CAR WITH SIX GEARS

Hokitika Guardian, 14 November 1929, Page 8

CAR WITH SIX GEARS

SECRETS OF PARIS SHOW. BARIS, October 1. A French mystery car was smuggled with great secrecy into the Grand Palais for the Paris Motor Show which opens on Thursday. The car was brought from a suburb during the night and pushed into the great building when only a night watehinan was about. It was conveyed, concealed under heavy coverings, in a lorry. All through to-day the mystery car stood near the doorway, under its dustsheets, without attracting attention, although other cars were arriving and experts were standing about. This ear lias an electric-magnetic genr-ehangb'for altering the back-axle, ratio. It' lias an ordinary three-speed gear-box, but, as there are two backaxle ratios, this makes six gears in all.

Tho car concerned is the Voisin. This firm is not only famous throughout the world for its road vehicles, but is also inthfiately connected with the , aeroplane industry. / For the paht year Voisin’s.have fitted what is known as the relay, which is really a small additional gear-box fitted in the back-axle behind the conventional gear-box. This has two speeds, which were formerly brought into action by the suction of the engine, lint this year an electro-magnetic device is being used so that at a touch of a lever the gear-ratio can be altered. BRITISH EXHIBITS. .. One of the features of the show is the effort of British manufacturers to capture the. Continental market. Last year only two English manufacturers exhibited, but this year there is an addition of at least four. Three of those four owe their presence at the Paris show to the enterprise of Messrs Bootes —who are probably tlie world’s greatest exporters of motor-cars. Those three are Bentley, Humber, and Hillman. The other new British contender is the ArmstrongSiddeley. Bentley Motors are famous throughout France, as they have won tlie great Alans 24-liour endurance race so often, but this is the first time that the French people will be able to see them at their own motor-show. Humber and Hillman have cars that will be aide to compete favourably with anything that America can produce on the Continental market. The new Humber “ Snipe ” sells at a low price and is guaranteed to do more than 75 nples an hour. FASHIONS FOB ALL. Bodywork always plays an important part at the Paris show, and, the coachwork section will be as resplendent as usual. Paris sets the car-body fashion in much the same way as it sets dress fashions, and women always congregate | at the Paris show for that reason.