MOTOR & CYCLING

Taranaki Daily News, 12 October 1929, Page 21 (Supplement)

MOTOR & CYCLING

WITH TENT AND MOTOR

COMING SUMMER SEASON DIFFERENT TYPES OE ( AMPING. GADGETS THAT SAVE TIME (By ••Trip.”—Special 1" News.) Those, who have travelled, cither in New Zealand or abroad, know that there are many different types of travel, and that service varies according to the fare paid. So it is with motor-camp-ing, but here the comforts are cheaper, and their introduction depends less on the purse and more on the size of the car. The saving effected on one good motor camping holiday, as opposed to the ordinary methods of travel, will •more than pay for an elaborate set of camping gear, but whether your ear will hold that gear, is a different matter. If you are one of those who have invested in the smallest type of car on the market because of its economies in run'ning and maintenance, you cannot expect to take as many things with you as your, wealthier neighbour with a larger car. Your style of motor-camp-ing will vary according to the size of your car, and the object of this article is to tell you how to obtain the maximum of comfort for your particular car. SMALL CAR EQUIPMENT. The writer has had many a good camping holiday with the “baby” class of car. and he has wandered afield also in larger cars, probably the most useful way of all for gaining motor-camp-iiig knowledge, however, is by wandering around the camping fields in our more popular tourist resorts. . At Wairakei and Rotorua during the holiday season it is possible to see every type of camping gear under the sun, and after seeing these you are in a better position io decide what you want. For the small car, a lightly made, easily folding tent is essential, the lighter the better. There are many good motor camping tents on the market today, but in the main these are a little too cumbersome for the very smallest cars. The kind I like best is one made of aeroplane cloth with a centre pole. This can be made with hinge and fastener and folds into very small space, according to the height of the tent. These tents, which are used by trampers, will hold two camp beds and a fair quantity of gear, but they allow little on which to come and go, and are not perfect in very bad weather. They pack into a tiny space, and allow room for plenty of luggage. THINGS THAT ASSIST. Folding accessories are useful for every type of motor-camping, but more especially so for the small car. where every inch of ,-space mu<st bo fully utilised. The pocket type axe. which has a guard folding over the blade, is useful anywhere; likewise the diminutive spado, which can be easily .made by 'any handyman, from a cut-down spade handle. When you leave town, over a smooth bitumen road on a fine sunny day, you arc apt to forget that bad roads may mar your progress further on, and that the rain can make camping anything but pleasant if you have not the wherewithal to make a trench round the tent. Above all things take that spade. Many a motorist who spent a wretched night or two during the fearful weather just after Christmas last year wished for that useful implement.

The übiquitous benzine tin —now conspicuous by its absence from its former fields of glory—can be made into one of the most useful of motor-camping gadgets with very little trouble, and, as oddments can be packed into it also, it may serve a double purpose. By cutting out half an end and putting two round holes in one side, it can be made into * miniature stove on which a kettle will boil quickly, and on which food may be cooked to perfection. There are many places where wood is difficult to obtain, and a stove of this nature will cook almost with kindling wood, and certainly with any of the oddments that may be gathered near the road. Carrying supplies of food is always r difficult matter in the very small car, but good management will obviate it, iust as good management in a house will make all the difference between comfort- and the reverse. A small box, preferably with a binged lid, should ba used as thy ‘’larder,” and small- supplies of meaty vegetables, etc., can be carried, and the motorist thus freed from that bughear-of all tinned i food. THE MEDIUM-SIZED UAH. What may be regarded as the average car js the five seater tourer or closed car, in either the four cylinder class, or the "light six” type. This is the car m<>st in evidence with motor-campere, and it will certainly allow for greater comfort than the very small car, mainly because of the greater amount of gear it will carry. Where only two people arc travelling in a car of this type, it is ideal if the front seat can be made to swivel back against the rear seat, and the car used for sleeping in. The gear can then be carried in the back, and on the running boards, and the campers sleep in perfect' security, no matter what the weather, There are certain definite disadvantages if no tent is carried, the dressing question being one of them, cs-1 pecially in crowded grounds. On the other hand, if a +erit is carried, or even one of the types which fit on to the side of the car, this can be used in fine weather, and the car reserved for rainy n ights. All the portable tents sold to motorcampers are suitable for carrying in this medium-sized car, where space is a lesser consideration than in the more diminutive models. There are many varieties, but I think that the centre pole type, with a folding pole and four long iron pegs for the. corners, is the most popular. This type in the smaller sizes will hold three camp beds with comfort, while the larger tents will hold four. Some are made with a small porch in front, and this is useful for meals, and for storing purposes, especially so, of course, where the motorist Is camping in the one spot for some time..

ai;<l using the car for trip? about the district. For bigger parties'large tents on the marquee principle are available, and these can be purchased in' sizes that will hold from six people upwards. These usually have two poles, one near cither end, mid they can be secured with partitions which add to privacy. BEDS Oil SLEEPING BAGS? Whether beds or sleeping bags, are the most useful for motor-camping is a question on which opinion is divided. Personally I. am in favour of camp beds, but when these are carried plenty of blankets are essential, and it is important to have nearly as many beneath you .as above you, because the cold draughts find their way up through the canvas. Camp beds aren’t as uncomfortable as .sleeping-bags, although the latter are warmer, unless ample bedding is carried. The more expensive type of padded sleeping bag is fairly comfortable, and can be useful where space is a consideration, in the small car, for instance. I know of at least one motor cyclist who has tried out motor camping. his equipment consisting of a sleeping bag, and a tiny tent made of aeroplane cloth, into which he would crawl! With that equipment he. toured the North Island last summer, and contends strenuously that he enjoyed himself. »So you can see the possibilities. . Comfort is a comparative term, and the type of comfort available, depends, principally on space, and, to a lesser extent, on the size of one’s purse, and the ability to purchase those minor items which add so much to the enjoyment of a holiday.

Next week: Caravanning and luxury camping: GERMAN PRODUCTION. AN INCREASING OUTPUT. Before real mass production of motorcars can begin in Germany there will have to be a material .reduction in the number of types of cars manufactured in the same factory, remarks a writer in the Berlin Vorwarts, in summing up the annual report of the German National Association of Power Vehicle Dealers.

There was a 39 per' cent, increase in the output of motor-cars and motorcycles last year, the total being 290,200 and the value of the year’s production rose 21 per cent, to 1,050-,000,000 marks, but the Vorwarts’ writer points out

that, among the 27 plants turning out passenger cars, one is manufacturing 17 types, while two have eight and. nine types respectively. Only eight- of the factories limit themselves to a single type. There are 22, manufacturers of motor-truck 3, and 18 plants making motor-cvclcs.

The nationalisation of the industry has gone far enough, however,- to eftect a big increase in the output of the individual workers in the shops, it having risen from 1.46 car? and cycles in 1925 to 2.82 in 1927. and to considerably more than 3 last year. In the meantime the average worker's yearly wage has advanced from 2060 marks to 2380. The increasing popularity of motor vehicles in Berlin is evidenced by the fact that on April 1 the number registered was 83,8-10. a gain of 2526 over the figures on March I. On the registered vehicles, 17,700 were motor-cycles and 40,338 passenger cars. The number of taxis dropped by 30 to a total of 9105.

RANDOM NOTES. . NEWS FROM HERE AND THERE. The United Kingdom, with a registration of 1,318,169, is one of the world’s largest users of motor vehicles. * «: * * Mexico has the most motor-cars per mile of road- 37.7. Benzine prices on an average range from 18.3 cents per galbm in the United State.? to 65 cents in Bolivia. * * « $ It was not until 1913 that the United States had more than a million registered motor vehicles. « * * * Austria, Belgium. Canada. Czecho-Slo-vakia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States all produce motor vehicles.

There are 6582 mile? of highway in the world. # * * * • The foot gear change, vogue has started on the Continent. Many foreign racing machine 1 ? are now fitted, with this type of change. . * «■ « * * ■ Oflicial figures from Wiiiiriutl! show that tlie sidecar is easily 0:1c of the safest vehicles o,u the road. On greasy roads the sidecar outfit is of course supreme. Ijeing almost entirely immune from skidding. * * « * * Of 284 representative cars at a. recent New York show. 60 per cent, had wire wheels. There war 34 per cent, with wood wheels and only 6 per ceul. used disc types. # * * * . Dealer: “Smith, why don’t you sell that rattle-trap and buy ft new car? ’ Smith; ''Nothing doing. It.makes so much noise I can’t hear my wile's directions from the back seat. # * . * « In order to check flic importation, of American cars into - Italy, the Itauau Automobile (Tub proposes to issue a blacklist of members who buy ftny but Italian ears.' This direct action is the outcome of the idea that Italian cars aie the best in the world, and is no doubt inspired by the best patriotic reasons. But what" would happen to the motor industry in Italy if other nations followed suit, and blacklisted all buyers of Italian cars, is easily imagined. ». # * # After having exhausted all the usual methods of eliminating uneven running I in an old car, it may prove to be well worth while to turn the attention to I the valve springs, as- they tend to lose their temper in course of time, and one. I or more weak springs may-cause the un- ! oven running. A simple way of testing the valve springs is to start the engine laud let it idle. Then force a screw ! driver between two of the coils of each 1 snriim in turn, and give it a slight twist

so that the tension of the spring will be increased. Should the engine speed up at all when thia Is done to any spring, it is apparent that this spring; is weak, and a new one will effect rctirc. Sometimes, of course, more than, otic new spring will be required. ? It i$ stated io be certain that there will be an increase in the number of four-speed transmissions hi. America’s productions next year.- Two makes of cars are using these types of transmission at the present time, and at. least one, ami possibly two more, irfay Ik? added. IT is claimed for this transmission that it gives higher speed on the open road with les? wear on the engine; There is every likelihood, also, of "ktill more eight-cylinder models com-’

ling on the market. I An American company has been fonn- ' cd to manufacture the Austin Seven in I the United States, a plant having.been obtained in Pennsylvania from the 'standard Steel Car Company.. The car will be identical with the British product, except for the steering wheel position, and other minor alterations to conform to American practice. Sil Herbert Austin will be (he only English director of the American company. The financing concern has stated -that the price of the car in America will be under - LI Off . ’ Some years ago instruction books and oil booklets invariably gave explicit directions for flushing the crankcase and flump with light oil or kciosefte before replenishing the supply, Thi« advice is to be taken with some caution and a- number of manufacturers definitely state to-day that ’flushing will do more- harm- than good. They suggest I that it'is preferable for the dregs of the old oil to remain in the system than for kerosene to lodge in various parts and resist all efforts' at complete draining. The crankcase should J>e drained I when the engine is warm, but if. th® i engine is of a type that cannot bs well scavenged it is advisable' to avoid flushing.