MOTOR TRADE ITEMS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18547, 3 November 1923, Page 12 (Supplement)

MOTOR TRADE ITEMS.

HAMILTON TO GISBOENE. f-■■^-iiThe delivery of the first 1924 model Buick car with four wheel fakes'. to arrive in Auckland made in ■ ■ Gisborne f 58 hours after landing *n the. Auckland ; ; ; Wharf by Messrs. Gillett Motors, Ltd., is '". ; * ft feat .worthy of mention! ; ' '-' '■ The car— four cylinder model, was -"«. landed ex the City of Birmingham on Saturday, 20th nit. ' r It ; was unpacked, 'partially built up and driven to the railway station yard and loaded on a truck by 12.30 the same day for * Frankton /Where it was unloaded at 11 p.m. that night. Sunday morning it was completely assembled and was on the road by 9.30 a.m. for Kotorua, which was reached at 4 p.m. Leaving Rotorua at 5.15 a.m. on Monday Mr. Gillett- and party had breakfast at To ~ Teko.: Opotiki was •reached in time for lunch and the road was gbed practically .ill the way; as it was on to Motu. Many of iho bad bends on this section have "been widened considerably since last year. From Motu on till after you get over the Otoko hill is fairly rough and tin top of the hill it is really bad for a short distance. After passing this hill the *-*ad is splendid right into Gisborne, which was readied at'7.ls p.m. on the Monday. This being the initial run for the car no attempt was made tb establish a record. Before making this trip Mr. Gillett was rather sceptical of the claims made for the four-wheel breaking system, but now ho says after negotiating the steep hills on the Motu run lie is satisfied it, is a big advance. There is a feeling of security not possible with the old system. lie contends that within a couple of years all makes will be so fitted.

The latest Chevrolet de Luxe model has just been opened up. In appearance it is similar to the standard model, but is fitted with those little refinements tnat-.givo distinction to a car, such as front bumpers, nickel-plated radiator and cap wind screen, irons, and kick-plates. Two parking lights, rear danger lamp, roan vision mirror, and more leg room lias been provided. Russell and Co. have these models now on view. Details of the Grand Prix held at Monza, Italy, on September 9, 1923, are - just to hand. Driving an eight cylinder Fiat, Chas. Salamano won the coveted prize after a struggle which left the final result in doubt until the lost few seconds by covering the 497 miles in sh. 27m. 385., or at an average speed of 91 miles an hour. The same driver also established a lap record at an average of 99 miles an hour. Second place was also secured by a Fiat, being only 24 seconds behind the •first. The well-known American driver, Jas. Murphy, who last year won the American Championship, finished third in sh. 52m. 51s.,'with an 8-cylinder Miller car. Soon after these three had cut the lino the immense crowd of about 400,000 persons got out of control and invaded the track, making it impossible for others to finish. There is one thing which drivers who are new to the Ford must learn, and that is to make the fullest possible use of the throttle lever for slowing down. # The tendency is to have the foot unceasingly S on the foot brake and on the clutch pedal, Vita both hands gripping, tho steering wheel with a vice-like grip as if they were trying bv main force to hold the vehicle back. Every time the clutch is thrown out tho engine races furiously, and when the clutch is let in again the vehicle is thrown forward violently, involving strain to both engine and transmission. It takes time to learn, no doubt, but the engine and transmission will have an exceedingly rough time of it until this learning to ' cHve on the throttle is acquired.

A MOTORING CAUSEME. .. ; ' »■» . [BY OrS BEITISH CORBESPONDEST-l TJnpleasing Prospects. The village green of song and story and of fact is rapidly losing its charm in many village "contagious " to London and other Metropolitan areas. Tho motor is the monster responsible for this sad change. The uncontrolled gatherings cf charabanc parties have become so frequent and so vexatious that a distinctly hostile feeling has been produced. Around the parish pump, and in the tap-rooms of the inns, the oldest inhabitants shake their heads at the loss', ci manners in the world. And ; well !they might. A plague of locusts is a boon compared to invasion by " charry" parties. Locusts at least make a clean sweep. There is nothing cleanly about the human ravagers. They come they park their vehicles on the green; they" sing and trumpet and dance and drink; they eat things out of paper packages and tins, and, when they go. they leave a. litter passing imagination. But worse. The, venues of charabanc parties have become the market place of itinerant vendors of foods, drinks, games of chance, and other " attrac.ions." If something is not dono to curb '.bis ■ nuisance, an outcry against touring motorists may be anticipated. The Motor suggests" that the A.A. should take a lend. Maybe.it will. Road Sense.

A writer in the Daily Mail animadverted recently on the subject of road sense, and said some very sensible things about it. He- dismissed the rather pre-' valent idea that good motorists are born rather than made, and gave some cogent re?.sons to show that the contrary is the case. Road sense is undoubtedly acquirable. Many of the safest and best drivers of one's acquaintance are' men who deserve this description because of their developed sense of how to motor. I had a good example of this .recently. My friend was not a man who could be described as a born scout. In most affairs he is distinctly " slow in 'the uptake," a3 they say across the Border. But at the steering wheel he is a different person—after years of experience. The incident to which I refer occurred as we were approaching a blind cross road. There -was a dog lying on the grass verge at the intersection. Without any apparent reason my friend braked suddenly and hooted. In a moment a car swung out of the cross-road. In reply to my inquiry how he had anticipated the presence of the vehicle he told me that he had noticed the dog to raise itself and look down the crosswav. To a less experienced driver this clue would have conveyed, nothing— had it been observed. Road sense, then, is a habit more than an instinct. It can be cultivated. It enables the driver to anticipate and to appreciate situations. It is just the one thing needed to make the good driver, and, bo it noted, it is also the very thing the presence or absence of which the average inspector, who tests _ drivers before granting competency certificates, cannot detect. Therein lies the weakness of the official examination system— system that Great Britain manages ■ very well to do without.

Overseas Visitors. The number of visitors to Britain from overseas has, 'this year, far exceeded previous records. The majority of the Home, pomers are, unquestionably, motorists in Wioir own country, bo that it is not surpnamg that, when in Britain, they should siiow a, preference for the motor and not with . « ay i traveL From conversations *M a numW of New Zealand and AnariSSilL?*? S at ** «• often in at SJ dccidc whetW to hire a »hipmTnt . l!B? iftiaffi 3 s£^ more it nior e .cco,;mic a r" 0 1 ' S n l,C w A7ould find 1- had to ilWcw .JSdwffi if caving—and wrtaink. ~ ..°- nd : ha »«* : b « f °re to ho! it and h. ft tJ! V Ut f d his P l ™ i ; The, added jr ! P of mDc,t-nho,?e----;V own car shou'd% o \ '", ?"5 onp ' 8 %;,V this knotty question for ' J" *?**»* JJJ- **. ,Mil. li ',' iii id***** .:■■ : ; '-- .•< :.'. K^fKiii^fta^iii- '."-....■;'■■ ■-',"••'. .