MOTOR NOTES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 17058, 12 June 1926, Page 9

MOTOR NOTES

WORLD’S FASTEST SPEEDWAY. AT ATLANTIC CITY, P.S.A. DESIGNED FOR Kin M.P.IL At the present time there is very preet rivalry between America and Europe in the competition tor motor 'trade in the markets of the world, and this rivalry appears to extend to the matter of motor speedways. Up to the present the 'new track at Montlliery, outside of Paris, is the acknowledged ■fastest track in the world, but soon it will have to take second place. With several hundred carpenters, an army of graders, scrapers, steam shovels, and other construction equipment working to the limit, the two hundred acre tract at Speedway (just outside of Atlantic City), X.J., the site of the former Amatol Arsenal, is fast assuming the shape of the world's greatest automobile speedway. When completed it. will resemble a huge oval wooden bowl one mile and a half in length, with banks at an angle of 4:1 dog., so steep that a person cannot crawl up its surface on his hands and knees. This is necessary in order to maintain the safety factor which on this speedway will allow Did miles per hour—the fastest in the world. The lingo grandstand wil be l.'OOfi. in length, had will seat .‘IO,OOO people, while there will be parking space for 40,000 ears and room enough for onehalf million people in the centre of the bowl. Every convenience will be incorporated in Ihe plant for Die comfort of ihe patrons, and special roads arc being constructed to take care of the enormous amount of traffic, both automobile and train, which will attend Ihe races held on this speedway. The opening event wil be an international race of 000 miles, with twenty of the world’s most famous drivers, both American and European, who will have to qualify at a speed of 120 miles per hour. Already the entry list contains suck renowned names as Ralph Dp Palma. Peter De Paolo, Earl De Yore, Earl Cooper, Tommy Milton, and others of like calibre, which foretells that all speed records will go nglimiiiering at the inaugural event of ihe Atlantic City Motor Speedway. AVARM ENGINE .SLOWLY. RACING DETRIMENTAL. Warm up the engine slowly in cold weather. To run the engine fast and race it while warming up is very bad for the engine. Wear takes place’in an incredible measure while thus warming up if the throttle is opened far. An ordinary engine is designed to run tit about .190 degrees heat for its best operation, and the oiling system is designed for this as well as other places. MOTOR FEES IN NEW ZEALAND. Motor fees in New Zealand are said to be the cheapest in the world. Even with a seven horse-power car in England it costs £7 a year’for permission to use tlie roads of the Kingdom for a 12 months’ period, and the ordinary light cars (12 horse-power) are taxed £l2 a year, the fee being at the rate of £1 per horse-power. Here in New Zealand the charge is much less. The registration foe for a car of any horsepower is only £2, the charge for the plates is 2s (id, and the driver’s license is ss—in all £2 7s (id for the privilege of driving over the roads of the Dominion for a year. Practically the whole of this money is ear-marked for better roads.

THE £IOO CAR

ITS ARRIVAL PREDICTED.

BUT WILT - IT MATERIALISE?

For a matter of two decades a very large number of sagacious prophets have predicted the arrival of the £IOO motor car. Recently Lieut-Colon el Sir Alan Rurgoyne’ ALP., giving a paper on “The Future of the Motor Car” before the Society of Arts (England), again added to the prophecies, and stated that he knows of two linns with designs ready for a small car to sell in the region of £IOO. Possibly, the £IOO car will materialise some day, but its coming has been long foretold and so long delayed that one is naturally diffident about accepting promises as anything more than rumors. j Of course, on the market to-day are oars which arc ticketed at but comparatively little above that figure, but. it cannot be said that the £IOO car has arrived, or is even in sight. Motor prices are now pretty near to bedrock. In fact, it is a. marvel that they sell as cheaply as they do. the NEW OWNER'S ROAI) SONG. I Sing a song of cylinders, A sump devoid of oil, Four and twenty engine knocks, or Water on the boil. When the “lid" was opened, The engine dropped the load; Isn’t that a cheery thing j To happen on the road ?

THE MOTOR CAR. CHEAPEST ARTICLE OF COMMERCE. A prominenl motor manufacturer recently stated that the motor car is the cheapest article of commerce in the van-id re-dav •‘Take the motor ear,” he said, and consider the amount of skilled labor involved from (he drawing office to the export department, and consider the number of hands it passes through from the raw material to the finished article, then ask yourself if you cart name any commodity upon which so much highly-paid labor is expended and vet costs ns little to the buyer as the average motor car. The profits.on all food-stuffs and household commodities are very much greater than those earned in proportion to outlay on cost of manufacture by motor-car manufacturers. ’ ’ The subject is one that causes some reflection. Think the matter over and see if yon can recall a single article, costing so much in the various processes through which it passes, that sells at such, a low figure to the general public, as the modern car. The subject is a fascinating one and well worth investigation by the ordinary motorist. PROTECTING THE CHASSIS. The finest protection the chassis ean have through the winter months from the ravages of - mud and wot, is a thorough greasing and oiling of every working parr. Grease prevents Hie entry of water and abrasive mud, and lubricates at the same time. The springs may with advantage be removed, dismantled, their leaves cleaned,, oiled and enclosed irt special gaiters or bound with insulating tape. It has been proved that skidding is less likely to occur with very supple springing, owing to the better adhesion between the tyres and the road. In any case, the free working of ihe springs will provide greater comfort. The steering should be examined, and all play taken up, as this part of the car needs to be positive but free-acting when correcting skids on a greasy highway. The brakes, also, should be inspected, because the lining may have worn thin, leaving the heads of the securing rivets projecting, so that they grip the drums suddenly and cause the wheels to lock —just what is the cause, of skidding in eight cases out of ten. The brakes cannot come smoothly and progressively into action if the rivets are the first to make contact with the drums. A little trouble should also be taken to clean out the petrol feed system, such as the -tank, filter, carburetter, etc., as a choked jot or petrol pipe can he intensely aggravating on a rainy, blustering day. If these suggestions are carried out the motorist can look forward with confidence to trouble-free driving in the worst of weathers.

Paris has a parking regulation by which cars arc permitted 1o be parked on only one side of the street on alternate days, according to the odd and even dates in the calendar.

On being lined for exceeding a 10. miles an hour speed limit recently, a London motorist became so indignant that lie suggested in court that the, Automobile Association should muster 10,000 cars and drive them about London for three weeks at 10 miles per hour.

Passenger (to speeding driver): This is a pretty village—waste’t it?