HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

Waikato Times, Volume 118, Issue 19639, 27 July 1935, Page 24 (Supplement)

HIGH ROAD AND BY-ROAD

COOLER OARB. TURRET TOP TEMPERATURE. Cars that are cooler In the summer and warmer in the winter, as conpared with previous models, are promised by the findings of official ob- ! servers of the American Automobile Association In which Master de luxe oars with solid steel turret tops were subjected to temperature tests in comparison with fabric roofed bodies. The tests were conducted under the tropical sun at Key West, Florida, the southernmost city of the United States. Serving with the members of the contest board of the American Automobile Association as an assistant was Kaye Don, British sportsman who has set numerous records on land and water. The test consisted of making simultaneous temperature records of interiors of turret-top cars under a blazing sun. All windows and ventilators were closed tight during the tests. According to the findings of the testers the steel top cars are slower to warm up fWhen standing in the ( sun with all windows and ventilators j closed, and are quicker to cool off after the ventilators are opened. j Slower heating is credited to three : factors: First, the highly polished ( surface of the steel top deflects the

A COLUMN FOR MOTORISTS.

heat rays; second, heat absorbed by the top is rapidly distributed over a great area by conduction, and dissipated by the cooling effect of areas not ; receiving the full heat of the sun, j third, the special corrugated and j checkered quarter-inch Insulation, and J the dead air space between this insul- ; ation and the headlining, effectively j prevent the transmission of heat from j the roof to the interior space. ! The effect of the insulation in bar- j ring outside heat will apply similarly , in cold weather to prevent the loss of heat from inside the car, so that | the car is cooler in the summer and will be warmer in the winter. 3,000,000 WILES OF ROADS. An American motorist would have to drive continuously at 50 miles an hour for seven years to travel over all the roads of his counry. He could keep going for four and a half months on paved highways and for three and a half days on multiple-lane routes. The figures suggest the magnitude of the American highway system, 3,- ’ 033,993 miles long including state, i i countv and local roads, 122 times the | i earth’s 25,000 mile circumference and ; j —lets mention it just for fun 13 j : times the 238,000 mile jump to the moon. The paved mileage is impressive yet

it is only 5 per cent of the aggregate, suggesting the big job yet to be done in providing safe, comfortable and rapid highway facilities throughout the country. The mileage figures, estimated for “Motor" by the United States Bureau of Public Roads and not including city streets, whose aggregate length nobody seems to know, tell an interesting story: Dirt Roads 2,134,667 Intermediate types 718,117 i Paved, all types 157,209 ; Concrete 81,■040 ! Multiple (over 2) lanes .... 4,310 j State Highway systems .. 382,668 ! This length of roadway would circle ! the earth 122 times. The dirt roads | alone would go around 87 times, and i the intermediate types 29 times, j paved routes of various kinds would , make the circuit 6 times, or concrete j would make 3 complete circles.

WOTOR CAR ASSEMBLING. STATEMENT BY MINISTER. IMPORTATIONS FROM BRITAIN. A statement as to tariff revision in respect of motor vehicles assembled in New Zealand was made by the a'ct-ing-Minister of 'Customs, Mr Hamilton. The Minister said: “When the tariff was revised last • vear the opportunity was taken in respect of motor vehicles imported into New Zealand in an unassembled or completely knocked-down condition, to provide for lower duties than the duties applicable in respect o£ such vehicles imported completely set up This was done with the object of encouraging the assembly of motor vehicles in the Dominion, and IJius providing employment for a largo number of New Zealanders and the

greater use of locally-manufactured materials in the completion of the vehicles. “The Customs Act empowers the Minister of Customs to determine the goods which may be entered as unassembled or completely knocked-down motor vehicles, and in the New Zealand 'Gazette of October 18, 1934, were published the determinations of the Minister in respect of goods which might be entered. These determinations were to be revoked as from August 31 next and new determinations made on December 4 last and published in the Gazette of December 6 were to come into force on September 1 next. Impetus to Industry. “During the recent visit of Mr Coates to the United Kingdom the question was further investigated, and it has now been decided to allow, un-

der certain conditions, bodies for passenger motor vehicles (other than omnibuses) to be imported in shell form, seat springs to be imported assembled In metal frame, and upholstery materials (of other than wool) to be imported cut to shape, but with no further process of manufacture other than that of preliminary sewing performed thereon. Plain or machined j metal panels, not being built up for j the manufacture of all-steel cabs for i commercial trucks or delivery vans, 1 will also be admitted at lower duties if imported with the unassembled chassis with which they are to be used. “The determinations which were made on December 4 last will be cancelled and new determinations to give effect to the decision of the Government will be -published when Mr I Coates returns to the Dominion. j “It is confidently expected,’’ con- I eluded the Minister, “that ■ the new | conditions will result in practically all j manufacturers of motor vehicles in' the United Kingdom having the vehi- | cles which they export'to-bfew Zealand i assembled) in the Dominipn^'-. LORD NUFFIELD’S PROMISE. A MORRIS SURPRISE. During the next four days >Vaikato -esidents will be presented with an Dpportunity which should be availed }f by everyone interested in motoring. The special display of the brilliant new Morris “Series II” is the fulfilment of i promise by Lord Nuffield to provide m even better range of cars than hose which have brought the British notor industry to the high position it Dccupies to-day. To provide the peak j of motoring excellence has been the ; ambition of Lord Nuffield and in his Morris Cars and Trucks he has sucjeeded admirably. But it is not Morris policy to stop still and rest on aurelsl Lord Nuffield has now sent us the remarkable Morris “Series II,” which will create unprecedented interest. Here is sparkling performance jombined with traditional Morris aconomy—and modern style and beauty. A few of its features:-; High power-to-weight ratio, giving lively accleration and high cruising speed with marked economy of operation. Entirely new high-compression engine. Equipoise floating rubber engine mountings, eliminating vibration. Syncromesh gears, certain and silent. Built-in hydraulic jacks, one for each wheel, operated from inside the car. Do not miss seeing the model on display at Dominion Motors, Ltd., Showroom on Monday and Tuesday. The, Morris “Series II” will then bo removed to the Showroom of J. Pomeroy and Co., Ltd., where it will be displayed on Wednesday and Thursday. TOO LATE. “The first known automobile race is said to have been held in 1594 from Paris to Rouen in France. “A hundred and two cars attempted to exceed the minimum qualifying speed of 73 miles an hour. A few weeks ago, at Daytona Beach, Fla., Sir Malcolm Campbell pushed a racing car up to 27(5.81 G miles per hour. These two facts measure the distance which automotive engineering has travelled in (lie relatively short space of 41 years toward faster and safer cars. “Unfortunately the intelligence of a considerable portion of the driving public has not kept pace, as the casuality lists show, with Lbe progress made by lbe manufacturers. A lot of people seem lo mink that if they

have a car capable of doing 90 miles an hour and they do not get 90 miles out of it, they are losing something. “When they have wound it around a tree it is too late to go back to the ■speed of 1594”. —Detroit Free Press. STARTING FROM COLD, WAY TO STOP THE ENGINE. | Among the many suggestions which have been offered to simplify starting on a cold morning and so, incidentally ■to save the storage battery from the strain of a prolonged heavy discharge, is the following hint. I When the car is placed in the garage for the night the engine should be "revved up” and the ignition then switched off while t lie accelerator pedal is kept fully depressed. The engine will I lien, because of its momentum, continue to revolve for a

second, or two, and as the throttle is wide open a weak mixture will be drawn into the cylinders. Many motorists follow a similar plan, but do not open tho throttle at the moment they switch off, and so a rich and “wet" mixture is drawn in and may condense on the plug points, as well as causing lhe “cutting" of the oil film on the cylinder walls and crankcase dilution.