MOTORS & MOTORING

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 95, 16 January 1920, Page 2

MOTORS & MOTORING

(By "Clutch.")

The Benzine Shortage,

The benzine shortage is still very ucutc in Wellington, and Mr. H. J. Sto'lt, secretary of the Wellington Automobile Club, states that he Ims been simply inundated with Applications for supplies of fuel. On being approached, one firm intimated that it did not-anlicipate obtaining any shipments of benzine before the end of February. The medical fraternity is feeling the s-hortago very severely, ami Mr, Stott suggests that the B.M.A. should take action with a view of seeing that the demands of doetors are complied with with''as little inconvenience as possible. Dangerous Level Crossings. That the Railway Department should place electric bells, or some other form of signal, at all dangerous level crossings has long been urged by' motorists. One crossing in particular which is regarded as being nothing but a deathtrap is the one at the. approach to Petone. Recently, the Wellington Automobile Club made application for an electric bell to bo installed there, but the only reply tbe club got was (hat tho letter had been "received." Mr. 11. .T. S.tott, secretary of the.W.A.C. remarked this week that a bell should be placed at this' crossing, nnd lit* trusted that the Railway Department would "como to light" with one at an e«iri\ date. Street Traffic Control. Tho Wellington Automobile Club will hold a meeting in the course of a few (lays in order to complete the suggestions which it intends to make to the City Council with regard to the subject of street traffic control. With, regard to crossings, the club intends to recommend that certain defined localities should be recognised as crossing-places, and marked as such. The club has a number of interesting and important propositions to nlaeo before the council, and it is hoped by ■ motorists that practical effect ' will ba given to them. Prices of Cars.

When our motor manufacturers have definitely made up their minds, what the prices of their products shall be—notwhat they think they ought to he-it will he good for everyone (remarks nil English writer). Their present vacillating t methods are bringing discredit on the industry, which, if it continues-, will he dubhed a profiteering one. Several of. the leading makers, it is trde, stand by their original figures; hut the 1 sudden jump in priccs.of many of the rank and file, from ~£sO If) over £M is disconcerting, to put it mildly. It looks as if tho British motor trade had. Income its own stock-jobber, and Olymiria a temporary Stock Exchange. Do the makers know their own minds? Boforo the show they had months to consider their plans and make wide provision for every possible contingency that might arise;- Yet they could not: make up their minds what to do. And so lliey left it until the show was opened, and then the price announcements were made, in many cases in a very tentative sort of way. Thev had obviously been waiting to see all the competitive cards put on tho table. This, however, did not convince them, for there followed a tremendous reshuffle, manoeuvred, it would seem, by a welrorganised plan, to take advantage of tho public. It offers a. very distressing picture of tho pernicious price maintenance system carried to its illogical conclusion. And it operates both ways. It is assumed that all makers' of ears arc being overwhelmed with orders, and that as a consequence has led to the present ramp. But another theory is advanced, that the orders aro slow in coming in certain quarters, that tho firms concerned havo been compelled to raise'their prices by 50 per cent, or moro to adjust the difference in making a few, instead of, as they oxpectod, a,,large number of vehicles.. I have before me a. protty example of what is going on in Olympin. It is tho full specification of a light car, priced at £195. When I went on tho stand, I remarked that it was .1 good ear for ,{'l!),s. "Who' said'it was. .£l9s?".the salesman, asked; "the price is .£295." But I. urged that the smaller figure was correct, according to my information',' to ''which lie' demurred, and then, when I gave, him visible evidence of it.'he said, "Ah.vcs: that was yesterday." "But what about to-morrow?" I inquired; to. .which' he replied that it would be timo" enough to talk about to-morrow's price when tomorrow came. Needless to say, this sort, of thing is creating a very bad impression.

Wairarapa Automobile Association. The Wairarapa. Automobile Insurance Company lipid a meeting at Grey town this week. The question of what cover to put on cars was discussed, but it is to be further considered; also the posifioti of "first members" as against those joining subsequently. Five new members inined. Mr. Howard .Taclcson was elected to the directorate. The question of those members who have not paid premiums for two years was discussed, but adjourned.

The Wairarana Automobile Association then held its meeting. Dr. S. K, Crawford was elected a member. It was decided to erect a fence, at the Summit of ftimutaka Hill, also to have the s : des of that road fenced. Donations of wire for this purpo s e have been received. , Tho secretary was elected a representative on the Automobile Union. . Messrs. Elgar, Booth, Wilson, Holmes,' Benton. Stewart, White., and Bunny were appointed delegates to the union.

It wns decided to hold the motor tr'als on Febrnnvv 1.2 on the Tiiulie.renil.-an course. The sum of ,£l.lfl was allocated to bo divided between eight events.

On Taking Delivery. Many a new car has been seriously damaged by careless handling when it was brand-new. for this is the most delicalo period of its life, and it behoves the owner who wants to get. the utmost out of his purchase to treat it tenderlv until the newness has worn off and all u-orkiiig parts have settled well down to their work. The average ear leaves the faeforv onlv after it has undergone extended road testing,, but it is a fact that in some cases this testing is not so extensive as could be desired.- It is only the very best of'cars that receive, as much as .70 miles road testing, and incidentally a car should be regarded as brnnd-new until it has covered at least •100. miles on the road. But the shortest test that a conscientious maker can give his new chassis is JO miles, which is enough to ensure that at least some oil has been nut into the engine, that the petrol feed system is working properly, and that the gear,box and back axle have had some grease inserted,into their interiors. It is, however, not enough to ensure that the tyres bnvc been adequately inflated, for many cars undergo their road test on a set' of special test tyres and wheels, those that are to be delivered to the purchaser being fitted after the road test so as to be-in a condition of brand-newness.

It is after the first couple of hundred miles or so have, been covered that tho new car most needs and best, pays for attention. Nuts and bolts have had n fair chance of showing their looseness, if they will ever liavo any to show, and wheels, steering gear, and spring bolts especially should be looked at carefully. Universal joints also will show in tho first two hundred miles if they hnvo been adequately lightened when tho car was in ils test stage, and bodies, (.nd their holding down bolts will soring as much in Iwo hundred miles ns they will in tho following three or four thousand. Engine joints that may have been qnito light before the ear was taken on tho road may work loose, nnd especially is this the case with sparking plugs, compression laps, and possibly, though not probably, detachable cylinder heads nti'd the water joints. Careful driving for the Iwo or 1 lire's, hundred miles is ab-;oluli'ly essential if the maximum -working life and tho best service is to bo obtained from the ear. ' Gentle driving for this distance gives all parts lime to run themselves in in a,,way that nothing else could, and over-driving or attempting to get the most out of tho car will not only prevent this desirablo running hi from taking place but will put 'strains on both engine and transmission thai, though not developing into actual trouble for a very long time, will mean that the first overhaul will bo necessary long before it would have been otherwise. Proof that Ihis .is so may be offered lo the. sceptical in. the way thai all ears have of improving I.very considerably in llicir smoothness of runmi'3 fl«t--

put after they have covered about dOO miles. The first 200 aro the critical period, the second 200 appear to round things off nicely, and at its 500 th mile the car is in the very best condition it will ever attain with its existing design.

Cheap British Motors. The coming of the cheap British molon car was heralded bv the announcement at a Savov Hotel luncheon of the forma* lion of a ,£0.0011,000 company, which intends to embark at once on a great cam--naign of mass production. Starting with, on output of SO ears per week this month,. Messrs. llnnier Bean, Ltd.—the name under which the company has been registered—hone to increase'" the number gradually till it has risen to 300 a week next Julv. and to 600 a week next December. Bv July, 1023—two and a half vears from now—the output of cars will, if all goes well, be 2000 a week, or at tho rate of 101.000 a year. No high-priced vehicles are to be built, and. standardisation is to be carried to such a point that only three tvne? are contemplated. Thus a year's production will include 50,000 small cars fall alike), 25,000 medium ears, and 25.000 commercial cars. The principal firms whicli have amalgamated to form tho new company are:—Harper, Rons, nnd Bean, Ltd.. of Dudley and Smothwiclc. iron founders, etc.; ' Hadfields. Ltd.. of Sheffield, steel manufacturers: Swift. Ltd., of Coventry, motor manufacturers; Vulcan Motor and Engineering Co.. of Southpnrt; Harvey, Frost and Co.. Ltd.. vnlcanisers; Birmingham Aluminium Co.. Ltd..'; and The British Motor Trading Corporation, Ltd. Several manufacturers of motor radiators and a iigg and tool firm have also joined the combine Two of the leading spirits in the undertaking are Mr. Horner Bean, son of Sir Georgo Bean, whoso firm owns the largest foundry and stampimr shop for motor components in tho Kingdom, and Mr. 11. .T. Whitcomb, of the Motor Union Insurance Co. Sir Robert lladfield, head of the premier firm of Sheffield steel smelters, was pre-, sent, at. the inaugural luncheon. Mr.' H. ,T. Whitcomb, who presided, explained that tho obiect of the amalgamation is to secure a laree reduction in the. cost of Rritish-mado ears by tho only possible method—mass production on the American system, standardisation, and the control of all supplies from start to finish/ So immense are the resources of tho company that it will be able to turn out 100.000 cars a year without cutting down tho supplies at present being manufactured bv the constituent firms for other motor enterprises. "It is a fallacy,' said Mr. Whitcomb, "to blame Labour arid the smallness of 'our homo market for high prices. It is our organisation and our scone that have boon wrong. We liavo hitherto failed to realise tha vnstness of our markets, failed in our imagination and our pluck to achievo. Generally speaking, there is a .£SO margin possible in price between the foreign, car .TJid the British car. But thcro should bo no margin. Our craftsmanshin is as (rood. Our wages are no higher than prevail in America AVo have command of equally good, if not better, shinning facilities. And tho market, does exist to warrant production bv us upon the scale winch gi,ves tho maximum of efficiency and minimum of cost." An interesting step taken by tho comwinv is'the' issue of 500,000 fully'-paid ordinary shares to be held by trustees to form a benevolent fund for the employees and their dependants'. If the business success hoped for is achieved this fund 'will. Mr. Whitcomb pointed out, reach truly gigantic figures.

Lighting up time:—To-day, 7,25 p.in* Next Friday. 7.21 D.ni.