THE STANDARD CAR.

Progress, Volume I, Issue 5, 1 March 1906, Page 99

THE STANDARD CAR.

Elsewhere in the present issue we have illustrated and described individual cars, that represent the progress in the art of automobile manufacture ; and it is, therefore, our purpose in the present article merely to outline what might be called the type touring car, as evolved during the past ten years of the industry. The standard car at the opening of the year 1906 is a four-cylinder touring car of 24 to 28 horse power, weighing from 2,000 to 2,200 pounds, or a 30 to 35 horse power machine, weighing from 2,200 to 2,400 pounds. The four-cylinder motor is housed m a bonnet at the front, and the power is transmitted through a three-speed, slidmg-gear transmission by shaft drive and bevel gears to a live rear axle. The wheels are distinctly larger, being 32 to 34 inches in diameter, with large tyres, 4 or 4% inches in diameter. The standard car shows marked improvement in the arrangements for lubrication of the engines, a continuous circulation being secured by some form of mechanical force-feed oiler, the oil passing through sight feed glasses carried at the front of the machine on the dashboard. The familiar leather-lined cone clutch has given place to a multiple-disc clutch, and as the discs run continually in oil, there is a certain amount of slip when the discs are first compressed, so that the clutch takes hold without jar or jerk. This renders it possible to start a car on the high speed from a standstill. Although the majority of the cars still make use of cooling water and a centrifugal circulating pump, there is evidence that the air-cooled motor may ultimately become the prevailing type, even for the high-powered car. Two makers exhibit this year six-cylinder, air-cooled motors. They were encouraged to take this step by the good results that have been obtained by air-cooled motors in the

various reliability and economy runs that have been held during the past year. Another make secures its cooling effects by permitting the cylinders themselves to revolve ; but practically all of the others make use of fans, one of the few exceptions being that of a light four-cylinder runabout, one of which performed the feat of crossing the United States. There is no question that the air-cooled car has falsified the predictions of failure which have been made freely in the past ; and the good results secured are to be attributed to a careful study of conditions and well-thought-out design. We notice that the standard touring car for 1906 is fitted with spring-separated ball bearings in the transmission and the wheels, with the choice of roller bearings for the rear axle, wheels, and countershaft. Ball bearings have been in use now for two seasons, and may be considered as standard practice. The greater ease and smoothness of running are attributed to shock absorbers, re-bound checking devices, and pneumatic tyres of large diameter. The standard car depends for ignition upon the jump spark, with high-tension magneto or storage battery. The valves are mechanically operated and are interchangeable, two sets being used, one on each side of the motor. The type car may carry either cellular radiators or those of the finned tube pattern, while some of the cars use flattened tubes provided with radiating fins. The type car carries two separate brakes, one of the expanding ring type, the other a band brake, acting withm and on the outside of a drum on the rear wheel. The band brake, worked by a pedal, is for ordinary use, and the expanding ring brake, which is applied by the hand, is used for emergency. Finally, we note that the engine is controlled by separate spark and throttle levers, mounted on stationary sectors in the steering wheel. It is a matter of congratulation that the industry has now grown to such, proportions that the manufacurers are enabled to turn out a standard car which is at once superior m construction and lower in price.