Speeding Through

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 208, 22 November 1927, Page 6

Speeding Through

At the London Olympia a LeaFrancis 'six-cylinder car will be exhibited equipped with a free-wheel, enabling the driver to change gears without trouble or judgment. There are two ways to reach your goal; the first is to put your shoulder to the wheel: the second, not to buy that kind of a car. A strenuous test of a roadster was made recently in Havana, Cuba, where a driver, W. R. Reynolds, was handcuffed to the steering wheel in an attempt to do a 100-hour endurance run. After non-stop driving for 80 hours 25 minutes Reynolds gave up on account of illness, but the car continued on, running a total of. 105 hours without a stop. . * “

Motorists in the United States owe about £275,600,000 on cars they are now using. Sixty-four per cent, of all new cars and about 50 per cent, of used cars are sold on the instalment plan. ■* * * Motor lorries in Paris are now wearing skirts. This is compulsory owing to a police regulation that heavy vehicles must fit some form of splash preventer. * * * Following the design of a steam car, an American company has produced a steam-driven omnibus of orthodox appearance. The advantage claimed is that it eliminates the clutch and gearbox. •* * * The Australian Federal Minister of Works is reported to have said that the arterial roads now being constructed would be a material factor in the defence of Australia, should the occasion ever arise. The roads were being laid down -wide and strong enough to carry tremendously heavy traffic. ' * * * The motorist in Berkeley, California, who kills’ a man is allowed to go free, but his car is impounded. This is said to be the most effective deterrent yet discovered for reckless driving. '* * * According to the British authority, Professor A. M. Low, it will be possible in 20 years* time to drive at 300 miles an hour in a completely enclosed car. * * * When buses have served their time in England the chassis are sold to farmers to make lorries. The bodies often find their way to sports grounds where they make ideal grandstands. Mussolini has apparently planned to make all Italian motorists Government auxiliaries. He recently ordered the Automobile Club of Italy to transfer its headquarters from Milan to Rome, and ordered all Italian motor owners to become members. • * • The latest American idea is to market a range of tyre covers in a number of different colours to harmonise with the body-work of the car. Aldermen in Chicago, 111., have asked the city to pay them 50 dollars a month motor-car upkeep on the strength that the cars are necessary in aldermanic business. * * * The British Imperial Oil Company has notified the South Island (N.Z.) Motor Union that it has agreed to remove hoardings to which the union has lodged objections. * * * When not quite certain of the traffic constable’s signal, always stop and wait until he repeats it. For this he may “roar,” but so far as the motorist is concerned his halt is not an offence. * * * To remove road oil from the car, wet the oil with kerosene, allowing it to set until it can be rubbed off with a sponge soaked in kerosene.