THE MOTOR WORLD

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10295, 2 June 1919, Page 2

THE MOTOR WORLD

FUTURE SUPPLIES GERMANY WELL TO THE FORK. The Germans are already preparing to turn out motor-cars, and in all prohaoility they will be in a position tol s-Pply quite as early as the British h.nis. but it is hardly iikely they wifi t maihel in the .-uiiud countries, liuiy is especially well picpureu, ana also uas not u een ra-e. Lot-1 t..cs»' counLi.es make lue hig.iest class' o. moloi-cal s, aua Cney aic uke.y to bo maikc.eu at attractive uguics. Be. g.am is luaiti.j eveiy ciioit to ru-estu..-, 1 .-u her motor inuu-sny. me orngiis-v motor Linue nas not yet celt.cu t*o<..i a.ter IU. g.eat »ui iiioui. mcaiiwni,-; Oatf in tas leuulay Ocrmali arms 1 aaveiUsing a it) nip. car, complete wu.i e.ectric .ignluig and slai tiny gc..i, u-| a sliuoo over rn-lOu. Anuuei mm is T-arketiUg a stiauge lijutiu ven.cie. 11 i- a doss between’ a motor-car ana an aeroplane, it is driven much tne saliiii Way us an aeroplane, and is stecreu h, | a tail plane, it is intended apparently for use in a desert country ana places where roads are unknown. ' CARS IN UNITED STATES. The registration of motor vehicles m the United. Slates in 13ib totalled neaily 5,503,360, ot which over We.oi passenger ours. These figures represent) an increase of about li per cent, ovei ■ ta6 1917 registrations. The past year 6aw a great increase in the number oil motor trucks made—250,303 being eoi -1 su ucted as. against 3530 in 1910. Nee..-' less to say, a groat number of these Wagons round their way to France. A TEN PER CENT. TARIFF.

A congress of motor manufacturers, representing England, France, Belgium. and America, was recently held in Paris. The meeting decided that with h view of giving the European motor firms an opportunity of stablxsing their industry after the disruption caused by the war, that 10 per cent, ad valorem duty be charged on all European cars enteuing England, France, Italy, or Belgium (U.S.A. has for years charged - about 45 per cent-), whilst 45 per cent, duty be imposed on all American cars. The vptmg was 4 to 1 in favour of the proposed tariffs. Should this resolution be adopted by the respective Governments, it means that the home products of the European countries named would respectively have a 10 per cent, protection against each other. The matter, which is of vital, importance to the motor industry in Europe, is to be discussed by the respective Governments at an early date. One thing is certain, the British car has a stiff uphill fight ahead to regain its pre-war standing, and some preference will be essential if British makers are to regain the Australasian market. LEAKY TYRES. One of the most irritating of minor troubles on a car is a tyro that leaks sligutly but continuously. .In dealing with this the .first point to discover is whether the valve is at fault. ■ If the dust cap and small-end cap are removed and a glass of water held so as to submerge all the lower part of the valve, any leakage will’ be revealed by bubbles; these may be either at the end, which means a defect at the pin plug, or at the joint, which suggests that a new washer is required as cure. Should no bubbles - appear, the cover must be removed' and the tube taken out; Even then- the valve may be at fault, a somewhat- rare -; defect being leakage where the valve stem enters the tube; but a cure for this requires special vulcanising, and is best handed over to a competent repairer. The difficulty in tracing a minute leak in the tube itself is that when tested under water in the usual way. the air pressure cannot be made nearly as great as when the' tube is in the cover. Consequently the rubber is not sufficiently stretched to allow the leak to reveal itself by hubbies issuing from the tube. After long use a tube tends to become somewhat porous in various places, or it may occasionally happen that the tube ii» fitted is a defective one, and needs replacing with a new tube, STAETER-S. Tie "kick starter,” now being adopted by many leading motor-cycle makers, appears to be in every way successful. The wonder is. some entuiprising firm has not elaborated this system of engine starting and applied it to light cars. It would certainly be preferable to cranking. A -&50 MOTOR-CAR. Mr Henry Ford and his new XSO motor-car are not going to have, matters all their own way (says a Louaon paper of recent date). Mr Hughes, of Messrs Hughes and Young, patent agents, told a press representative that an English firm has made arrangements to put on the market a small light car which will cost loss than the new Ford. Tax and freight charges are expected to raise the price of tne American article in this country considerably above the figure asked from United Stales buyers, whereas the British concern are confident they will be able to offer their car at t£M) or .£6O in the homo market, TbV English' car will be something quite new. Hardly any wood ■ will be . used in ■ its construction, it will be made almost entirely of a new substance—a kind of concrete, light, but strong anil durable, produced from waste material such ns slag, clinkers, sawdust, and so on, and covered with a metal solution. The present low price of this waste material—'which is a product of the war—is one of the secrets of the car’s cheapness; another Is the method of construction. The various parts, including the wheels and chassis, will he stamped out—eacl complete in one piece—by powerful machinery and simply fitted together. BRILLIANT HEADLIGHTS.

Brilliant headlights are not only a nuisance, but are becoming a serious danger to traffic on many of the narrow roads. It is an offence to have brilliant headlights turned on in a city, and a universal by-law, compelling all motorists to screen their lights, would bo iccoived with satisfaction by careful drivers. It is the irresponsible motorist who is the principal offender in regard to brilliant headlights, and ono of his amusements is to run straight at ft horsedrawn vehicle, or motor-car displaying less powerful lights. As a consequence the driver is compelled to stop,: ns ho is temporarily blinded by the light, and being unable to see what is in front of him is anxious to avoid a possible accident. It is a question that tho Automobile Association might take up in tho interests of sane motorists.- - ALUMINIUM ENGINES.

When the price of nlumieiura comes down again to a reasonable figure, motorcycle engines , construct :d ninmly ot t inminium moj’ b" devp,’'—'t i question whether aluminum cylinders need have iron liners. It would suum that if an aluminium alloy, having bearing properties Uki* those used for pistons, were nsed. the requisite durability might bo obtained without liners. With cost, iron pistons,J.n an., aluminium cylinder, exactly the same bearing conditions ns with aluminium pistons in a cast-iron cylinder prevail; but, as cast-iron on. oastiron has good bearing properties, it is 1 ot improbable that aluminium alloy would give, equally satisfactory results. Before the war experiments were being made in England with an "all-aluminium.” car engine, in which, cylinders, water-jackets, crank-case, pistons, and oven the valves were of aluminium alloy.