THE MOTOR.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1572, 16 October 1912, Page 9

THE MOTOR.

(Br Auphius.) Brooklands as a resort for bank holiday crowds has long been popular, and although the majority of the crowd are tho.-» who look up the motor as desirable but unlikely, the following two incidents may give some idea of the excitement derived from the spectator's point c<f view. I'rom a competitor's point of view, it must be really exhilarating. The following is an extract from a report in a Home paper:—Notably there was the incident of Campbell's big Darracq, "Blue Bird," of 50.6 n.p. Coming wide into the finishing straight at somewhere in the neighbourhood of £0 m.p.h., he struck the edge of the fork, and his two off-side rims, wrenched away, went flying down the track. Both wheels collapsed. For a full minute of fearful expectancy .we . waited for catastrophe while Campbell, his wheel-less axle ends forcing "Blue Bird" continually in towards the enclosuro of. packed cars and packed people, struggled with splendid nerve and mlf-possession to avoid that danger on the one hand and the equally horrible possibilities of a collision with the other competitors roaring down the track behind him. That he did both over a distance of two or three hundred yards is ; a great tribute to his resource ami strength as a driver as well as to the stability of his Darracq steering mechanism. It was, nevertheless, a miracle of the first class, and gcod proof that the day of such is not done. Here is another. incident at the same meet: —Another fine .driving feat was achieved' by Hornsted on the Mass car he now drives. Hornsted sparkles among the . most brilliant constellations in the firmament of racing, and probably never added more lustre to his reputation 'in a single sitting than whe;i, with the car immediately in front of him seizing and being brought' suddenly up all standing; he swung, (there is only the edge of a fraction of a second in which to make' a mind-up in such circumstances) o(f----tho track into the furze, cleared his obstacle, and regained the cement again, unscathed. The furze bushes, still cling- 1 ing to his car when he finished the race and'returned to the paddcck, were more eloquent than a laurel wreath on the brow. Automobile Association. The Automobile Association is doing all in- its power—it is now a very powerful organisation—to mako motoring in England u luxury. Sir. Joynson Hicks, M.P., chairman of the association, speaking recently at the annual general meeting, drew attention to the new sentry-box .and telephone scheme. ■ , . Til 3 Automobile Association patrol has lately been very largely increased in numbers and usefulness. The latest idea _is to fix him up with a sentry-box at -intervals of ten miles alor.-j main routes,particularly near large towns. The. sen-try-box (there are many in existence al-ready)-will-then l"<e fitted with' a telephone free to the uso of members except for trunk calls. 1 The scout .patrols tne road on a bicycle between the boxes, and the member is, therefore, - constantly in touch with assistance should h-3 require .it. That,.-when tJie organisation is complete, will'be splendid. Tyre Jackets. Tyre jackets from all accounts are likely to become popular with motorists in the near future. If they are as great a success as some experts affirm, their uso will become universal, and that awful reality—the tyre bill—will be con-siderably-reduced. Writing in the "Bystander," Mr. J. 11. Gray' describes'the •Marshall Jacket"as follows:—. It- is nii endless envelope of enormous strength, ribbad longitudinally a iul fashioned to the contour - of ' the-tyre, sheathing it completely to the bead. It is practically an immovably self-gripping tyre covering the ordinary tyre. It is fitted with comparative ease, costs less than rin ,ordinary tyre, lives, it is claimed, at least as'long; is puncture proof, stfengthens' the 'tyre walls, and can be had in steel-studded, non-skid form if desired. It' means that the ordinary 'tyro; is ' armoured against the friction, nf- thb" road, the wpHr teiiig ll faUen f ' , uiyi'by jacket. . If the tyre" itself is practically intact' at the end of the running-life 6f the ' jacket, - and ; the running-life - of 'tho jacket is "at'.least "equal''to that "of an ordinary, tyre, then the advantage to' the motorist is Ihe difference between the price of the jacket- and the price of the. tyre plus a large measure of immunity'.from the tribulations of the road; from ' which-, deduct the initial cost of the jackets.. The idea is that you just replace the outworn jacket, by another, leaving the tyre in situ. That tyre, of course, will not last; indefinitely. Tyre beads particularly are constructed for an age, not for air time. However,' to meet the bead weakness of some tyres and to ensure a tyro constitutionally compatible with the jacket, Mr. Marshall has devised a tyre of his own made in exactly the same way as the jacket, yet with the bend extension' homogeneously : incorporated with the rest of the. tyre. These two should mate excellently and be productive of miicK'profit and conlent to their users! Air: Cooled Engines! In view of the specific advantages that an air-cooled engine offers for light cars, both on the score of weight and reduced cost cf - manufacture, it is rather surprising that greater headway has not been made in- this direction, writes a well-known English expert. There are. many cars on the road with cylinders in which the total volume swept out by the niston is considerably less than that of Iho' average motor-cycle engine, and, as readers are aware, the latter type of engine is in a wonderful state cf perfection. There.Was a time when a cylinder with a bore in excess of about, 75 111.m. was deemed too large to be air-copied; nowadays any number cf engines of'oo m.m. bore and over are running successfully. Tlie improvement 1 that has been effected is dire, to a large extent, to the skill of the foundry ; cylinders can now be cast with cooling ribs under one-sixteenth of an inch thick, and. can be placed so closely together' that a little over oneeighth of an inch separates tliem. Despite the thinness of the ribs and the proximity of one to a-nother, they can be made as deep as half an inch. This is sufficient'to show that the air-cooled engine, of a few years agomust .net be cited as an example of the air-cool<*d engine of to-day, and it certainly looks as if this matter is worthy of more attention from car manufacturers than it is receiving. The water circulation system of the petrol engine, with its radiator, pump, etc., forms an expensive item, even in the cheap runabout, and if these can be done without it would be another step towards bringing ,down the cost of the car for the man of moderate means. The American Car Again. During the twelve months ended June, 1912, 3625 cars were imported into' Australasia from America. These figures .represent about a sixth of tlie total number (if cars in the Commonwealth and New' Zealand, and Australasia is now America's third best customer for motorcars, Canada coming first and. England second. . The Dunlop Road Race. A splendid e.ntry has been received by the promoters of the Dunlop Gold Cup ■Road Race from Ca-mperdown to _ Melbourne, a distance of 116 miles, which is to be run next' Saturday, October 5. A total of 235 nominations were received, a splefidid response considering the unsettled state of road racing in Victoria just now. The scratch division, comprising D. Ivirkhmn, G. W. Bell. .T; C. Keennn, and C. Snell aro asked to concede handicaps ranging up to -J5 minutes. A valuable prize list, totalling v£2lo, has been donated by the Victorian cycle traders.