MOTOR SHOW.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 January 1920, Page 4

MOTOR SHOW.

GROWTH OF THE INDUSTRY

BODY-BUILDING IN AUSTRALIA

“Here’s the first car assembled in Australia!” and the speaker pointed to a little grey two-seater. “And there,” he continued, as he indicated a big tour ing car close by, “is one of the new post-war models 1” The contrast may be imagined, but it sufficiently emphasises the growth of the motor industry—a growth vividly realised in the big motor show organised by the Motor Traders’ Association at tho Sydney Agricultural Grounds. The spacious floor space is covered with motor cars, gay in their resplendent furnishings ,their polished sides, and their fittings of flashing nickel, from the stately limousine to the \ perky runabout; huge lorries, with and without bodies, and all looking immensely serviceable in their massiveness ; busy-look ing cycles, and a bewildering array of motor fittings. Australian industry is well represented in this exhibition, on® of the most remarkable feature of which is that it proves how extensively the work of building the bodies of motor cars and manufacturing some of the mechanical parts has grown in Australia. The bodies for several well-grown makes are constructed entirely in this country, and experts state that the workmanship is thoroughly satisfactory. Groat use is now made of Australian wood and leather in the construction and equipment of these vehicles, arid in this exhibition the Australian workman has no reason whatever to be ashamed of the display he has made.

One v of the most noteworthy exhibits illustrates this feature of local industry, and exemplifies at the same time the character of the work which the Repatriation Department is doing in the training of soldiers in the avocations of peace. This exhibit comprises four bodies of cars in varying stages. - One is in its bare timber frame only; another has reached the stage at which it has been partly upholstered; a third is ready for the painting,;; and the fourth is practically finished. The soldiers are trained in this work by members of the Motor Traders’ Association, the tools being supplied by the Repatriation Department.

It is also notable that the show contains many post-war models with their improvements—big touring and commercial cars of the latest type from abroad.

In one of these cars of the newest make the valves are enclosed and arranged on the near side of the engine, and .' the magneto is there also, , while the carburetter, on the off side, is provided with an auxiliary starting jet, which is brought automatically into action when the electrical enginestarter is operated. At the rear of the chassis is an eighteen-gallon fuel tank, from which petrol is drawn into a small vacuum feed tank on the front of the dashboard; and the motorist is enabled to flood the carburetter without raising the bonnet. The car has been designed in such a way that any distortion of the frame in accident will not affect the control pedal shaft; all the gear shafts run in ball-bearings, and behind the gear box there is a large internal expanding brake, which can be readily adjusted by hand. This car has just travelled from Melbourne, and looks practically as spick and span as if it had come newly from the factory. The disappearing hood is part of an-

other car’s equipment. The rear of the body has been so widened that the folded hood falls completely into its receptacle, and is entirely concealed. Beneath, space is gained for two spare wheels, which may be covered for protection against weather. In this car also the seats may be pushed forward or backward to any length desired. •The principle by which the sub-chas-sis is employed to minimise vibration is illustrated. Then in still another car there is. the engine completely encased, with manifest advantages to its period of wear, arid a flexible disc clutcjh, which may be worked with little or no effort. There are new models in motor-cycles.

One type of these has the one-chain drive, entirely enclosed. Another is built to a flexible design, which minimises jarring when a wheel runs into a rut.

The motor lorries, trucks, and tractors constitute an important part of the exhibition. Huge vehicles some of these are; and yet one perceives with surprise how comparatively light much of their internal mechanism is. The purpose, of course, is to combine great strength with facility of handling. There are lorries built to the model approval by the War Office when these vehicles were urgently needed for transport work on the battlefields of Europe. The test of strength in this design has been furnished by the experiences of the London motor ’buses. It is easy to maintain momentum when orice your motor-vehicle has been started, but if you are driving a ’bus which makes 250 stops a day, as happens in Loridori, the strain upon the whole mechanism is immensely increased. To meet such a strain, there have been designed universal joints, which are roller-bearing, oil-tight, and dust-proof, and a rear axle of extreme power, and of such durability that it requires to be overhauled only once in six months This axle is equipped with two sleeves fashioned from the solid steel, and those not only ensure alignment, but add to its strength. One Big lorry on show, fitted in this manner, will carry a load of from three to four tons, and at the same trail another Of two tons ; arid yet, when the engineer in charge called at-

tention to the motive power by which this massive structure is driven, one saw an ongino as neat and compact as that of a touring car—though, of course on bigger lines.

The chassis of another riiptor lorry, with a car lying capacity of four or live tons, is notable for the use of high tensile steel in the frames and wherever elso this is possible. It is equipped with conical disc wheels, and ono of its new features is tho overhead worm drive. Amongst the tractors is ono which may bo run on kerosene; it has two tanks—ono for this liquid, and another for petrol. The front axle is so adjustable that the vehicle may be taken over tlio roughest country without loss of balance, There is a process of filtration which keeps dust out of tlio carburetter,

and the cooling system is described as of the most modern kind.

A feature in the mechanism of another big lorry is that the radiator is of the multitubular type, so designed that if any. of the tubes are broken in an accident, these may be repaired with such little difficulty that work will not be interrupted. Tires of all sizes and strengths may be seen here at practically all points of their manufacture. First one is shown the big mass of dull, heavy rubber, just Us it is landed from the plantation; next it is seen cleansed to a creamy tint, and reduced to easily-handled strips, and so the process goes on until we have the complete tire, ready for the road. Rubber for the flooring of cars, coats of the like material for motorists, and goggles with rubber frames, all form part of the collection. Magnetos, batteries, many parts for replacing those which are broken or worn, motor-oils—in a word, all that a motorist needs, may be seen in this show.