means of holding together th« connection of many of the big motor 'firms, and at the same time give employment to the many thousands of hands employed' in."l "--i England in body-building, painting-- tin-' '■ - smith work, and the hundred and one different items that go to the making up 01 the • --'- complete car. apart from the actual engineering work. It is recognised in England that ; ">;f J« something must be done to protect and hold "-'WI together the many millions of pounds annually turned over by the motor trade in S@f England. The suggestion to import the I necessary parts and assemble the complete '■ , i car - appears to afford the only, means of .-"■ j facing what appears to be a critical position -' j in the English motor industry. • *.JV Driving with the screen up at night, espe- - " cially m misty weather, is often dangerous, I for ass . somehow has a. tendency to distort ASS; , obiecTs in front, and is ant to affect one's --"-"i judgment as regards distance- It is always j safest, when the view is obscured by a motor ,- I-S screen, to slant it backwards, so "as to be ■-'"?: able to see over the ton. in which position '-'SZ the slope of . the screen deflects the wind upwards, so that it does not blow into one's '-" eyes. At night it is advisable to lower th&iS'?£S screen a little further, so that one may have I a complete uninterrupted view over the top '. 3; of the screen. At night time one reojitires all '-3 I one s wits, and hence any interference with, Ef| r the driver clearance of vision is to be '-- avoided. v'|! An idea of what the English motor indus- "!| try is doing towards suDolying heavy motor ;V '*> I vehicles can be gathered from the fact that "a one firm, the Daimler Company, is aione - M supplying to the War Office 25 new two-ton lorries weekly. This is besides a large number of ordinary touring vehicles. V»; It is just 25 years ago since the first Duu- T-J lop pneumatic tyre was used in a road race -*> m England the winner being that one-tim« *#■ great rider. Frank Shorland. who used pneu- ? mattes for the first time in a road eompeti- -■- tion. and m*de i •"common hacks'" of the rest S« or the field, -who were using the then uni- Sk versa! cushion rubber tyre, in a 50 miles M Handicap. Since then what an influence "- the Uunlop has had. first on cycling and *H then later on motoring. Another striking- im feature ls.the marked manner in which i'M Lhtnlops have maintained their pr«»-emi-. 1 nence despite the fact that the pneumatic? principle 13 now common to every type. i-i£ There is no doubt the world owes a lot to fll J. P. Dunlop. the inventor of the tyre thaß f ,9. made motoring and cycling possible. .kM Nearly every motorist has his own idea. &i as to the position in which ho likes the* hooter or horn. In this connection it is in- as teresting to note that at a recent motor show ."--. held in the United States 217 cars were 3s*l examined, comprising 67 makes, just to sea ~~:4, what the makers were doing in this direction. §9m Of the total cars 189 had the hooter under -j£ the engine-bonnet. 22 at the side of the car. . and six at the front of the .car, either, adjacent to a lamp or in front of radiator. X-'fA Some 138 had the manipulation of 'hoofer. at :"'"-';< the centre of the steering-wheel. 48 at fthe §§ side or affixed'to the'inside of the. door. IS .'4 were on the steering-post, mostly immediately •> below the wheel, and 10 on the instrument or-on the facis-boftrd- of the dash- but suitably bracketed forward to facilitate the driver's reach, and*, eight -were-placed-- in. various positions, some being below, the BeaV%M|i|| cushion. Of the 217 hooters. 211 were electric, five were reed horns, and one had a hand ■ mechanical control. * : -'-. -;-5 I It is stated in the American Motor World that the Ford Company despatched last ,€■ month 43.829 cars from their 21 assembling" -, plants throughout the United States. This output is equivalent to a daily rate of 1413 cars-. The Ford Company's last year's— August 1 to August output totalled 221,838 cars. The first quarter's return foT the current fiscal year show a total .out of 59.507. v and it is anticipated that the year's output ":-.] will be 300.000 cars. The company employs '- : « 22,000 men, 16.000 of them .being on the paysheet of the Detroit organisation.".*!"-*-* .:Sj-||l Previous to the war huge sums of money is*2Bm were annually spent in France by English ■, :fsM motorists during the louring season. De- M spite the war. the French authorities, recoc .**£ msing the importance of this big anr ,* influx of moneyed motorists, are appt-tmg/ . ' j through the president of the Touring Cluq lof France ' that, where -possible, English ' tourists should continue to make their annual ■'■-fell ) trip. The following letter has been circulated>j.:||| 1 I by the president of the above association. ' :- I throughout the English press:— Ehf- - " i lish will be received in France with enthusi- ' <j I asm. and we are arranging that hotels will, ** -j be cneu in all interesting districts. Need '. • .we say that the hotels will oaly have French : ? . ; managers. French servants, and French I cooks? Except, of course, in the military ~sjm ! zones, where it is impossible to travel either by road or rail, the railways are working y..fi practically as in time of peace. Certain for-' ,V.\ malities have to be gone through for the use ' i of cars, as well as for long railway *"-..t but we are in direct communication, -with tha . , various authorities, and all the necessary - ' measures arc being taken to simplify these, : • and to render them as little onerous -as. ni»- .5 siblo in the existing circumstances. Th* j reports we have received state that,-generally ' speaking, the roads are in good, order-. -In .*. 1 -addition to the'' usual ~ pleasures -obtained'-'. t 1 from a stay in France, our. guests -fill," to .'.\ 8 their great satisfaction, fail to meet with in*-CM t| Astro-German element, 'and will continue" to, ' - oj receive . the -, traditional " kindness" of.^-tha" ;; y j French and taste the-far-famed French cooko I ing to which they have been -previously accna-.;. el tomed. -- Finally, -J wish :to 'state .that --'■*» 'r- i ~ { shall be at all times only too pleased to assist - ' c- I all who wish to ■ come on' a visit, and fa* I received in our 'Belle France.*" ' * ;-^><_- : '- ■