Dazzling Luxury At Paris Olympia

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 237, 27 December 1927, Page 8

Dazzling Luxury At Paris Olympia

Peacocks, Silver and Palest Blue SMALL CARS AND GEAR-BOX CHANGES Cue t.—v*.’ of t-Hi exhibiting the .norea&e in -.peed, and tte advance ft'' r. ha-, e sent ex»~ '>* of *herr ha't :-wor k*o the Grand Pales. Tne everace r^araxteed rpeed of the new H rpaaoSuiza and other ears is 9$ d .es u. boor.

IMbovch the ha. 3 prodaosd W' epoch Mtkhil, of the exkjb.l* %hrjm that iinprorenieat; fca-.e k«i *thi«Ted. The "o-xny* ear, for exJBBpie, rii engaged the attention of French cei.gnt'% there hero* * ixrge public for .*. lerestheacac aad enterprr*« have ccmbned to place on the ■arfcet « 4 h.p. ’wo-veater. »a.*_h, ,a- ---« dect*.’ y cm'.i hot €//» f react, with an •rirfil; o ca 1 500 to cover the «aleiaaa’i rorrrr .on. The pre-eiz. net :2y simple two-cyiindered, air-cooled engine Is su.vfrom the front axle, the driver’s legx beir.g acc omeodnted in the car’s r-o*«. A a English Titby* with its 7 h-p. eng.ne, the 5 h-p. Peugeot, which possets*• * particularly elegant rolled' tack and r/.my seats for two, and other' tiny cars, have attracted many buyers. All represent good value for money. To luxury there is no end. A really beautiful mousine, painted in black and saxe bine, :% priced at 700/»0 francs: ar.o aioee the cushions are of r*eh brocade, the interior lined with j fated *iii, and the roof decorated in the '.arx>e manner, one scarcely is surprised at the amount demanded. An-' other limousine has its black panels delightfully picked out with blue aid green peacocks, while a Bagatti has a dead-white bony against which the polished brass fittings shine like gold. Handsome, too, is an English car in vtfver and the very palest bine. A French car also rejoices in unusual body-work; from bonnet to tail it is a :t»e!y-rr,afk*d mahogany, exquisitely irH * wj»h brass. The price is a he gt cme. A specially-built trav elling car is ! provided with a tiny Sheraton bookcase. a miniature cellaret, and a little folding writing table. And in the depth of w n*er the inmates are kept as warm toast. Central heating does the THE GEAR BOX. Attempts are being made to render he standard gear-box less unsigh*' y. A : r n firm, noted for imperishable enterprise, has introduced an automatic contrivance which possibly may replace d 7 e same company ha*- greatly sirnphfied gear-changing, a switch, fired o th#* steering wheel, doing all that is ncaaa sary. there being no grind r: » brought about by the clutch. The pulling of a lever results in the engine -swinging on a pivot; the gearing is determinated at the point a* which the drive engages the Urge clutch disc.

Speed and luxury coanbinaUons a* so are ■ pope..*'. Belgian makers having been p&rt.i^Lariy iwccesifh in this direction. One 2U r.p. six-cyhndered touring car .. attonlthingiy com mod ions and rich n device* which make for comfort. And A Paris firm, nent on economising the lubricating oil supply, has introduced = - ts.-clarifying syitesc, uan enabling lubricant to retain its properties for •as Ite g a period as possible. Nearly all French makers are cheerfully adopting ib t which, hy the way, first wa 1 tried on airplane engines. Hoods *.-o have engaged the ingenuity of ex--1 peris an Italian having so arranged th.r.gs that at a touch the car may be semi, or completely closed. Tis as easy as putting up an umbrella. Shock absorbers, which have well-nigh attained perfection, are fitted to the springs of a -r.ost every car in the erxh . bit ion. R egarded ax a blessing are 1 j they. OPULENCE -AND “CHIC." Before the war there were bet two hundred thousand automobiles on the ; road; to-day there are over five hundred thousand. A year ago s«jo cars a month . were resisted at the Paris Prefecture of Police; this figure is 2000 up, and it [ shows every prospect of increasing. For in France the car is to the profiteer what the piano is to the well-paid Brit tish workman. A sign of opulence and hie, it appeals to those who are in the . provision business, the trade, above all others, in which money is to be made i qc kly and in vast quantities. A large . section of the public has, alas, to think . deepiy before investing in a pound of , rump steak or a pot of jam. But the j hate.' er and the grocer are men erf wealth; few deny themselves a car. Time was—and not so very long ago—when the Grand Palais, where the exhibition is being held, was a picture ga.lery. The Government, taking art ; seriously, refused to admit anything so 'rmmercial as a car in the decorative building, and the artists were enchanted :at the decision.' Nowadays the Minister f Fine Art* sees no reason why the Grand Palais should not earn money, l *itb 4 he result that anything may be exhibited there. And why not? Many of the ariists have retaliated hy ■pettishly exhibiting their daubs elsewhere. The Salon is the gainer. ... CECIL, :.; Paris.

Any driver can teat the efficiency of hia brakes very easily by marking out on a roadway the distance in which he should be able to bring his , car to a stop from a -peed of 29 miles an hour and then eeeing if he can do it. In the case of a car with two—wheel brakes this distance is 37ft; If it has four-wheel brakes it should atop in 22.2 ft. If your car cannot meet this test have a competent man look over your brakes. Perhaps they h« *d reiinins: perhaps merely taking up U j ;/ the remedy is a matter of making the connection at the lamp tight. It requires but a few minutes* work, and the reward fully Justifies the time grd energy spent on the task.

Driven by Messrs. F. Boyd-Carpen-ter and C. Chase, an Austin Seven established six new international records last month. The runs were made on the Brooklands, England, track. The new records come in class “H,” and are;—l2 hours at €2.52 m.p.h., 6 hours at €2.37 m.p.h-, 2 hours at 63.50 m.p.h., 1,000 kilos at 62.97 m.p.h., 500 miles at 62.83 m.p.h., 500 kilos at 62.60 m.p.h. Another important Austin Seven euceesH was gained at Brooklands in the i-furLiton ‘lso’ September race when J. Dingle, Austin Seven, won the 150miie r-. ' Malcolm Campbell, Bugatti, hiring second, and W. Barnato, Bentley, third. Don't declutch to change gears. Far better you atrip your own gears than have some fool, who knows nothing about cars, do it.