UNDENTED FENDERS

Evening Star, Issue 22455, 28 September 1936, Page 13

UNDENTED FENDERS

RIGHT WAY TO PARK The undented fender is the mark of , the peerless parkers (says the ‘ Christian Science Monitor’). It is entirely possible to park by the “ feel ” of the , car. And there are capable drivers who . .vCouldn!t. explain how’L.und more than the man who had to go home and try it to see whether he slept with his •ong grey beard inside or outside the covers. / But car lengths are increasing—and with the new slung-centre seating they •will be even longer. More and more, " parking requires what a baseball player : jails a “ good batting eye.” The expert can judge, almost to an inch, whether the prospective parking space vill hold his 9ft to 12ft car. And, noreover, he knows the formula for >arking. ! > Application of the formula varies, mle one, of course, is to use hand ignals so that other folks know what ■ r ou are going to do. Number two is never to go nose first into a parking ■pace unless it is three car lengths long. The good auto sportsman hacks in. 'iighteen inches more than the length if his car will solve his parking proilem. Thus- ■ Stop parallel to and from one to two * eetaway from the car directly in front ■ pf the parking space. Making sure ot a clear road behind, cut the front wheels sharply toward .the left and beim backing. Straighten out the front wheel as soon as your rear bumper has neared the rear of the car behind which you are parking. Continue backing umost to the kerbing; then clamp the ront wheels sharply to the right and mck parallel to the kerb. Position can be gauged accurately by -jeepmg the centre of your rear window lirectly in line with the radiator cap on -he car behind. When leaving a parked car the rules of the game ordinarily ca!l for straightening out the front nheels. -If you are parked squarely in back of a footwalk or hydrant, turn the fr° n t wheels in so that you cannot be pushed forward. It is usually wise not to clamp the brakes on too tightly unless parked on a hill or in a place where a push from the car behind would send your machine into a restricted area Leave your car in reverse gear on a hill. To out of a small parking space, drive forward as far as possible, cut the front wheels to the left back up as far as you can, then clamp the wheels to the right and pull out. This manoeuvre may have to be repeated once or n , according to the comnactness of your position. Sometimes a merchant pays good money to keep his kerbing clear for customers. The motorist who has studied his game gets out on the kerbing side of the car. He does not pull out from the kerbnifr without first looking behind, not through the rear-view mirror, but out the side window. The rearview mirror is really only a half, rearmew, leaving uncovered more than 100 feet of roadway to the left of your car Some motorists know this and have two rear-view mirrors, one at their right elbow. This is not a substitute for the inside reflector, since both perform individual functions. The mirror outside the car cannot cover the "round

directly behind your car.- The mirror inside the car loses most of the immediate roadway. Perhaps manufacturers will sometime supply both mirrors as standard equipment. , To drivers who are not sure of the position of their front wheels, a notch can be made directly centreing at the top of the driving wheel when the front wheels are straight in line. Hero is another idea, for the manufacturer looking to make driving simpler for those who have not developed their “ batting eye.” Another way of learning where your wheels and fenders are is to put a stick in the driveway and see how close you can come to it without actually running on it. Practise, instead of “ fender posts,” teaches the expert to know the exact width of tread and car. AH the professional driver needs is a practised eye to know where his wheels and fenders are.