SURPLUS CARS DUMPED

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 643, 22 December 1932, Page 1

SURPLUS CARS DUMPED

Fire and Water Doom for Vehicles in Britain. LONDON, December 8. Motor-car distributors in Britain have been obliged to destroy surplus stocks of cars, in the same way as wheat and coffee has been jettisoned elsewhere in the world because of overproduction. Cars worth thousands of pounds were set afire and sent over a steep bank into a disused gravel pit, which was later flooded to a depth of 30 feet. Saloons, coupes and tourers of all makes took the fatal leap. Most of them had been taken in part payment for new cars since the Olympia Motor Show. They include a 45 h.p. Renault, which originally cost £1750, and many others which were the pride of their makers five or 10 years ago. The chairman of Henlys Ltd. told a representative of the “ Daily Mail” that most of the cars were unsaleable because of the exorbitant tax on large engines. They were not worth dismantling, even where the engine was brand new.