CAR CONSTRICTION.

Progress, Volume I, Issue 8, 1 June 1906, Page 207

CAR CONSTRICTION.

By an English Expert

The question of the relative merits of English and foreign cars occupies a prominent place when motor matters are discussed. It is not a matter upon which dogmatic assertions can be made ;

produced which meet the requirements of the public a position of affairs which could not be accurately advanced some time since. A very large sectioi of the public is convinced that the British ea is in every way equal to the foreign, and are onb prevented from purchasing by the difficulty o obtaining delivery. When we investigate the reasons sometime; adduced to assert the superiority of foreign cars we are told that they are constructed from bettei

[Reprodticed from " La Vie Automobile." TH- ABOVE PLOTTED DIAGRAM IS OF INTEREST, SHOWING, AS IT DOES, BY THEORETICAL CALCULATION, THE POWER REQUIRED ON A MOTOR BICYCLE TO ENABLE THE MOTOR CYCLIST TO ASCEND A ATTAIN A CERTAIN DESIRED SPEED ON THE LEVEL. FOR INSTANCE, IF A RIDER WEIGHING QST HAS^ A MOTOR CYCLE WEIGHING ABOUT 1 3 0 LBS., HE MUST HAVE AN ENGINE OF 3 | H.P. TO ENABLE HIM TO ATTAIN A SPEED OF 3I 3 I MILES AN HOUR MAXIMUM AND ASCEND A GRADIENT OF 6J TO I WITHOUT PEDAL ASSISTANCE. THE GRADIENTS ARE GIVEN IN PERCENTAGES— I.e., 20% =- lIN 5 • 10% =I IN TO, ETC.

it covers so wide a field that some consideration of the subject may not be out of place at present. Dealing with the numbers of cars sold in this country, it is, of course, an accepted fact that there are many more foreign cars sold than English, which is simply due to the demand being so great that the home manufacturer is quite unable to cope with it. This is easily proved by the fact tha every English constructor producing good cars is even more full of orders than is the case with his rivals on the Continent. There can be no doubt of the fact that English cars are now being

steel ; that they are lighter, stronger, cheaper, more quiet, better sprung, and more easily controlled. In fact, on every point upon which the purchaser requires any assurance the British car is said to be lacking. Let me examine these points in detail. ( i ) Better steel— Considering the position of the British steel manufacturer in the markets of the world, the assertion that proper steel cannot be produced by us and is therefore not being used by British motor-car makers scarcely stands for a moment. It was, of course, impossible to expect steel makers to devote any large amount of attention to motor steels when the industry was so small that the result of research could not bring any return ; but a very different state of affairs exists to-day,' for we find that Vickers, with special brands of case hardening nickel steel, nickel chrome steel, air hardening steels, spring steel, and Willans and Robinson with vanadium steel, have made a speciality of this branch of the business purely for motor-car purposes. The fact that their efforts have met with a measure of success, in that they are doing a large business in these steels, is a certain proof that the motor-car businesb is flourishing and that they have been successful m producing as good as, if not better, steels than such as are produced on the Continent. (2) Lightness— Tf there is one point on which more misapprehension exists than any other it is the question of weight. In fact so serious is the misconception regarding this that many responsible manufacturers have quite abandoned the practice of giving any e^act figures in connection with this point It is, however, a fact that the success of the best foreign cars has been due not to lightness but to their solidity of construction and consequent ability to wear well It can be asserted quite positively that weights of equal-powered cars produced by the best firms here and abroad are practically the same. The arguments which apply to the question of lightness also apply when one considers strength. In this respect it stands out as aVonder-

ful testimony to their soundness of construction that one sees in many parts of the country — cars six or seven years old doing regular and daily duty. I recall one case, this being the 6-h.p. Parisian type Daimler delivered to me by the Daimler Company of Coventry just six years ago, which is running regularly in perfect condition in Lancashire and giving the owner every satisfaction. I venture to assert that very few of the 6-h.p. cars similar m type and construction made on the Continent are m any better condition to-day. (3) Cheapness— This consideration, to my mind, should not enter into the question as an absolute factor. It requires a great deal of knowledge to decide whether the car at £4.00 is really cheaper than the at There are so many sides to this question that the most "skilful find it difficult to arrive at a proper conclusion. It may, however, be stated that prices of British cars generally are on a reasonable basis, and that their production only gives a manufacturer a fair, and even in many cases an inadequate, return on the capital employed, (4) QuietudeIt does not follow that because there are one or two makes of cars on each side which are especially silent that all the rest are inferior. Cars are produced in this country which cannot be excelled in this respect, just as there are cars made abroad of which the same can be said. But it does not follow that the others are altogether outclassed m this particular. (5) Better sprung— This point is that on which the British manufacturer must be acknowledged to have been most backward. This is chiefly due, in my opinion, tn the fact that France has been very fortunate in possessing in Lemoine the most skilful spring manufacturer extant for carriages and light vehicles, and a firm who have devoted more attention to the production of motor-car springs than any other in the world. I am happy to say, however, that this reproach has now grown out of date, as it is possible to obtain springs equal m every respect to the best productions of Lemoine.