Cycling and Motor Notes

Otago Witness, Issue 3019, 24 January 1912, Page 59

Cycling and Motor Notes

BY DEMON.

Messrs Cooke, Howlison, and Co. landed last week a 16-20 li.p. Wolsely, colonial model, for Mr Watson Shennan, with which he is at present touring South Otago.

The same firm also landed a Buick, 20 h.p., fitted with three-speed sliding' gears and Bnick overhead valve engine. The rain during this season has demonstrated the need of specially high carburettors and magnetos for colonial work. One farmer at Cooper’s Creek (between Geraldine and the Rangitata bridge) finds* that pulling motor cars out of the crook at 5s a time is better than farming, and has mulcted several local motorists in this amount for services rendered in towing their cars across the river. At Mukikihi (near Timaru) also as many as five or six cars have been scon wa-iting tli eir turn for the use of the reliable “ noddy.”

. The latest American files bring particulars of the annual motor contest for the Vanderbilt Oup, the premier motor event of America, 'lihe contest was won by an American with an American car, the victor being R. Mulford, driving a Lozier, who just got home by the small margin of 12min llseo from R. De Palma on a 90 h.p. Mercedes. The race was held around a circuit of 17.14 miles, which had to bo negotiated 17 times, making a total of 291 miles, which the winner covered in the fast time of 3hr fibrin, equal to an average speed of 74 miles an hour. The winning Lozier car was of smaller horse-power than the Mercedes that filled second place. The race drew a tremendous crowd, and was carried through without serious accident. The American Grand Prix, held over the same course but over a longer distance, was won bv D. 11. Brown on a Fiat, who drove 412 miles at the rate of 743 miles an hour, which must bo very near record for a long distance motor race. Hearne (on a Benz) and De Palma (Mercedes) finished in the places. Brown won the same event in 1910.

I The French Government has become alarmed at the success of the recent English motor show and its consequent effect on I the Frenc)i automobile trade. Owing to internal dissension between the various French automobile associations, the one-time French : motor show—the premier event of its kind in the world-—was dropped, but the French | Government has now decided that in the interests of the local motor trade, now a vital national industry, motor shows must be held annually in France, and arrangements have already been made to hold a big national show in the Grand Palais, Paris, next October. Few cyclists have any conception os to the popularity of the bicycle in countries like England and France, both of which arc blessed with fine roads. In France there are now over 3,400,000 cyclists registered, all of whom have to pay an annual tax of three francs (equivalent to about 2s sd). Last year the French Treasury was enriched to the extent of £367,960 by the bicycle tax.

A oar should he washed as seldom as possih'c. yet it, should bo cleansed. as often as neeossarv. But oven that should bo qaulified b- adding that improper washing is responsible to a greater extent than anything else for dimming the lustre and otherwise spoiling paint work. Hot or even warm water should never bo Cool and perfectly clean water is much better, as it hardens the varnish. 7f a hose is used, the flow should bo gentle. A forceful pressure of water against a car-hodv upon which mud has dried will knock off the mud and also scale the varnish. The number of motor cars in France in respect of which taxes were paid last vear was 64-,209, as against 53.669 in 1910—an increase of 10.540. The Seine department, in which Paris is situated, heads the list with 11,364. Seine-et-Oise being second with 2758. and the Nord third with 2286. With four exceptions, all the department show an increase number of ears. An interesting Item in connection with the return—which, hv the way. does not Include taxicabs—is the steadv increase in the avgmge horsepower of the vehicles in use. liP|9ol it was onlv 4 h.p.. by 19.05 it had 1 increased to 8 h.p.. while now it is 13 h.p. Great Britain’s total lasr year was 75.6 TY oars, while in the State of New York, U.S.A., over 80.000 were registered!. — —One of the Wst locks :ecommended

bv motorists for locking up boots, tyre carriers, boxes, air-bottles, etc., is the combination word lock. The main thing to remember is the combination that one uses. For instance, if the word be ‘‘Seal,” and the name be forgotten after the lock bo fitted, then it means perhaps a week or two to find the word again. I know of an instance where some workmen endeavoured to open a boot of a car that was sealed up with a combination lock. The owner had left his car to be painted inside and out. The boot had to be opened, and the owner was travelling through the country, and could not be reached. To avoid bursting the lid, the men tried' to solve the missing word. All hands wore interested, and everybody took chances. About 3000 words may be formed out of the few letters on the combination, and at the end of three weeks the men were in as big a fog as at first. Then the owner turned: up, and laughed when told of the trouble he had given. The joke was upon him, though, when he endeavoured to open the lock, lor ho had forgotten the word himself. i ELECTRIC CAR AND MOTOR BUS. 1 The well-known Victorian motorist, Mr E. Norton Grim wade, who recently returned from a European motor tour, gives it as his opinion that it is unwise to lay down nails for electric cars when motor ’buses are pushing electric traction out of the field. In Europe, Mr Grimwade states, the motor traffic has grown beyond all conception. Motor power is being used in immv directions. Hero, then, is something good for the municipalities to think on. With an up-to-date service of up-to-dato motor 'buses, the enormous expanse of lay- ; ing down and keeping up e’ectric tram services could bo saved. It has teen proved on the other side that the motor ’bus service is more economical than the electric tram. In many centres the use of tho overhead wire is retained, but no rails are laid on tho road. Thus a great saving is effected, and much success met with. MOTOR PROGRESS OF A DECADE. To compare a car of 1902 with one of tho | present year’s patterns, and from general I appearance only, is a revelation; but when matters of detail are considered, it is ceen that there has been little short of a revolution in car design and construction. Even the motorist of two or three years’ standing. and probably ore of most expert as [ such, may be surprised to learn what tho ! automobile was years before his time; and i the recapitulation of the points of cars 1 built now and 10 years ago may interest 1 where it fails to educate the older school of motorists. I am indebted to the Motor for a brief but very succinct summary of the improvements and general development of the automobile during the past decade, and published appropriately at the time of th© recent great show in London. Tho comparisons made are as follow:

THE MOTOR CAR THE MOTOR CAR OF ]992. of 1912. The Motor.—Engines The 'Motor. —Engines with, one, two, and with one. two, four, four cylinders six, and eight cylinders. Separate cylinder Cylinders cast in eeta castings. of two, three, or four. Sma.ll range of flexi- Great range of flexibility. Efficiency bility. Greater erfxI*ow, owing to a ciency with smaller number of causes engines, then unknown. Camshafts driven by Silent chain drive to spur gears. camshafts Exposed valves. Enclosed valves, qnita Noisy vale gear. silent in operation. \alves generally Desaxo crankshafts, too small, and gen- Sometimes dosaxe *.e.rally rendered in- camshafts, accessible by contiguous gear. Radiator of gilled Radiator framed tubing with ex- honeycomb or gilled posed gills. tube. Radiator, in many „ 7 - , cases, carried b^ low frame, and • oil pipee liable to bsconie Complete acoesai-mud-coated bility. Lubrication. Drip Lubr'.cation.—Purap-sight-feed lubrica- circulated lubricators with many tion, with single pipes; reservoir lead to and from usually on dash. small indicator on dash. Pressure-feed arrange- Oil-wavs cast through meiits liable to be- crank-case, come choked. Ignition.—Coil and Ignition Magneto accumulator. Tube general. Supploignition considered merit ary ignition on by many ns useful some cars, for emergencie“. Carburation. Most Carburatioa, Much uncertain, owing to more reliable and liability reconden- automatically «d------sation. Starting up, justed to ’ engine very often, difficult. speeds. Petrol consumption Self-starters (by comexocssive. Effi- pressed air, elecciency therefore trie current, or fcot low. pressure) gaining favour. Clutch. Leather- Clutch. Leathcrfcoed cone, seldom faced and mefel-to-removable without metal—easily reaffecting other units. movable. Gearbox. Meshing Gear-box. Changes rs. Gear con- driven gear shaßa tro! on a quadrant. just introduced. Goar changing on Gears controlled some cars quite an through a gate, art. Transmission.—Chain Transmission.—Silent drive to rear axle. bevel and worm Chains liable io be- drives to rear axles come choked with dirt, and tostretch. Brakes. External Brakes.—lnternal oxband brakes. par.ding brake®. Springing.—Not suit- Springing.—Well deable for varying signed for varying loads, or bad roads. conditions. Acco in m odatiem.— Accommodation.—For Usually for four five or seven pe<rpeople in cramped sons in absolute and uncomfortable comfort. Seating nositions. Seating low and prolectedt high and exposed. Flush coachwork. Bust-raising and Clever double-pur-dust-holding bodies. pose bodies. EUROPEAN v. AMERICAN CARS. The following letter, from a ter resplendent signing himself “ Quox.” appeared in a recent issue of the Field: — Sir. —I have read with ' considerable interest ttfh article under the heading “ A Motorist’s Notebook ” in your current issue, which is signed “ Max Pemberton,” and I should like to make a few remarks in reply. I was one of the very early owners and drivers of cars in this country (except during the first IS months of the Boer War, when 1 was in Africa). I think that I have never been without at least one o&c- ? bavc driven

almost every conceivable kind of car. from a 6 h.p. to 150 h.p., including a motor ’bus, etc. 1 have been a director of two motor manufacturing companies, and I have designed a few cars. 1 have had nothing to do with the trade for the last live years, except as a purchaser, i hope you will forgive this autobiography, bat 1 am trying to justify my request to bo allowed to say a lew words m criticism of the article already referred toFirstly, with regard to rales at the Olympia Show. I was told by one of the directors of a leading English company that they had booked very few actual orders at the show. At the moment i am a buyer of two cars. ' 1 went to the showto see what there was, but i have not yet actually ordered the cars, and 1 cannot hmt think that many others must bn in a similar position. Buying a car is not like buying an umbrella. r lhe latter are mous or less alike in principle, and more or loss cheap in price. Cars, on the obiter hand, are expensive, and, in my humble opinion, in their infancy, and consequently a purchaser likes to see the various changes in the new models, and to compare notes before placing his order, and this takes time. It follows that many of the orders are not placed until after the show. I am quite prepared to admit that the American manufacturer is not necessarily a philanthropist, and that the British manufacturer is not necessarily a fool, but I have yet to learn that the majority of buvers are as foolish as Mr Max Pemberton seems to suggest. Farther than this, as a buyer, I shall be delighted to answer each of the questions suggested: (1) I should not in the least, mind taking a cheap American car to my next shooting party. (2) lihould not in the least mind its standing" amid the many fine cars which will probably bo housed in my host s garage.’’ (5) 1 should not call my friends to admire it any more than I should if I took one of the cars which I now own, and which cost over £IOOO. (4) I should not be in tire least ashamed of my cheap American car, and my dignity would not be affected in the manner which your correspondent suggests. If 1 may venture to suggest it without offence, it seems to me that your torres pendent rather misses the point ficun a purchaser’s point of view. In the first place, we spend in this country more on carriage work than is usually the case on the American continent; consequently the appearance of the body work on the 17 h.p. Delaunay, with all its expensive accessories, is naturally better than that on the cheap American car, on which the carriage work probably cost no more than the list of accessories given by your correspondent as attached to the Delaunay. Be that as it may, the £SOO car two years hence will not sell for £250, and oven if the £2OO American cur fetches nothing at the end of tun years, the loss in depreciation will be loss bv £oo, so far as the purchaser is concerned. Now tiie suggestion is that the American oar will cost more to keep up. That is a suggestion which 1 think it will be hard to substantiate, but in any case I think that the £SO raved in depreciation will more than cover the extra cost of upkeep (if there be any), and it is conceivable that the American car will, at the end of two years sell for considerably more than nothing. Now, as regards the cost of upkeep. lam of opinion that in many casee the American car will be the less expensive of the two. Firstly, they are Usually much lighter, which means a reduction in the tyre bill, because they will and do run on lighter tyres, and lignt -r tyres are cheaper than heavier ones. .Secondly, their petrol consumption is, as a i ulo, lighter on account of the car being lighter. With regard to lubricating oil, the difference, if any. La inconsiderable. Your correspondent states that an American 20 h.p. is, generally sneaking, more costly to run than an English 15 h.p.. Surely, logically, one would expect this; but in practice I doubt the truth of the statement. Your correspondent further states that the American car is likely to give considerably more trouble I wonder on what experionoe that statement is based.

I have moborod a grod deal on the American oontinont, and I recently mntorod in America, Oanada, British Columbia, right across Vancouver Island, from Victoria to Campbell River. That tost alone is, of my opinion, a much harder trial for a car than a 2000 non-stop, including the Scottisih A.O. trials through which I successfully drovo a car some years ago. I feel bound tc say thal I think that not many European cars would stand the ordeals that oars have to go through out there, and, although the road surfaces are vilo, and tile drivers are very hard on the oars, I am amazed at the way the cars put up with it. Further than tins, it seems reasonable to suppose that if they do so well out there, they ought to do at least as well over hero with better reads and batter treatment. In addition to this. I think that American spare parts are usually cheaper than European spare parts. It Eeoms to mo that American cheap cars should bo compared with cheap European oars, and expensive with expensive. As far as the cheap oars are concerned. I am of opinion that one gets more for one’s money in some American cheap cars than perhaps in any other; and perhaps this is duo to their enormous output and their up-to-date machinery and factories. 1 hold no briefs for American or any other oars, and I have absolutely no interest in any make, and I have tried to express an unbiassed opinion. I would, of course, far rather ©oo British pheap oars giving best value for the money, but I do not think that they are likely to do so until they adopt other modes of manufacture. By that I mean greater standardisation and greater output.