The Latest at Olympia

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 226, 13 December 1927, Page 6

The Latest at Olympia

INVENTIONS AND ACCESSORIES

Lead to Motor World

ALL the latest developments in the motor world were exhibited at the Olympia Motor Show, which was held in London a few weeks ago. Olympia is becoming increasingly used as the place where new inventions and improvements are first, .brought before the public, and the interest of all motorists centres in the show each year.

The Olympic just concluded is not remarkable for the introduction of any outstandingly new car or new developments. The English “Motor,” commenting on the exhibits in their special show number, sums up the latest trends in the motor world as (a) multi-cylindered engines, (b) easier chassis lubrication, and (c) fabric bodies.

A great number of patent accessories were, however, exhibited. Besides those illustrated in this article, may

be mentioned rubber unbreakable tail lights, portable foot-operated pumps, the fitting of a compass on the dashboard, provision of two separate windscreen wipers, a wireless installation as standard equipment, built into the rear of the front seat, rear windows that may be raised or lowered, two rear windows built instead of one, and so on.

New mechanical features introduced include double rear springs, brake rods replaced by brake cables

which lead around pulleys, a bellmouthed air scoop next to the fan for crankcase, ventilation front springs which pass through the rear axle, and many others. Motorists with a mathematical turn of mind will be inerested in some figures, worked out by the “Motor,” showing the proportionate number of vehicles on exhibition equipped with various mechanical features. Crankshaft bearigs: Three bearings, 11 per cent.; four bearings, 43 per cent.; seven bearings, 46 per cent. Engine cooling: Thermosiphon, 37

per cent.; pump, 62 per cent.; air, 1 per cent. Ignition system: Magneto, 67 per

cent.; coil, 29 per cent.; dual, 4 percent.

Gearbox: Unit construction, 80 per cent.; separate mounting, 20 per cent.; central gear level, 645 per cent.; righthand lever, 355 per cent. Transmission: Open propeller shaft,

515 per cent.; torque tube, 48 per cent.; others, 5 per cent.; spiral bevels. 91 per cent.; worm and wheel. 8 per cent.; others, 1 per cent. Front suspension: Senii-elliptics, 9ft per cent.; others, 4 per cent. Rear suspension; Semi-elliptics, 72 per cent.; cantilevers, 155 per cent.; quarter-elliptics, 9 per cent.; others, 35 per cent. Valves: Side, 41 per cent.; sleeve.

11 per cent.; overhead, 4S per cent. Gearbox speeds; Four-speed, 61 percent.; three, 39 per cent. Braking: Four-wheel brakes, 95 percent.; rear wheel only, 5 per cent. Another development is that 21 per cent, of the cars were fitted with a special auxiliary equipment to the four-wheel brakes designed to make

brake operation lighter and easier. This is usually called a servo brake or servo-motor brake. Folding hoods were displayed on many cars. These are usually called “sunshine saloons,” and are really ordinary sedans, on which the centre or main part of the roof folds or rolls back.

One or two cars were exhibited embodying some type of mechanical contrivance to make gear changing simple and easy, or in some cases, automatic. It is not really surprising that so difficult an aim should have proved almost impossible to accomplish.