BRITISH CARS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19328, 15 May 1926, Page 10 (Supplement)

BRITISH CARS.

MEETING COMPETITION. FAR CALL TO EQUALITY. Although British cars arc increasing in popularity in Auckland they arc not holding their own in most other centres of the Dominion. Statistics reveal that progress on the colonial market is confined to three or four British cars, while others are negligible. On the other hand, a score of American or Canadian cars have gained ground. It is difficult to find a reason for the situation. Certainly it cannot be accepted that British cars are, as a whole, not. suitable for colonial conditions. On the contrary, prejudice has so far been dispelled that one Lnglish car stands sixth in popularity against all-comers. Primarily, the price is against many English cars. There is a vast demand in New Zealand for fivo-seater cars in the low-price class ranging up to £3OO. No less than six American or Canadian cars are offering in this category. 1 hero are no British makes with comfortable five-seatpr bodies at this price, although there are one or two very comfortable four-seaters which command good sales, There are actually more makes of cars produced in Britain than in America!. Yet, a comprehensive selection cannot be offered in New Zealand at popular prices. It is obvious that there are too many firms engaged in producing cars in England. If half the factories were absorbed by the larger concerns, it would mean larger individual profits for the survivors, and would enable cars to be produced to compete with American favourites. For the 12 months ended March 31 last, only 10 6 per cent, of the cars sold in the Dominion were British. The details of monthly sales reveal that there is no foundation for the? supposition that British cars have been gaining a better hold during the last year. Certainly more cars have beoji sold, but tho American cars have, at least, maintained thenpercentage. The import figures for the first three months of this year, compared with the first quarter of 1925, corroborate tho inference which must be drawn from the sales statistics. During the first quarter of last year J8.5 per cent, of the motorcars imported were from Great Britain. For the first quarter this year the figure was only 11.6 per cent. The following table gives the total monthly sales for the Dominion, together with the number and percentage of British cars included:— 1925.' Total. British p.o. Total.

Total for 12 mos. 18,802 1,930 Av. % 10.6 The following official import figures for the first quarters of 1926 and ; 1925 show a decrease in British cars:— i ... Ist. Quarter. Ist Quarter. 102'!. » '1925. Total cars . . 0,954 4,834 British makes inclusive . . 805 896 Proportion of British cars . . 11.6 p.e.. 18.5 p.c. The few British cars which are already well established in New Zealand will, no doubt, continue to augment their sales, but unless a greater variety can be offered at attractive prices, it is obvious that British manufacturers will not be able to keep pace with American factories which can afford to cut prices every year. Several well-known British cars were reduced in price recently, but no doubt, tho present strike will arrest this trend, and nullify any effort which English manufacturers have made to capture a fairer share of the overseas automobile markets. LOCAL MOTOR TRADE. AMERICAN JOURNAL'S REVIEW. A review of tho position in the Auckland motor trade is given in a recent issue, of the American Exporter. The article was inspired by the Olympia Motor Exhibition, held Inst year, and is illustrated with several views of the stands and witji a photograph of the Motor Trade Executive. The phenomenal development in the local motor trade is prominently referred to, the fact being rioted that the Olympia was the finest thing of its kind ever attempted in New Zealand. Special mention is made of the present activities of the leading Auckland motor importers who were exhibitors, and to the expansion which their businesses have made in the last 10 or 20 years. TIME PAYMENTS. The majority of motor-car agents in Auckland were opposed to sale on time pay-, rnorit five years ago. Now almost all are prepared to g'Ve delivery for a deposit of one third. For several years time payment on a one-third deposit basis has been the popular practice in America. There has been a tendency of late to decrease the down payments and extend the time limit. This, according to dealers, should be discouraged by tho experienced manufacturers, because the prosperity of the automobile industry rests on the employment ot' sound credit methods. One popular light car is sold in America under an attractive time payment system, and, of the annual production of about half a million cars, approximately two thirds are sold on deferred payments. The financing charges have been reduced to eight, cents a day and this not only covers interest hut also provides for insurance.

A TALL OBDER.

TO A. A. A. iSWAorists ■who annually part .with tho . guinea for tho privileges of of the Auckland Automobile dissociation will appreciate tho uniritenlional humour of 11 member who tendered his resignation this week on the groin:,ds that he was not getting as much "service" from the A.A.A. an lie, received from the Auckland Poultry Keepers' Association, ife wrote that he had experienced trouble with a speedometer pinon and had not received satisfactory advice from the A.A.A., or received any reply to an advertisement concerning the repair of the fault. Then ho purchased two tyres about which he wrote to the manager of the ■lyre agency without result. Another plaint v.as thai he had only been offered assistance on the road on two occasions. Once it was the A.A.A. service car which came to his rescue, but he declined aid with thanks. On another occasion he sustained a breakdown a.t .Mangere and 25 oars passed without offering help. " I .had been told I would get as good service as I have been getting for seven years from tho Auckland Poultry Keepers' Association." was the basis of the complaint. Tho letter caused much amusement ■wheii presented to tho meeting of the council of the association ou Wednesday. Tho secretary, Mi-. G. W. Hutchinson, has replied to the retiring member as follows: "Your resignation is accepted with regret. It appears that for your guinea you expected to get a pinion" repaired, two new tyres, three roadside repairs, and all the benefits of tho Auckland Poultry Keepers' Association. Wo are forced to admit right away that we cannot offer you similar service. Notwithstanding many inventions in connection with motor-cars, nothing has yet been invented that will induce automobiles to lay eggs." The letter concluded by pointing out that every motorist benefited '■ by the A.A.A. signposting, while members had the advantages of hotel concessions road and touring information and other privileges. STORAGE BATTERIES. IMPORTANCE OF SEPARATORS. Converse with any enthusiastic motorist about his car and it will be surprising to note what a familiarity ho has with its working parts and the function of each detail with one important exception—the starter battery, or accumulators. And yet this is of real importance, for the battery supplies tho energy for operating tho self-starter, the electric spark in some systems, and the current for illuminating the lamps and for sounding the electric horn. A cold engine may require as much as l-3rd horsepower to crank. The power which can be obtained from a starter battery is stupendous in comparison to its size. Battery separators serve several purposes. They should act as retainers for the active material, and give support to tho plates to maintain them equidistant. They should act as buffers to protect tho plates. The material should not be affected by acid or oxidation., Many materials have been used, and consideration must be given to mechanical strength, durability, and low resistance. Glass wool separators hold tho waste product from the positive plates. This sets up heating and internal short cir- > cuits, which put the cell out of action. Corrugated perforated celluloid is attacked by acid and oxygen during the charging of'the battery, giving rise to copious frothing. Corrugated perforated obonito does rot froth, but becomes brittle and perishes. Threaded indiarubber as a separator often behaves similarly to ebonite material under tho action of j tho oxygen given off by tho positive | plates during charge. Iti addition, it ie-| scmbles glass wool in its faculty for stor- j ing waste positive material iu tho cavities I left by the cotton thread; after they have perished in the sulphuric acid. Some thread-rubber insulators have special properties and are not open to this objection. I

All the above come under the category of inert separators. The denser or more solid tho insulating body between the plates, whether glass, celluloid, ebonite, or rubber, the greater will ho the internal resistance of the cell, and the smaller •will bo the electrical energy which can be yielded by the battery. Selected woods can be chemically treated by a special patented process, to remove all resinous matter, thus transforming the wood into a tough, highlyporous cellulose structure of extremely low resistance.

Treated wood separators are standard in all submarine batteries, ahd in most British and American types of starter battery. Treated wood separators have been examined after eight years' service and found to be still in perfect condition, which is convncing proof of their durability. The treated timber continuously generates or yields a modicum of wood derivatives which has a remarkably beneficial effect on the plates, definitely maintaining their capacity. MOTOR TRADE ITEMS. A Rover 9 h.p. car will shortly undertake a reliability run from A nckland to Wellington and back twice. The Ford Motor Oompanv leads in America in newspaper advertising. During 1924 the company spent 2,000.000 dollars in this type of publicity. T.ac Victor Talking Machine Company was second with 1,900,000 dollars, and the Chevrolet Motor Company third with 1,650,000 dollars. The American Tobacco Company devoted 1,600,000 dollars to newspaper advertising for the year and the Standard Oil Company of Indiana spent 1,500,000 dollars. In the production of Ford cars and tracks during 1925, domestic plants in the United States assembled 1,775,245. Foreign plants of the company produced 136,461 oars and trucks, and the output of the Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ltd., totalled 79,289. Fordson tractor production was 104,168, and flic Lincoln division of the company produced during tho year a total of 8415 Lincoln cars.

MOTOR-CYCLING.

TREASURE HUNT. To-morrow morning at 10.30 a.m. members of the Sports Club will assemble at Stanley Street to take part in a Treasure Hunt. The, destination at which a number of articles will bo hidden will j be unknown and will have to be located | by a series of route guides. IMPROVED DESIGN". From time to time one hears the opinion expressed that motor-cycles, like pedal cycles, are fast approaching finality in design. Such opinions usually emanate from those who do not ride motor-cycles, but are interested chiefly in the commercial side of production. Riders, on the other hand, consider that the presentday motor-cycle is almost as far from the ideal as ever, and this they by no means deplore. Wonderful as are modern machines, .their design is still in the transient stage, and it is probably true that were it to conform to a unanimous ideal, half the interest in motor-cycling would disappear. It is an incontestable fact that stagnation in pedal cycle design was brought about by intensive production and price cutting, and of recent years there have been signs that the motor-cycle movement might follow the same line, since, for a time, a great deal more attention seemed to have been focussod on the mass production of low-priced machines rather than upon genuine improvement in design. There are still many ways of improving existing machines, and those designers and makers of mass production machines who neglect them may ultimately find their smaller competitors very successful when the larger firms are overstocked. The day is not yet come when cost reduction is tlie only consideration, and it is not at all certain that presentday designs even resemble the ideal of the future. HUB BEARINGS. Hub bearings on motor-cycles can be divided into two classes —thoso that wear and those that wear out. This is a truer classification than roller and cone-cup bearings, though the taper roller bearing is undoubtedly gaining headway. This is surely merited, for tho taper roller bearing is an engineering proposition, and it has proved its many excellencies in actual practice as well as in theory—though tho theory of the roller presents a far more difficult*'problem than that of tho ball. A few years ago a firm of motor-cycle, manufacturers produced a wheel bearing, in which the axlo revolved, the actual bearing being housed in the frame. This bearing appeared satisfactory, and it presented a very neat job indeed. However, the idea has gained little headway. NOTES. Horses and other draught animals in Germany are to be taxed, and the money will go to road maintenance. The Whangarei Motor-Cycle Club is affiliating with the Auto. Gvclo Union so that track races may be held during the coming season. Tho Indian 3£ h.p. single, which established a speed of 112.63 m.p.h. recently on Daytona Beach, U.S.A., was fitted with twin carburetters, but otherwise differed very little from the earlier racing models. It is reported that a certain well-known local rider, having disposed of his racing machine, is importing a 3£ h.p. Indian for the next season. This is the same type of machine which recently established such phenomenal speeds on Daytona Beach, U.S.A.

Tho world's record for a motor-cycle, stands to tho credit of H. Le Vaclc (Brough-Superior) at 119.05 m.p.h. The times established by Paul Anderson (Indian), in Franco have not been recognised as it has been found that the French timing apparatus was defective.

Overhead camshaft engines are so rare in Franco that the appearance of an Anzani French-built unit of this type constitutes almost an innovation. For racing, the Peugeot Company has developed an overhead camshaft twin, which has proved very successful, but the 248 c.c Anzani differs from this in being a commercial product used by two manufacturers, and intended to he built in quantities. Although an entirely now model, tho Anzani has been designed to allow the use of many parts of tho firm's side valve and push-rod models.

S. Stratton, world's grass-track record holder for 1 mile, and C. Brown, holder of the Maroubra Gold Helmet (Australia), passed through Auckland recently en route to the Indian factory in U.S.A. They will spend some time specialising in racing machines and tuning, and will compete in the American National Championships to be held at Altoona, ou July 4. Stratton is well known to the local public as a competitor on the Takapuna track a few years ago. They will return in November next, and arrangements will, if possible, be made to enable them to compete at a race meeting here.

The various motor-car and aeroplane expeditions into the heart of Africa have aroused the ambition of a group of French motor-cyclists who recently set out on an attempt to travel from Dakar to Lake Chad, and from there through Dahomey to Kotonou, on the Gold Coast, Africa. Tho venture is entirely a private one, having as its head M. Verdy, president of tho Moto Club de Nice, and M. Miquel, secretary of the same association. The machines selected for this African expedition are ten twin-cylinder Rene Gillets, each fitted with a special sidecar and equipped to carry supplies of petrol, food, munitions, camping material, etc.

DFKLJID