THE AUTOMOBILE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18832, 21 March 1931, Page 11 (Supplement)

THE AUTOMOBILE

A PRODUCT OF EVERY COUNTRY. The automobile is a product of the world’s finest manufacturing craftsmanship and. incorporated into it, are materials gathered literally from every part of the world. Yet in many countries where American automobiles are sold, many people seem to feel theat because the car is made in America all of the materials in it are of American origin. As a matter of fact, the automobile is an international product and the procuring of materials necessary for its manufacture gives employment to thousands of people in all parts of the world. The automobile is an international product. The forests, the mines, the fields and the factories of Africa. Asia, Europe. America, Oceania and the Far East have been combed for the materials and products that are best, and most satisfactorily, fashioned into the motor car. Iron and steel from North America, aluminium from Canada or the north coast of South America, copper from Chile. Africa and the States, tin from Malaya and Bolivia, and nickel from Canada, are a few of the basic products that go into it. Wood from the forests of many countries are built into the bodies and trimmings with many of the hard woods from Central America. Rubber for the tyres and the electrical wiring, as well as in other parts, comes from the Orient. Wool, of which many thousands of pounds are used by the industry, may come from Australia, Argentina or Uruguay. The silk is from Japan. Leather is from the cattle-raising territories, Australia, Argentina and others. Canada supplies the asbestos. The long tough cotton of the finest tyres is grown in Egypt. The cork is from Spain. The alloys and metals, of which the automative industry is one of the greatest users, are the special products of many lands. Hanganese is from Brazil, Russia or India. Antimony, used in storage batteries, is from China and Mexico. Peru supplies the vanadium. Tungsten is a product of China. Molybdenum is from North America and mercury, of which large quantities are required, is from Spain, Italy, Turkey and Mexico. Special tool-steels, for intricate manufacturing processes and delicate gauges for the factory inspectors are a product of Sweden. Chromium has lately become of great use in plating and in alloys and the world’s only supply of that important metal is Rhodesia, in South Central Africa. Then, too, there are paints and varnish. The gums of varnish come from the Far East, New Zealand and various parts of the tropics. The linseed oil is furnished by Argentina, and while many of the colours are manufactured processes, Italy, Spain and other countries furnish earth colours so necessary for certain shades and tints. These are things that go directly into the manufacture of a motor car. The products that indirectly affect its manufacture and its operation, are too numerous to mention. The gasoline and oil that the automobile consumes are products of many countries. The automobile, as we know it today, is built from the finest materials the world can produce. TWO-ENGINED LORRY. America has just produced a high speed 16-ton lorry. It is a six-wheeler with two engines, each drawing one of the back wheels independently to the other. Novel features include hydraulic power steering, hydraulically operated clutches, and compressed-air gear change. The accelerator is the only control which works directly.