FABRIC BODIES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20110, 31 March 1928, Page 23 (Supplement)

FABRIC BODIES

EYED ASKANCE ABANDON THE “CHIFFON" IDEA Several fabric-bodied English cars have made their appearance in Auckland, and they arc eyed with some scepticism bv the many owners of allsteel sedans and coaches. This is due to a misunderstanding of what constitutes fabric coachwork. Critics often assume that fabric is simply another name for cloth, and may imply all de-

Two Canadians are reported to have driven a car 3000 miles without petrol. They pretended to have broken down and got successive tows from town to town.

grees of resistance to wear, embracing chiffon at one extreme, and at the other thc sort of breeches which defy a thorn.

Considerable doubt, therefore, exists in untutored, minds about the durability of the fabric body. In this connection fabric is a trade term. It means a special synthetic material with a cellulose base. In its resistance J o water, oil, dust, tar, and mud, it may quite reasonably be classed with the cellulose enamels with which so many modern bodies are sprayed; and its durability is comparable to that of such enamels-

In other words, a “fabric” body is superficially more durable than coach varnish; and rapid wear need never be anticipated. Owners who are interested should abandon the chiffon idea, and substitute the cellulose idea. Examining really elderly bodies of this type, signs of wear are always difficult to discover, and are, in fact, usually limited to the tips of the rods which cover thc hinge joints of the doors. On a good modern fabric body these tips arc' usually metal-shod.