AMAZING GEAR BOX

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22405, 29 April 1936, Page 19

AMAZING GEAR BOX

ENGLISH INVENTOR'S WORK HIGH HOPES FOR FUTURE [from our own correspondent] By Air Mail LONDON, April 8 A powerful limousine will shortly be --/ driven from a little workshop yard near London, to the Great West Boad, and there it will be be put through a rigorous series of tests which may influence the whole trend of automobile design throughout the world. If the experiment is successful it will mean the introduction of four horsepower "baby" cars capable of speeds exceeding GO miles an hour and with ) a fuel consumption of 70 or 80 miles ,to the gallon; speeds of 90 miles an hour and fuel consumption of 50 miles -- to the gallon for the present type of ten family saloon; clutchless gear changing; and ten or 20Epeed gear boxes completely "crashproof" and foolproof. The car on which tho tests will bo made will be a standard chassis by ono of the mostf fajnous makers in England. Tho whole secret will be in its goar ' box, giving ten speeds and absolutely dead silent and positive changes, no matter how the shift lever is manipulated. For six years the inventor, Mr. F. J. Healey, has worked on the idea. He has spent more than £30,000 perfecting it. Now he is confident that he has produced a gear box that will revolutionise motoring to such ail extent that running a car will be cheaper than running a rhotor-cycle. He said:; —"The box gives an infinite variety of speeds. I have made them with as many as 20 speeds and they have been tested industrially. The box is absolutely crashproof, and is from 90 to 98 per cent efficient. With the usual design of gear box, whether it is of the synchromesh ' or pre-selector type, as much as 50 per cent engine efficiency is lost."