Motordom

Southland Times, Issue 21897, 24 December 1932, Page 12

Motordom

News and Notes.

OF GENERAL INTEREST ON THE ROAD AND ON THE WING. THE LATEST HAPPENINGS. Felicity. Cars immaculate and glossy Brighten up each Christmas Day, So to purling streams and rivers Let your motor haste away. Fly along the lane with gladness, Climb the slope with dash and verve, Welcome Christmas in the sunlight While you’re swinging round a curve. GEORGE ANDERSON INVERCARGILL. Testing a New Product Two years ago the Goodyear Tyre and Rubber Co. evolved a new superballoon tyre for motor cars—the Goodyear Airwheel Tyre. This was in reality an adaption of their famous aeroplane tyre of the same name. Before marketing this product, however, extensive tests were carried out to prove conclusively that this tyre was in every way superior to existing balloons. The following are a few of the tests carried out. The car, equipped with Goodyear Airwheel tyres, was driven at a good speed over a special route. The track was rough brick pavement, with a set of train tracks across it. The car then turned off into a deeply-rutted clay road, it was accelerated and, with maniacal recklessness, driven zig-zagging back and forth over the ruts; then back again on to an asphalt highway which, on examination, closely resembled a washboard. If you had been blindfolded within the car, you would have thought that you had been driven over a good, smooth road. Another test made to prove the shock-absorbing qualities of these tyres, was to place a bottle of milk on the hood of a saloon car equipped with Goodyear Airwheel Tyres and drive over the sleepers of a railway track. The bottle of milk remained stationary. Thus were the manufacturers satisfied that these tyres would give luxurious comfort. Plain Clothes Police. From the Morris Owner. Following the action of plain clothes policemen in stopping motorists during a recent traffic hold-up, some confusion seems to have arisen as to the position of the motorist who, not knowing whether the man who is endeavouring to hold him up is a policeman or a bandit, elects to drive on and risk a prosecution. It has been especially laid down in the Road Traffic Act that only policemen in uniform are entitled to stop" motorists, and car owners may rest assured that they may drive on, unless they have definite evidence that the man with outstretched hand is a representative of law and order. Of course, no sensible motorist would drive on merely because he was accosted by a policeman in plain clothes, provided he had some means of recognizing him as such; if he observed, his local policeman without his uniform, for instance. But the motorist who stops on a deserted road at night at the behest of an individual out of uniform is taking some small risk, negligible perhaps, but one that is better avoided. Incidentally, a great deal too much has been made of the so-called road bandit menace. In view of the fact that more than a million cars are in more or less constant operation on our roads, and the number of instances of banditry reported seldom averages one a week for the whole country (we are not referring to smash-and-grab raids), the. chance of inconvenience, so far as any individual motorist is concerned, is so slight as to be hardly worth consideration. An Interesting Comparison. Of late there has been a great deal of talk on the subject of motor accidents on the road, says an English writer. The toll of the roads is heavy, it must be admitted, primarily because apart from hysterical outbursts against motorists, nothing has been done constructively to check it. Legislation has dealt only with the motorist, whereas the foolish pedestrian is almost exclusively to blame, the mental deficient who will not look where he is going when he steps into the road. It is interesting to note that on a fine weekend last month no less than twenty bathers were drowned, while papers particularly conspicuous for their antimotoring scares could not produce more than six motor deaths, and these had to include one man who died from injuries received some days previously. Yet there were no startling headlines calling on Parliament to put down reckless swimming; there was no talk of the “toll” of the water. But having regard to the numbers of people who spend their leisure in a car, and those who indulge in swimming and boating, these latter very ordinary pastimes are much more dangerous than motoring, which, on a percentage basis, has become one of the safest means of transport that mankind has ever had at his service. Pioneer Days. (By a well-known English writer.) I think it was Pollock who wrote “Sorrows remembered sweeten present joy.” I have retired and now live in Paris, and so have time again to motor for the very pleasine of the art and in a paradise for its enjoyment. That I should recall past days is only natural, when I remember that I was seventeen on the day that the Act of 1903 came into force, and had already driven a car for nearly two years. I treasure still a summons served upon me at Tonbridge School by a burly, kindish policeman, who appeared at the door of the class-room to the embarrassment of “Bloater,” our master, and to the intense pleasure of the class in general. The cost of the summons was one shilling, and it had been sworn out by a certain Mr Harry Wakeford, of the Parish of Romsey, to the effect that, on the 25th day of August, in the year of our Lord 1903,1, “then being the driver of a certain light locomotive on a certain highway there called the Salisbury and Southampton Road, unlawfully did drive the same at a greater speed than twelve miles an hour, contrary to the order of 1896.” The certain light locomotive referred to was a Panhard fourcylinder, ten horse-power, side chaindriven bumble-bee of a car and, if we are to believe the evidence of Mr Harry Wakeford, it attained a speed of 29.5 m.p.h. I remember my father writing to the Bench at Romford and, in admitting the offence, he stated that he was delighted to near that his only child had succeeded in travelling close upon, thirty miles an hour. He cheerfully paid a fine of £lO for his sinful pride. Driving Tests in England. Almost as regularly as the seasons come round the proposal that motor drivers should be tested is revived and discussed, says an editorial in The Mo-

tor. The latest controversy on this ever-recurring subject has revealed nothing that will have convinced anybody that it is a practicable proposition and much that definitely indicates that it is wholly impracticable. The main contention inspiring the revived suggestion is that it would help in the prevention of accidents. On this, point a gentleman well known in the insurance world has expressed the opinion that the view that the dangers to life and limb on the roads are due to a serious extent to the ease with which driving licenses can be obtained is really a misapprehension. His experience leads him to believe that the importance which is being attached to this aspect of the question is overdone. No extension of the law with the object of imposing driving tests should be encouraged until there is more evidence than there is at present that it will have the desired effect. The fact, is, of course, that it is practically impossible to devise any test which will thoroughly reveal the driving capacity of a motorist. The man who. is habitually reckless would be on his best be‘haviour, keeping his failings well under control during such an ordeal, whereas a sensitive person who is cautious by instinct in ordinary circumstances, might possibly go all to pieces under examination. In this way it is easy to be seen that a safe driver might be eliminated most unjustly, and a selfish, thoughtless and inattentive driver might get through. Thus the object of the tests would be defeated.

The Motor Editor has to acknowledge from the M.G. car people a copy of the detailed summary of the results of the 500-miles Race held at Brooklands on Saturday, September 24. To cope with the growing demand for its products both at home and abroad, the Austin factory at Longbridge is now working at full pressure. Since the new Austin programme was announced the number of Employees has rapidly increased and the payroll now includes 13,000 workers.

The Wolseley cars for 1933 are well illustrated in a catalogue which reached the Motor Editor during the week. Produced in a really sumptuous manner, this book will undoubtedly bring many motorists to worship at the Wolseley shrine.

MORRIS CARS 1933 MODELS. NEW TRAFFIC SIGNALS. The new Morris programme is an attractive one. Once more this wellknown concern has given an impressive example of the excellent values the present-day British motor industry can offer to the discriminating purchaser. In the new Morris Ten new ground is undoubtedly broken with a car falling between the Minor and Cowley models. This range offers family motoring at a good average speed, with all the refinements of an expensive car at running costs which can only be challenged by the Minor models. In the new Family Four-door Minor motoring for four persons at rock bottom running costs is available to those to whom economy is an important consideration, or where restricted garage space renders the narrowest possible overall width compatible with safety a sine qua non. In this little car, which has a longer chassis than the current Minor models, four fully-grown persons will find plenty of leg room and real comfort even on a long journey. Even with this commodious body, the little Minor engine still affords a petrol consumption in the neighbourhood of 45 m.p.g., and this new model must assuredly represent cost-per-head motoring at its positive minimum. The new traffic signals, standard on the Ten as well as on Cowleys, Majors, Oxfords and Isis, must bring an added factor of safety to motoring upon the road. The four-speed twin-top gearbox which is now fitted to every Morris model (except the little Morris Minor) bring a refinement, during the past season only incorporated in the sixcylinder models, within the purse limits of everyone who can afford to motor at all. This determination to bring the best possible design within the reach of every motorist is consistent with the policy of the Morris concern from its earliest beginnings. Morris cars, despite the competitive price at which of latter years they have been sold, have sacrificed nothing to quality. Only the finest possible specification has been good enough, and as soon as human ingenuity and scientific production could bring what is necessarily an expensive component to manufacture within the price range of the most modestly priced models, it was in corporated in the layout. All models in the range have been improved either in detail or constructionally, and represent an advance in value, comfort and performance which the most optimistic could not have predicted a few years ago. MECHANICAL BREAKDOWNS THE ART OF TOWING. ADVICE BY AN EXPERT. This article is written by an expert. Although mechanical breakdowns are rare these days, it behoves every driver to know something of the gentle art of towing. First, there is the matter of the towrope. In practice you naturally have to put up with what you can get, but the best length for a tow-rope is about 25ft. or a little over, so that when you have put in all the knots you can remember there may still be a distance of 20ft between the two cars. Of course, if the other car is carrying a pukka wire hawser, complete with end hooks, the knot problem won’t worry you. Having joined the two cars together for better or for worse, you must now try to think of them as one. The towing car should be looked on solely as the engine and the towed car as the brake; for if you are to avoid possible bumps or an entangled tow-rope, nearly all the braking should be done by the car behind. This is admittedly a counsel of perfection, for when being towed behind a bigger car than your own you cannot hope to know exactly when its driver wants to brake; but the principle should be followed out as far as possible. The driver of the towed car must take great care not to run over the rope, lest it curl up and wrap itself round the front axle, with possible complications to the steering. Cases have been known where the tow-rope become entangled in the mechanism, jammed the steering round to full lock

and overturned the car. This overrunning danger should be watched with special care if a wire hawser is in use, for the stiffer wire strands may make a slack hawser curl up in the air where a rope would lie flat. If the road is at all wet, or even very dusty, it is a good plan to cover as much of the front of the towed car as possible in order to keep it clean. And if the work takes place in a town, something conspicuous—a handkerchief, coloured rag or newspaper—should be fastened to the middle of the rope. The object of this is to save the neck of the unobservant pedestrian who contemplates going across the road between the two cars. Finally, it is often a great help to arrange some method of signalling between drivers before the tow begins. The towing driver will naturally put out a warning hand when he wants the towed car to brake, but an agreed code of horn blasts is the best means of sending a message from the towed to the tower. For example, two long blasts might be taken to mean “slower,” two short blasts “quicker,’ and three blasts “stop.” ROAD HOGS WHO ARE THEY? AN INTERESTING LIST. This article, which was published in a well-known English motor journal, was written by A.V.S. It is of. special interest to every class of motorist. Who are these road hogs? I have asked several people this question, and in no case has the answer received been entirely satisfactory. When, a few weeks ago, a London newspaper opened its columns to letters on the subject, I hoped that the matter would then be definitely settled. But I was disappointed, Each class of driver was accused, and each in turn responded with a tu quoque! retort. There appeared to be only one way in which the problem could be solved satisfactorily, and that was to go out myself and spend my holiday on a hog hunting expedition. Of course it was not possible in the limited time at my disposal to cover all of the ground inhabited by the particular species whose habits I wished to observe, so I selected that portion of England bounded by London—Brighton—Land’s End—Bath—Leicester —London. The Definition. I took a companion with me who could, if necessary, corroborate the evidence of the principal witness, and before starting we decided that for our purpose a road hog should be one who: “In the pursuit of his, or her, own ends, wilfully or otherwise, ignores the written and unwritten rules of the road, thereby causing, if not actual danger to life, annoyance and inconvenience to others.” Not very concise, perhaps, but satisfactory enough for our needs. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, the laws of this country forbid the unrestricted use of firearms, so my bag consisted only of a written record of animals whose tusks should now be adorning the walls of my smokeroom The London to Brighton, naturally, had a number of good specimens, but the fiercest one of all was encountered on the outskirts of Exeter. He was in a sports model—and I should imagine

that he had wagered upon his ability to get from John o’ Groats to Lands End in five-and-twenty minutes. There is no need to go into all the minor details of the tour. The * hogging” was much of a sameness. Motor cyclists that want the crown of the road. Pedalists that are entitled by law to the left of the road, and pou can see by the back of their head that they know it. Pedestrians who, covered by the insurance of their daily paper, step off the kerb and hope for the best, but look disappointed if one misses them. Business vans that rush by and then suddenly pull up without giving any warning. Lady drivers who imagine that a slight deviation to the left will put them into the ditch, and therefore cannot let any car pass them. Other drivers who put out their left hands and then turn to the right. Strangers to the neighbourhood who pull up suddenly at cross-roads whilst they consult signposts and maps. Lorry drivers who are deaf to the horns of those coming along behind. Lunch and tea parties who leave their cars about a yard from the side of a narrow road, and charabanc drivers—especially on Dartmoor—who bring their six-feet wide vehicles along roads eight feet wide. We were held up for twelve minutes on one occasion waiting for one of these juggernauts to pass a steam-roller. Without exception we found the drivers of charabancs most considerate with regard to other traffic also; it was only in these narrow lanes that inconvenience was caused. Here’s the List. The summary of our bag is as follows: — Chauffeurs, solo 27 Ditto, with party Charabancs 2 Business vans Lorries “ Motor cyclists Pedal cyclists “U Pedestrians Lady drivers 42 Owner drivers 2b Sports models Apparent novices « Horse vehicles 1 ?ows 15 (herd) Ducks squad* We agreed later that dogs, cows and ducks could not be considered as coming under the heading of persons, so they are not to be reckoned as hogs. As regards cars, nearly all makes were occupied at some time or other by the animals we were observing. Even the Morris-Cowley was disgraced by one owner, who, following behind a wagon for some miles, decided to overtake on a hill, as there appeared to be very little oncoming traffic. Of course, a car did come and a collision almost occurred. The oncomer was naturally furious, and his language was more than appropriate for the occasion. Of course, I apologised and entered my name in the ‘‘Book of Hogs.

The Automobile Association has been informed by the Commissioners of Customs and Excise that a tourist from abroad visiting Great Britain with a motor car or motor caravan may, m future, import a wireless set temporarily, without deposit of duty. For this purpose it is necessary to mention the set on the triptyque covering the vehicle.

The importation of new motorvehicles into the Irish Free State is practically at a standstill owing to the prohibitive import duties. . Soviet Russia has started a synthetic rubber plant, alcohol being the basic ingredient, which, in view of the low price of the genuine article, is a rather astonishing enterprise.

The Golden Arrow, the world-record-breaking car of the late Sir Henry Segrave, was on view at the recent Canadian National Exhibition. There were no exhibits of British cars.

A rich American travelling in France presented the car in which he had had the misfortune to crash to a man who helped him at the time of the accident. Its value was considerable.

German motor car manufacturers are now placing about 60 different models on the market; small fours predominate.