MOTOR NOTES.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 8, 30 April 1914, Page 7

MOTOR NOTES.

The growing popularity of the motor-bus traffic in Melbourne can be estimated from the fact that two companies alone are now carrying 130,000 passengers weekly. The gigantic dimensions of the motoring industry in Great Britain can be gathered from recent figures compiled in England by Mr H. Sturmey, who is an authority on such subjects. During the year 1913 £11,057,250 worth of British built cars were brought into Great Britain. £1,568,879 of foreign-built cars, £1,978,681 woith of foreign-built chassis, and £500,802 was expended for bodies and equipment for foreign chassis, making a total of £15,105,612. These figures do not take into actt/tmt either tyres, accessories or motor-cycles, the import of the former two items totalling £3,6 53,703. Whilst the increase of legistration of motor cycles in 1913 amounted to 38,770. It is therefore evident that the money spent in Great Britain during last year on the purchase oi' cars, motor cycles, tyres, accessories, etc., must have exceeded £25,000,000.

Mr Arthur Wall, the inventor of the auto-wheel, which is now doing so well in England, has, after some months of careful experimenting,- now produced an exceedingly interesting attachment in the form of a tiny power unit of 1 h.p. combining a two-speed and free-engine device which can be fitted to any ordinary roadster bicycle in a few minutes. A very strong company lias been formed to develop this device, and it is anticipated that something like 10,000 will lie turned out in the course of the next twelve months, at a price of about £lO each. The unit complete only scales about 20 lbs, hence the running cost should be very low. The ratios of speed are 1\ to 1 and Hi to 1. The top gear is used for running along the level and the low gear for climbing hills; downhill the machine is put into free engine, and the rider can free-wheel just as if the engine had never been fitted.