MOTOR & CYCLING

Taranaki Daily News, 22 November 1930, Page 5 (Supplement)

MOTOR & CYCLING

WIND RESISTANCE OVERCOME

AIRSHIP MODEL FOR MOTOR-CAR.

SCIENTIFIC STREAM LINING.

It is rather a curious state of affairs, writes Maurice Sampson in the London Daily Telegraph, that whereas the whole reason for the existence of motor-cars is to provide rapid transit, the average car is. about as unscientific a windcleaving object as can well be imagined. Very considerable proportions of the horse-power, available in practically every modern car—the exceptions are a few specially designed and cleverly stream-lined, racing cars —are wasted on overcoming air resistance. ■I use the word ‘'wasted’’ advisedly, because, although the word “consumed” might be permitted had we less knowledge of stream-lining available, there is no doubt that with this knowledge the word ‘‘waste”' is completely justified. With these indisputable facts in mind Sir Dennistonßurney, known to the public as the man primarily responsible for th# highly successful airship, RlOO, set out to produce a new design. He has, with the aid of Mr. A. E. Palmer, the engineer in charge of engine installation on RlOO, so far succeeded that the.Burney Streamline is unique among all motor carriages in that it is definitely faster by many miles an hour as a complete seven-seater saloon than as a stripped chassis. This is entirely due to the scientific stream-line shape of the complete vehicle. Tests on 'Brooklands track have shown the Chassis, which is propelled by a 22 h.p. straighteight engine, to be capable of 63 miles per hour, whereas with a full sevenseater saloon body a speed of Sb miles per hour is attainable.

ENGINE' AT BACK. How has the designer achieved these results? Primarily by making the side view of the body, in effect, a replica of the side view in miniature of the RlOO. An essential towards this end was the removal of the engine from the conventional front position to the extreme rear of jthe chassis. The engine, in fact, is behind the' back axle, and the gearbox just in front of that component. There is thus the verj\ shortest of propeller shafts; instant and complete unit is effected by merely raising a light metal cover, and when in the- car there is no sense of any engine being at work or even installed.. All noise from engine and transmission, and fumes and heat are well behind even the passengers in the back seat, for interspaced between the backs of the rear scat and the forward bulkhead of the engine compartment is a wide space designed for the carrying of a large amount of luggage. This design again has another advantage. With the absence of the conventional long propeller-shaft and the' necessity for allowing for its rise or fall, the floor of the car can be built as Ipw as the designer pleases. On the Burnley Streamline I tried, one can step straight off the road into the .car without t)ie use of the usual running board, the floor being built at practically the same height as the conventional running board on most low-built cars. .Yet despite this there is unusually good ground clearance. The surface, ffaany, clearance.. The understructure presents a perfectly flat surface, and has no wind trapping excrescences. But perhaps;', the most pleasant feature of the car thus engined is the coolness ref the interior. Indeed, the complete absence of heat from the engine renders it necessary to provide some form of artificial heating in cold'weather, and to this end exhaust gas heaters are supplied in front and rear compartments. These can be turned on or off at will. !

Cooling is effected by means of two honeycomb radiators disposed forward of the engine on either side of the chassis just the rear wheels. Beltdriven air screws suck air through ducts mounted over the rear mudguard and force the air through the radiators whence if emerges through large louvres in the engine cover, , The rest of the specification embodies four-wheel brakes on the Lockheed hy-si draulic principle, and the .usual 12-volt eleptric lighting and. starting : installation. There, however, .resemblance' to conventional motor car design ceases'. There is no front or rear 'axle in the ordinary sense. All. four wheels.-are i,ndependently: sprung, and independent steering has been-given to each tvheel by the use of. an unusual trackrdd layout, the 1 uee of a conventional trackrpd being'dispensed with, < ' ' SILENT RUNNING. ' The' springing iff front is by a sihgle transverse quarcerelfiptic, and tat thereal 1 by two ~ transverse cantilever springs, an unusual feature at the realbeing that the springs.are not arranged' in line, but are-staggered in.relation tb each other. .'The s.teer/ng gear, is' the Bishop cam type, and a feature bt the car,' despite its considerable overalllength and wheelbase, is the immenselywide lock provided. To left and'right the car turns in a 39ft. circle and has a 50deg. steering lock which is equivalent to, indeed rather better than, a taxicab. The gear box is unusual in that of the four speeds the third is direct, and the top is geared. In all ordinary circumstances third speed is used, and this will give silent running up to approximately 60 m.p.h. The ratios aie first 14.3, second 5.6, third (direct) .5.2, and fourth 4 to 1. Reverse ratio is 14 to 1. The engine of the car I tried was a straight-eight Beverley-Barnes, with a bore and stroke of 66 by 108 mm. (2,956 c.c.) calling for,£22 tax per annum. So much for the chassis. , Now for the body. Here more unusual .features are found; Indeed, it is a little dfficult to say precisely where the chassis ends and the -body begins, because an integral part of the whole superstructure is a pair of long steel girders running from either side of the nose to either end of the stem of the chassis and following the line of the roof. These two girder arches are braced together at intervals. Between these two girders or rails, and the frame proper the body is built in.

The result is extreme rigidity, and although I did not ask for a demonstration, 1 have little doubt that the car could roll over and over without any fear whatever of the roof being able to collapse. Probably this stiffness of construction contributed largely to the absolute silence on the road of the vehicle as a whole.

On taking the car on to the road several facts struck me. I was conscious of unusual visibility, forwards, sideways, and upwards, and of the fact that I was in control of a car with an abnormally wide steering lock. These impressions give one an immediate sense of well-being at the wheel. The cam steering is extremely light yet quite positive in aftipjj*

Care must be exercised in rounding very sharp corners, because the wide steering lock tempts one fjo play with a corner a little too abruptly for the well-being of the rear of the lengthy car—its overall length must be in the neighbourhood of 17ft. The Burney Streamline gathers way with great rapidity. I did not have an opportunity to check against a stop watch its acceleration from, say, 10 to 30 or 40 m.p.h., but impressions are that the figures are very good. I did check the speedometer against a watch, and made it 2 per cent, fast at the higher speeds. The highest speed I attained on the speedometer Was 76 m.p.h. when clutch slip supervened—an easily corrected fault—and lam perfectly satisfied that the Burney Streamline will attain, as its sponsors claim, a genuine 80 m.p.h. ’ It is not, however, as a speed vehicle that I think this car makes its chief appeal, it is rather its useful speed than its maximum, combined with its silence, astoundingly good springing, almost perfect steering, and extreme ease of entry and exit that lift it out of the rut. At present, made as it is in very limited numbers, the Burney Streamline is necessarily rather costly, the price be-; ing ILSOO. - i . Its design, however,' lends itself to simple and rapid production on modern lines, and there would appear to be no valid reason why the car could not be produced in a large series at not more than a third of its present cost. Already, I believe, one of the great American car corporations is considering the design very carefully with a . view to adopting it. Personally, I hope sincerely that if and when Sir Denriistouh’s design goes into large-scale production it will be in Great Britain rather than overseas.

I PREPARING FOR OLYMPIA.

NO SENSATIONAL DEPARTURES. (London Motor Correspondeut.) As the annual Motor Show at Olympia approaches, it is becoming tolerably clear that no sensations need be expected. Most of the new models are already displayed in the agents showrooms throughout the country, and examination of these 19-31 cars reveals that thby are very much like the current inodels, only better and on the whole cheaper. The only sensational new car, the Burney Streamline ear, will not be on view at the show—at any rate, the indications at present are to that effect. This .is a pity, for it is novelty that the majority of visitors to the Motor Show desire most, and it is precisely that quality which this exhibition lacks There was a time when the' design of new car models was kept a profound secret until the opening day of the show but the element of surprise is now absent, and having seen the new models in the showrooms round the corner or in the next street, the diminishing bands of visitors to the Olympia Show pass through the turnstiles in any mood but that of expectancy. I had an opportunity the. other day of examining' the 'Burney Streamline car, .which is based, we are told, on airship design, and which certainly em-\ bodies some advanced conceptions of streamlining. Such trimming of the bodywork to the wind naturally helps the car along, but-without decrying the merit's of this vehicle,. I cannot help hoping that it does not, as proclaimed in some quarters, represent the car of the future- in appearance, for. I honestly prefet the existing lines of coachwork-. At first glance the Burney car giyes the impression of having been designed by Mr. H. G.-Wells, but closer examination reveals certain features that could only have emanated from a less, prophetic but' more practical . designer. Among these, in addition to the streaprline form, are the location of the- engine at the rear, independent wheel. springing and the combined structure of frame and body. None of these features is really new, for the > Trojan has its engine at the rear, the, front-driie Alvis and other 'cars have wheel springing, and the Lancia combines the chassis, frame and body in one. - The designer of. the Burney car has, however, been. the first to. combine all these features; including an unorthodox transmission, in. one car, afid it will be interesting to see how it tarps .on the roads and whether the public will look. ,upon it .-as a freak- or welcome -it as a -practical, contribution to everyday motoring. For myself, I think the advantages, which the highly streamlined form of the car bestows in the saving of engine power do not outweigh the draw-backs-of unconventional appearance. It may only be habit, but personally I like the old-fashioned model. ■ ; Standard equipment tends to become more and more generops. At least one make of car, which already carries with it a lavish array of accessories, is to go forth equipped in ’ 1931 with a fire-ex-tinguisher —a highly commendable fitment which ought to be found, on every car.. One cannot-fail to be impressed by , such- generosity "in the matter or useful ‘‘gadgets,” particularly as they are now anything but gimcrack. The days when new cars were displayed with a glittering array of bau-. bles designed to help them to sell on appearance have gone. The accessories are now definitely dependable. . If a windscreen is fittjed as standard it may be depended upon to give, clear J’sion in rain; if a petrol gauge is included it does not continue to mark gallons of petrol when the taiik holds its last dro-p. Even speedometers on the lower priced cars have ceased to flatter. . The other day I had the felicity of driving a well-known American make of car, the speedometer of which I found to be actually understating the miles per hour.

'But while the accessories are proving more and more dependable I have a complaint to make in regard to the safety glass fitted on some cars. .It is very comforting to know that in an accident the front screen will not splinter, but it is to be deplored that such safety should be given at the expense ot accurate vision. Through one win -, screen fitted with safety glass I saw a switchback, although it was in tact the other day a road which looked like as flat as a billiard table. This distoition ultimately induced a feeling almost akin to seasickness. By all means let us have safety glass, but let it be good optically as ordinary glass. Two interesting new models which are to challenge the light car market in the coming season are the 8 h.p. Cadet, emanating from the Swift factory, and the U.S h.p. Scorpion introduced by the .Triumph Company. Both cars are very attractive in their class, but it is interesting to note that they emphasise the divergence of view that seems to exist among manufacturers as to how the light car of the future is to be engined; ' ' ' ' The Swift Cadet is a four-cylinder

job and obviously betokens a faith on. the part of the makers in \the future of I the small “four.” Tjao Triumph. Scorpion on the other hand, is a sixcylinder small car, suggesting a belief on the part of the makers that there is a considerable immediate future for small “sixes.” Only time can tell which school of thought has correctly gauged public taste. A year ago it seemed as if the “sixes” were to have it all their own w'ay, but recently the “fours” have begun to make their influence felt again. The Triumph Company, while full of faith in the new “six,” is at the same time continuing production, in ~n improved and generally more attractive form, of the successful Super-Seven models. As regards prices, these two new cars are, of course, in different classes, for the Swift Cadet is marketed at £l®s for the saloon models while the Triumph Scorpion costs £237 10s as a closed model. The latter car has a decidedly luxurious interior and an engine which enables a top gear speed of over 60 m.p.h. to be attained. Features such as Lockheed hydraulic brakes, safety glass, pneumatic upholstery and a luggage container recessed to hold the spare wheel, are standard. The Swift Cadet follows conventional lines in design and construction and <rives every evidence of possessing those er which characterises the products of this old-established firm. It .is a thoroughly up-to-date small can,