GARAGE GOSSIP

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 308, 20 March 1928, Page 5

GARAGE GOSSIP

Over 3,000 cars were parked at Ngaruawahia on Saturday afternoon during the progress of the regatta. Efficient parking control, however, eliminated congestion. * * * Easter is only three weeks off and intending caravaners would be well advised to get busy with the gathering of the necessary equipment. Tents should be opened out and mended where necessary, billies repaired and cleaned, carriers strengthened and a large supply of good tubes collected for the car. A thorough greasing all over is desirable.

In the 225 miles of road between Auckland and Kaitaia, there are 71 miles unmetalled.

Motorists passing through Papakura in the quiet of tea-time on last Sabbath evening did not know that their every action was checked by two plain

clothes gentlemen equipped with a stop-watch and a notebook. The A.A.A. has recently been doing a lot of sign-posting in the Waitakeres, including the roads to Kare Kare, Pukematekeo, Piha and Nihotopu, and other interesting routes. * * * Mr. A. E. C. East, who drove Mr. Russell-Taylor’s car which won the New Zealand light car cup at Muriwai, is at present in Australia busy tuning up an eight-cylinder Bugatti for the Australian Grand Prix. This is a 100-mile race, held on an island on the coast of Victoria, and will be the first race for light cars of any length that has been lield in Australia. * * * Mr. Russell-Taylor is at present super-charging his Bugatti, and hopes to be able to do 130 m.p.h. on his next visit. * * * “Forty per cent, of the automobile accidents occur at night and (5 per cent, of these accidents are directly due to faulty headlights, while another 4 per cent, are a contributory cause of the accidents,” said Professor Beolter, illuminating engineer of the University of California, who spoke before the Society of Automotive Engineers. Professor Boelter also made the statement that in wet weather the percentage of cars having but one light burning jumps from a normal 6 per cent, to about 12 per cent. It was his contention that the “lead-in” wires of the headlight were short-circuited by the moisture, particularly on the older cars. * * * An example of the freemasonry oC the road. Scene: Hamilton-Cambridge Road, 9 p.m. on Saturday. A somewhat decrepit Ford, which had lasted as long as it could, petered out. A motorist coming along stopped and offered a hand. Two cars on the side of the road interested other passers-by, who also stopped to see what they could do. In a few minutes no fewer than seven cars were lined up along the road while their male occupants grappled with the elusive trouble. After taking turns at the hard work of cranking, they settled down to a general overhaul. It is to the credit of those motorists that they worked at that car until it did go. * * * “Hope deferred maketh the heart sick” —that is certainly the case over the long-promised motorists’ camp site for Auckland. Easter is almost here, but still nothing done. * *■ * The motor-cycle and full equipment of an A.A.A. road patrol was on view at Mangere Gymkhana on Saturday afternoon, and excited quite a good deal of interest among the visitors.