CLOSED OR OPEN?

Putaruru Press, Volume VI, Issue 237, 17 May 1928, Page 7

CLOSED OR OPEN?

TYPES OF CARS. Ti'end in Motordom. So popular have closed care be■come in America that at the present time well over 80 per cent of all the ■cars manufactured in that country are of that type. In weather such as Is common for many months of the year over a considerable area of the United States, it is not surprising that the closed car has become so popular, for undoubtedly it is much more comfortable than the open or touring model; but a question that is of quite as much importance nationally as comfort is that of health, and a celebrated doctor in England has recently condemned the closed car, as it is generally used, on account of its being detrimental to health. Why American Like Closed Cars. As he points out American people are used to having their houses not only the room in which they sit } mostly, but every room in the house —heated by hot-water pipes or steam, or some such central system, so that the rooms are maintained at a constant temperature of about 70 degrees F. In consequence, it is quite easy to understand why they have taken up the closed car with so much enthusiasm that it has enabled manufacturers to build these cars on such mass production lines that they can he sold in the States as cheap as, or _ cheaper than, the open model. There * appears, however, to be a slight swing of the pendulum backwards in 3L America recently in favour of the speedster type of open car, which may have a seat for two or four persons, and in which the hood, which is sometimes of the disappearing type, is generally kept down, the body being designed so that wind resistance is kept as low as possible, and hence "the car can be made to travel much faster than the closed model on the same chassis. This type of car makes its appeal in America more particularly to young people, and to those who enjoy the delights of speeding in the country. With the constant improvement in roads that is going on in the States, there is little doubt that the popularity of this type of car will increase.

Example Better Than Precept. Going back for a moment to the English doctor’s contention that closed cars are unhealthy, whilst this may be owing to the fault of the users themselves, and in this direction it is interesting to note that doctors, who are gradually swinging over to closed cars for their own use are not always entirely free of this fault, there appears to be no real cause for their being so. The modem closed car is fitted with adjustable windscreen and windows with sliding or up-and-down movements, which are remarkably easy to manipulate, that there seems to me to be no reason why the occupants should stew in the vitiated atmosphere which naturally must result if the windscreen and windows are kept entirely closed, without, as an alternative, being chilled with cold wind or rain. Rain and wind do not usually drive in all directions at once, and at least some opening for the inlet of fresh air can be provided, as well as one for the exit of foul air.

As the closed car is still further improved, I have no doubt that the window in the back of the car will also be made to open, and that an electric fan will be provided, which will be able, at the will of the car occupants, to draw in fresh air, either cold, or warmed from the exhaust. But, even in the meantime, I think there is very little reason why closed cars should be unhealthy, if only their occupants exercise a little common sense, and make use of the means provided to ventilate them.