MOTORING

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18218, 31 October 1924, Page 4

MOTORING

(BY "BOAD6TB&.")

"Roadster" invites articles and paragraphs of interest to motorist* for this page.

FIXTURES. Xdvembcr list—Bosch Uaccs. Xovcmber 2nd—Pioneer Club's Hun. Xovembcr S-l^ —Olymipa Motor Show, Xovembcr 13th—C.A.A. Council. NOTES.

The Sixth Motor Olympia, promoted by the Canterbury branch of the X'cw Zealand Motor Traders' Association ■will be opened at King Edward Barracks on Saturday evening, X'ovember Slli, by the Mayor of Christehurch (Mr J. A. Flcshcr). There were over 11.3.000 persons at Olympia last year, but through the increasing popularity of the show, and a much more extensive, publicity scheme adopted by the executive, if, is anticipated that a record will lie set this year. It was hoped to arrange an old ear race at the showgrounds or racecourse between the 190S Oldsmobile owned by the Dominion Motors and Benz of the same vintage owned by Koyds Motors, but the idea was found impracticable. But the Oldsmobile, suitably placarded, will be used "in 1 raffle" during Carnival Week. Thirty-five exhibitors will show yt Olympia, where 31,000 square feet will be available for car?, trucks, aud motor-evcles.

The question of the standardisation of direction signs and warning posts has been considered by the Main Highways Board, and the chairman h;is addressed n circular to the South Island Motor Union on the subject. A copy of the signs and signals approved by the Board has been forwarded for consideration and suggestions. The circular makes it clear that the Board does not intend "at any time, or at least at an early date." to undertake any part of the cost of installing such signals, the subject having been taken up to obtain uniformity in order to avoid confusion, which {he Board feels is bound to arise.

Mr If. Ileury, general manager of

the Annstrong-Siddelcy Motor Company, is making u business tour of New Zealand. He has made strong appeals, iu the course of addresses to business organisations, for support of the British motor-car trade, and as :i result of his visit, and the growth of the ever-pre-sent Dominion preference for English goods, the Xew Zealand rate of absorption of British cars should be considerably increased.

A. V. Anderson, Christchurch agent for the Alvis, received the following cable yesterday: —"The Alvis cars at Brooklands on October 22nd broke all class records from half-mile to 10 hours, 39 records in allj an amazing performance." SYDNEY'S 'BUSES. STATE SERVICES MAY START. (FSOM our own coemsfondiht.) SYDNEY, October 23. It, is probable that, before very long, the State will be invading another field of private enterprise, and that ni)toi' buses may be run by the Tramway Department. "While the present idea, it is believed, is to run the buse s only along the routes where tramlines have been authorised, it is highly likely that if these experimental services are n success the authorities will initiate others, which will mean a pretty little war between the State buses and those now run privately all over the city and in every suburb. The private buses, far more comfortable than the trams for the most part, have established themselves so firmly that their competition with the trams can no longer be ignored. Not a week passes without some new private bus service being started. These buses, elaborately equipped in the main, wjth conductors as well as driver*, not only follow the tram routes, but they reach out to points where the trams do not go, and the public like them. The Tramway Department is becoming perturbed. As a leading tramway official puts it: "The bus competition is getting much too hot." A war between the two parties may serve to reduce fares, which will please the Sydney people, who arc notoriously lazy when it conies to walking. The spectacle of women, for instance, getting in the tram at oue street and alighting at, the next stop, perhaps, 50 or 100 yards away, is not i uncommon."

rtOME^I^^I^SD^

| C.A.A. ROAD ! REPORT.

I Arrangements have been made with .Mr J. S. Hawkes. orgauis-ing-secretary of the Canterbury Automobile Association (C.A.A. \ for the publication in these cob ; umiis of a weekly report on roads : conditions. Those reports are received by telegram and letter each ■week on the day prior to publication, and every effort is made to give readers accurate and up-to-date informatioa regarding motoring roads in Canterbury, and also further afield. headers- arc invited to send reports for publication in this column.

Hckitika. —Itoads good, with the exception of the Lake- Kanieri road, liepairs arc being effected to this road, and in parts the metal has not been blinded. The roller is at. work, and within a few days the. road should be in good order.

Ross-Hokitika Road. —T.oad rat.hei rough in places, but considerable wcrk is to be done in the near future.

Hari Hari (Koss to Glacier). —Weather sloppy, roads fair.

Clarence Eiver. —The ferry is iu work ing order.

Bcaley. —Eoad and river in good order,

Portor's Pass. —A member writes to the secretary: —7 beg to advise you that the first ford over the Kowai stream, on the way to Porter's Pass, is in a bad way. A deviation to the right has been carried out about ten. yards upstream, making an easy ford with a hard bottom. It is possible for a traveller in the dark to miss this and strike trouble if he carries on. All fords are very rough at present; but easy to negotiate.

THE GENIUS OF CHRYSLER. Big game stays in the deep forest, and of the millions who have ridden in cars built by Walter P. Chrysler, not one-tenth of one per cent, had until very' recently ever heard his name (pronounced Cry-sler). But those whose business it is to "know," rank him as the most capable builder of automobiles in the world to-day, and Mill risk their millions if he says a thing can bo done and agrees to do it himself.

A product of railway workshops, with an unrivalled knowledge of shop practice down to its most intricate and fundamental detail, he was at the record age of 33 superintendent of motive power of the Chicago and Great Western. Striding across to the competitive production side, two years later saw him General Manager of the American Locomotive Company at Pittsburg. But as only natural, watching keenly the new development of the motor industry he saw the vista of the years to come and was drawn irresistibly until in 1011 he turned his production genius to the automobile industry. It is told how at a time when production methods and costing were crude, and when first he submitted a schedule of anticipated costs for a range of new models, and being told flatly that the cars could not be built for the money, he offered to take in lieu of salary the difference that would I be found to run in favour of the fac- J tory. and how subsequently it was dis- j covered that, thanks to his production genius, had his offer been accepted he would have made a king's ransom. For nine years he fathered the Buick which* under his genius rose to the very forefront of the world's production." lie started in building from 15 to 40 cars a day, and when in 1020 on a (dash in policy ho resigned he had got the line up to 550 cars a day—and a quality car, not a low-priced one. Amongst an inner conclave it is wellknown how since then, put in by the financial interests involved, he successfully reorganised and returned to prosperity two of America's biggest motor concerns which had got into precarious positions. Meantime, with a select team of engineers, men he counted (this is saying something) the best in the country, he has been, developing a car to meet the ideals of his genius, vast knowledge and experience. Starting with a. clean slate, with no compromise to existing plant, fixtures or whims and fancies of executives Ihese proceeded to solve scientifically, without restriction, every vexing problem of the past. Chrysler imposed only one condition —the use of the very best materials adaptable to the work fo be done, and the strain to be borne by every part. Sonic nine months ago only, the car, bearing Chrysler's own name, came into production, but so instantaneous was the recognition it received that already the production has had to be pushed up to over 700 a day—and this despite the fact that so jealously has the car been produced that not until after the first six months would Chrysler allow a single one further afield than the domestic, market. Within the next few days these cars will be making their first appearance in New Zealand. Every owner will appreciate the fine features of design, the comfort and performance, -while every engineer in the industry knows that the 'Chrysler specifications means the highest quality job that can be built. And the one thing in the whole ear about which Walter P. Chrysler himself is most proud of is the price, (i

"I wish you wouldn't chew so much," said counsel to a witness in a court'c-ase at Napier. "Right ho, I'll stick it under here," was the reply, as he fixed a piece of chewing gum to the ledge of the witness box. "I don't want to lose it." "Don't, be rude," retorted the Magistrate, which elicited another "Right ho."

FOR PROFIT—OPERATE A "WHITE." A White Truck just keeps on doin„ its job thoroughly and economically. It vrastes no time in garage or repair shop. Year after year after year, hundreds Xif miles after hundreds of ni jl es —and still your "White" goes on earning just as big profits as it does in the first twelve months. The "White" range comprises a variety of vehicle types all designed and built to keep on earning. Do you wonder at the "White" supremacy* Is it surprising that the majority of the big commercial interests and transport concerns operate White vehicles? "Write for full particulars, Kewton King, Ltd.. New Plymouth. r ' .

' AMERICAN DEVELOPMENTS.

AUTO ASSEMBLED ON STREET. (MOM OUR owsr corkesi-oxdext.) SAX FRANCISCO, October 8. Standardisation in automobile manufacturing received a noteworthy illustration in San Francisco when thousands of interested spectators eaw "Buick build a Buick." Taking the various units of the standard six model out of the parts sleek of the Howard Automobile Company of San Francisco, , a crew of mechanics from the factory, under the direction of Pat Keating, assembled the car complete in forty-two minutes. When Mr C. S. Howard, the local Buick distributer, stepped on the starter button the motor purred and the biff crowd cheered as he drove the motor-car olf the- platform, where it had been virtually wade from a miscellaneous heap of parts. Edward Kaincv, representing Mayor Rolph ot San Francisco, occupied the other seat with Mi: Howard. The mechanics, dressed as they were out for an. afternoon's stroll, assembled the car with such littlo effort that it was a striking demonstration of the story of standardisation that this concern hay been preaching so insistently for years. As Mr Keating, who is noted as a lecturer on automobile engineering explained, it was a convincing illustration of the fact that aU parts of tin's particular machine are perfectly interchangeable. If a part had to be replaced, there was no causo for worry concerning the new part performing just the same as though it had been originally built into the car Keating's building, of a, car from the assembling cf the frame members to hooking up the ignition was cue of the most interesting and educational automobile demonstrations over witnessed in Western America. It drew thousand •»f persons to the Civic Centre and they listened with marked attention to the lecture given by Keating. Jn language chat the lay motorist could understand, ♦,hc factory' official explained each operation as the car was being assembled, guessing the value of standardisation and explaining the many ways in which the driver could obtain better service I from; : his machine. -This: r.vn.s Ih.e ! thirty-ninth demonstration of "natch Buick build a Buick" that Mr Keating had staged throughout the t'jiited States. It was part, of a romprohen-•-•ive campaign of education being conducted by the factory, starting on the Atlantic Coast. He has l>ecu on the road, travelling with a two-ton G.M.C truck carrying his tools and ifiuiptncnt, since early last May.

AN AUTO PALACE.

"EVERY MODERN CONVENIENCE." (feom orn own correspondent.) SAN FRANCISCO. October S. "When •it comes to a "palace on wheels,"' Mr H. T. "Hopper, a O.liforuinn banker, lias what is generally conceded to be the niftiest- vehicle ever sent on a tour of the AVest Accompanied liy a party of three other financiers, tlni I'kiah banker has just returned from an extensive trip through the Pacific north-west. Mr Hopper, whose fondness for mot<>r travel led him to devise a means "f escaping tJio inconvenienco of small town hotels and 1/eing forced to keep to the hoatvn tra/.ks of travel, bought ti Pierce-Arrow bu.s chassis of Die regulation size and typo seen so much on California highways. Then he had a special body constructed. Inside, the Hopper coach contains all the appointments cue would deem necessary ior luxurious travel. It is designed* to accommodate four persons, providing regular Pullman beds and leather armchairs. There is a three-burner gas range on which to prepare the daiFv nyals. There arc si portable sink and a host of ether minor luxuries that the average motor tourist is forced to forgo. 31 r Hopper spared no expense in fitting the Pierce, 'bus to his needs. It cost him. he says, well over 10.000 dollars. But tho results prove that it was a good investment, ho says, for it has turned out io be far more satisfactory than ho anticipated. Ho is abio to maintain tbo legal speed limit -with safety ;uid in comfort far grea.ic;- than any tourinjr car lie ever owned, while the. complete freedom from hotels ;uid towns is u arc at couTeiuejuca.

THE ENGLISH MARKET. A FIRST HAND ACCOUNT. il'rnni a Correspondent.') LONDON'. September ]7. .A!tiiu-i.'z'i the Motor Show is still a month ahead, several firms announce that their 19'2~> models v.-ill be on view immedi.-iteh*. > There was a time when every departure from conventional practice was a closely-guarded secret until revealed at the great annual exhibition at Olympia. But important changes are few nowadays, and outwardly at least the new season's models'look very much like those of the current year. Moreover, the show is not the best place in the world for explaining minor improvements to the public. It is always frightfully crowded. It is to a great extent a social event. It is attended by thousands of people, who are keenly interested in cars, but have no immediate prospect of purchasing one—more especially a new one. The show is intensely fascinating in these days of universal motoring in one form or another, when even schoolboys can identify all the principal makes of motor-cars at a distance, but the trade does not look to it for immediate orders to (he extent it used to do. It does valuable propaganda work, but the harvest is reaped afterwards. The displaying of new models in the showrooms, before the exhibition opens, helps to relievo the pressure without detracting from the immense popularity of the motor show. English Prospects. The trade is looking forward hopefully to brisker business in. 1925. The summer now over has been a wretched one from a, weather point of view, and has indeed been dull and wet enough to persuade many people to run their old cars for another year. Optimists hold, however, that we cannot possibly have another summer as bad, and believe that there will be a bigger demand for new ears, in the hope that 1025 will be more of an outdoor year. Statistically the prospects are good. Contrasted with America, the motor salesman must find England almost like virgin soil. The United States boasts of one car for every seven people, and California even claims one car for every three inhabitants. England, on such a basis, is in its motoring infancy, while the Dominions and India are still far from saturation point. There should be greatly-increased car sales within the next twelve months, especially as the American system of extended payments is catching on here. Garaging Difficulties. One of the minor difficulties in England is the lack of garage accommodation. A great number of fairly well-to-do people live in houses in terraces, or with gardens so small that it would not be easy to fit a garage into them. One genius has devised a sort of disappearing platform, or lift, which will lower one's motor into an underground garage in the basement, but the cost of the contraption would be prohibitive, save to people sufficiently wealthy to hire accommodation elsewhere. The would-be motorist oversea is usually better off, as far as garage aeconlnodation is concerned. Even if he lives in a flat, he can garage his car nearby, whereas in London oiie has to

search high and low to --nl a home for (.'lie's ear. 1025 Models. Tf is alrcadv elo;ir that the bulk of !i.e ]!•!'.". cars" will be b.w or mediumprmed models of aboiU 10-1- h.p., selling at ].-ss than ,'J HCU, complete. A number of the wr!d famous fa>tor:es in England and on the Continent, whi'di ciu-p turned out. only high-power-ed and expensive cars, are marketing a model rated at something a).out ]•" h.p.. and selling it at under ?~ "00— and those ;ire really "class" cars-. These latter models will come down somewhat in jiriec later 'jpn, and will, I tiiink, booome increasingly popular in the Bominions and India. The British. Italian, and French mechanics are wonderfully good workmen, and the stuff they turn out is beautifully finished. Cars of this- type will get i;p to 70 miles an hour with ease, and they are low in petrol consumption. Moreover, they look high-class, and they last "for ever." Cheaper Cars. England's cheapest cars are Wing made to do between 30 and -10 miles to the gallon, and work up to a speed of 40-50 miles au hour, if pushed, but their small size is against them for work ou the country roads of the Dominions and India. Of course, I know by practical experience how 1 lie American and Canadian products dominate the oversea trade, bur. I think that within the next two or three years the English makers will be doing a far bigger business abroad than they do now—and also some of the Continental factories 1 . Speeds are certainly going up rapidly. Sports models of 14 h.p. are nowguaranteed to get up to SO miles au hour, and on the sea front at Brighton the other day a specially-geared 11 h.p. car got. up to 70 miles an hour at the end of a half-mile run with a standing start. Fluctuation in Petrol Prices. English motorists are up in arms against the petrol companies. The essential spirit dropped '!' d a gallon the other day, and the price is now Is (i.'.d per gallon, though a non-combine fuel labelled as Xo. 1 is selling at 3 s ,"d per gallon. Motorists are, not grumbling at the drop, which is welcome enough, but at the fact that petrol prices are constantly going up or down, and that there always seems to bo a rise just before the summer, when the average driver increases his consumption. What the motoring public, would like to know is what is really a fair selling price for petrol, and why it is that prices vary so much in different parts of the world. When I motored overseas I could never understand why there was such a big difference in the price of petrol in India and South Africa, or why the price in the Dominions Mas so very much higher than in England. I never lost the impression that the oversea motorist was paying more than really, keen competition would have charged him. The Steam Car. From a fuel point of view it is a. pity that steam cars 1 have' not made more progress. They are silent, veryfast, marvellous hill- climbers, and are, of course, free from gears. The latest typo is said to start from cold in .">! minutes, against the old lo minutes of the tire-tube boiler. The latest model steamer looks externally just like an ordinary petrol car, yet very few people' are bold enough'to buy them, and the average motorist could not tell you where you could get one. I wonder sometimes that the makers do not try to push them in the Dominions. The newest models are', of course, infinitely superior to the old types, which seemed to have to stop to take iu water at frequent intervals. A simple and cheap steam car would, one imagines, sell easily enough almost anywhere.

MOTORCYCLING. NOTES. Ihe Pioneer Sports Club's membership campaign has been launched, a"? may l>e'gathered from the number of machines to be seen bearing a larpo letter "P. 'J iio campaign i* being eonducted simultaneously by all motor ass<x.'iinions ant! clubs iu the South ls-h'-nd and nt. the end of a month the membership rolls of organisations jiffihated Awth the South/ Island Motor I iiii-.ii should U-. considerably enlarged. _ ( L'iie opening motor-cycle run of the t loneer Sports Club's season, which luid to l.'v nreviou.-ly ]>csti>onod on necvuiul o! unsuitable weather, will )k> bold on Sunday. About motor-oyelins; eniiiusiasts and their friends made the trip to _Motukararv. hist year, and it is anii.-ip.ited that, this rear's attendance will reach the 1000." .Mcml>ers of the Ashbiinon Motor-< Vclimz Club will participate. BEACH RACING. HANDICAPS FOR SATURDAY. Ihe following handicaps bare been declared for Saturday's bo&ch races, to bo bold under the auspices of the Pioneer Sports Club: — •1-MILE MAIDEX SOLO HAXDICAr. T. G. Ramsay (black, white eash) 6 Douglas, scr. 11. Bishop (dark brown), 7-9 Harley D., lOjec. ' F. C. Riley (black, rod sash), r.j Norton, R. J. Hore (brown). :u Douglas. 2Cacc. A. 11. Mangin (naw blue), 7-9 Harlev D., \V. G. Weigel (black, blue sash), 7-9 Harley D.. 30s.ee. D. X. Shaw (black and blue), S Harley J.A.r., SOsec. T. C. Whitlow (black and white),-2J A.J.S., 40scc. J. E. Robinson (reel and white), 3 A.8.C., 453 CC. 12-MILE SOLO OPEX HANDICAP. Lambert (red), 7-9 Indian, srr. L. C. Monkman (grev\ 7-9 llarlry D., 20 sec. 11. W. Birdling (red, vollow and black hoops'), 7-9 Harley D., 3ascc. Alex. Smith (khaki, red sash), 7-9 Indian, 30sec. L. V. Poore (grey), 3J Triumph, Gnsec. S. J. Batt (khaki, white band), 8J Norton SOsec. T. G. Ranisay (black, white sash), G Douglas, nt'sec. H. Bishop (dark brown), 7-9 Harlev D., 2min. F. C. Riley (black, red Bash), 3J Norton. 2m 15s. 1?. J. Horn (brown, white band), 3\ Douglas, 2min SCscc. D. X. Shaw (black and blue), S Harlev J.A.P., 3min. W. G. Woige! (black, blue sash), 7-9 Harlev D., ;!tuin. T. C. Whitlow (black and white), 2J AJ.S. Sniin UOaec. J. E. Robinson (red and white), 3 A.8.C., 3min 43see. 20-MILE SOLO OPEX HAXDICAP. George Lambert (red), 7-9 Indian, scr. L C Monkmaa (grey), 7-9 Harley D, 33sec. H. W. Birdling (red, yellow and black hoops), 7-9 Harley D., s(iscc. Alex. Smith (khaki, red sash), 7-9 Indian, uCsfc. L. F. Poo-re (grey), 3h Triumph, lrain 45sec. ■S. J. Batt (khaki, white band), 3J Norton, 2min 14sec. T. G. Ramsay (black, white sash), G Douglas, 2min SOsec. H. Bishop (dark brown), 7-9 Harley D., 3miu 20aee. F. C Riley (black, red sash), 3J Norton, 3min 40se,c. 1!. J. Hore (brown), 3A Douglas, 4min lOsec. D. X T Sha.w (black and blue), 8 Harley J.A.P., omin. W. G. Weigel (black, blue sash), 7-9 Harley D., smin.