CARS AT OLYMPIA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20426, 30 November 1929, Page 12 (Supplement)

CARS AT OLYMPIA.

MORE VALUE FOR MONEY,

IMPRESSIONS OF THE SHOW.

Olympia, the motorists' Mecca, has produced some outstanding features and novel car designs this year, and this description gives one a general insight into tho appearance of the exhibits.

Tho sovens and eights of one or two firms have not changed to any oxtent, except in chromium plating and now pattern wings. Prices are £l3O for a tourer and two-seater; for fabric saloon, coiichbuilt saloon, and coupe, £l4O each; sliding roof £5 extra. Small cars of four other different firms, with tax about the same, aro priced at £l4O, £l6O, £165, £149 and £lB2 10s. One well-known baby car, run with a chain and two cylinder engine at tho back, has boon developed more than other makes. The body is not unlike an armoured car—low on the ground. Advantage lias been taken of the absence of machinery beneath tho body, and the space for passengers is as commodious as that of a much higher-priced car. Prices remain the samo as before —from £l4l for the fourseater to £163 for the saloon.

Next in size come the nines, a comparatively new class rapidly growing in popularity. In these low categories ono more li.p. makes a real difference, and the nines, though small, aro .definitely not " babies." For £lB5 one can have either a four-seater, a fabric saloon, or a twoseater coupe. Tho sports two-seater, gauranteed to do 60 m.p.h., costs £225, and the sports saloon £245. Another famous make of nine is by far the best sprung small car. With a coach-buUt saloon it may be had at £295. Tho fabric saloon costs £2BO and tho tourer £240.

The Six-Cylinder Vogue. One of tho most striking impressions tho motor show makes on the visitor is that of tho triumph of the six-cylinder engine. It is said that tho four-cylinder engine, which has done so much in tho development of (he automobile, will become_ a back number, only suitable for utility types. The battle of tho ignition systems also seems to be over. Considerable strides have been made by the coil and battery, and a number of cars which hitherto have been fitted with magnetos will be found equipped with the now more popular system. The gear-boxes, however, continue to compete with one another. Slowly but steadily, the four-speed gearbox is ousting the three-speed, except in the very smallest models. In mechanical detail some of the 1930 cars are a long way ahead of the old ones. Centralised chassis-lubrication has taken a firm hold, and most cars have it in some form or other. One car has a very simple gravity oil-feed to the steering and various articulations. • Simultaneouslywith this simplified greasing there is, in many instances, a sensible adoption of oilless rubber brushes of the silent-bloc type, which will be welcomed by the busy owner-driver. In cupboard space, interior lighting, and ventilation, 1930 models show good advance. The instruments in front of tho driver are now adequately but indirectly lighted, so that ho can f.ee any reading with the minimum of risk.

Improvement in Bodywork. As for > coachwork, tho saloon and the coupe, especially of tho kind which has occasional seating behind the main seat and a wide door on either side, are tho most popular for normal use. The dualpurpose car, in various guises, in which a part or the whole of the roof can be moved back at will, is finding great favour in England, although it has no vogue in others. For tho luxury car the enclosed Limousine coachwork is the most favoured. Two- and thres-toned colouring has been developed, and tends to make motors brighter and generally more attractive. There is a change to be noticed this year in the system of petrol feed to tho carburettor, for while a year or two ago the autovac tank bid fair to become universal, except for the small and inexpensive cars which had tho petrol tank in the scuttle and employed gravity feed, the vacuum pump driven off the camshaft and placed on the outside of tho crankcase is being fitted in a number of 1930 chassis.

Tho show of 1929 is particularly noticeable for the advance in making the gear-box quieter and more simple to control. A number of manufacturers are adopting a third speed ratio which is closer to top and by particular devices renders changes easier and lighter, while giving practically the same degree of quietness on third as on the direct top. There are a few special gear-boxes which simplify tho whole of the gear changing. The advance in the adoption of the freewheel has been rather disappointing this year. Tho boxes themselves have been made less resonant. The central position gear lever is fully retaining its popularity, and the lever in most cases works flexibly or in an invisible gate. The speed positions are sometimes marked on the knob of the lever, and more designers now provide a catch to prevent reverse being accidentally engaged.

TOURING INFORMATION. An -address dealing with motor routes to out-of-the-way places in the North Island will bo delivered by the touring manager of the Auckland Automobile Association from IYA on Wednesday evening next December 4, at 9 p.m. The various connections and newly opened up route into tho heart of the bush and along the sea coasts will bo described.