MOTORDOM

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 325, 10 April 1928, Page 6

MOTORDOM

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HEADLIGHT

G A R A G E GOSSIP

m ;tv easy . . it or. • a. car . - 5t ■ _x :se from farmers in iseonsm _T_S-A Z S* fixing It- years as "fie :nfixiuxi . - g a dri - ... - : 14 and 1Z were doing a man’s work on the iarro. and driving the family car to town with produce. They also pointed :ut that even younger children who travel long distances to school had to drive cars to arrive in time. A series of used car shows are to be staged in England by the Motor Agents’ Association tills year. The first is to be held in London in April and the second in Birmingham Thai wit Ford back i the -1 . si • will 7 nits in 192 S, It :. 1927 is the pre . rion • _ - . -. I General 2.1 otors Corporation. Traffic police in Dundee (Scotland) are provided with wooden 'clogs S’ . . tc the soles _ i eir boots and raise them from the ground The police authorities at Slough, England, make sure that police trafficsignals can be seen. The point duty men wear white armlets bearing a red reflector on each side, one facing the front, and the other the rear. Owing to being chafed by the top rd part i at adescreeo the her tube connecting a screen wiper to the induction pipe sometimes wears through, causing the wiper zo cease f unctioning and also setting up am air leak to the engine, which may affect slow running- A temporary cure can fie effected by binding the damaged part with surgical plaster. To make a permanent repair which will eliminate the chance of any further trouble, cut about an inch of the tube and insert a length of small-bore copper pipe. According to Professor A. M. Low. the well-known English automotive engineering authority, only about 2 per cent, of touring cars upon the road could stand "all out” 10 laps of Brooklands track without permanent damage. It is a well-known fact to the Erooklards habitue that the "all out” test of any car upon the track is one of the most severe ordeals imaginable. More than one sporting car enthusiast has seen the vanishing of his hopes, based upon a successful bench test of t . fronted by three laps of Brooklands at maximum speed. 3,000,000 IN ONE YEAR AUSTRALIAN-BUILT BODiES l "Realising that 60 per cent, of the I cars i>oughz now are used for business purposes we are endeavouring to follow manufacturers’ price-cuts by reducing the price of bodies,” said Mr. E. TV. Holden, managing director of Holden’s Body Builders, Ltd., the huge Australian concern. "To do this, we have spent £ 450,000 in the last six months, in new plant thorough a - msafiofl xE bodybuilding methods. This investment will, in due course, be reflected in a \ lower price charged for bodies.” Mr. Holden stated that his company’s i plant produced *0 different types of | bodies, and last year's output totalled nearly 3.000,000 units. The second half of the year showed a big increase in production over the corresponding period of 1926More than 2,500 persons are employed by Holden's, and over SO per cent, of the materials used in construction are Australian-made. NEW USE FOR CHEWING-GUM America has found a new use for its : universal chewing-gum. Most people know that 'a small petrol leak can temporarily be stopped with a piece of soap, but they have found a better way ;in California. Says the "San Francisco Examiner": "A temporary repair on a leaky gas line can be made with chewing-gum. Anyone who has ever had the experience of being caught with a broken gas line ten miles from the nearest garage,. or even one mile for that matter, and has had some wise motorist come along and make a quick, efficient repair with chewinggum, will be forever in favour of that •forbidden fruit.’ "As fii rule the pipe will not be broken off, but merely cracked. A good “wad’ of sticky chewing-gum applied to the spot will seal the leak and al- ; low the motorist to go on his way until a permanent repair can be made. You may not believe in ehewing-gura i but have a stick or two in the car, anyway—it may come in handy.”

What Mr. Morris Thinks of X.Z.

Considers Future for British Car is Hopeful ter from Mr. W. R. Morris, addressed tc Mr. L. Ashcroft Edwards, the original Morris agent In the Dominion, the outlook for iis rs is ly analysed. Mr. Morris says.— "In view of the many reports that had previously reached me. telling o: the difficulty of carrying on the British motor am dgn in X< Z in the face of foreign competition and out alleged high prices, I must confess quite frankly that the prospect of a visit to your country did not Si! m~ ' itix 9 lite tb e spirit of d is that I could have wished. However now that I have acualiy seen Xew Zealand and have been able to assimilate a considerable . rant : kr _ . girding its roads its e menus -u 1 its tracing \ . - - ! : - siderablj sored and convinced thai those motor manufacturers in the Old Country wb ire determinbclf grapple with the problem as its stands can face the future with every confidence. "To my mind the following two points are most likely to bring about a solution: 2. Organised reciprocity of trading

, between Great Britain and her Domi- | nions. 2. To c e th< i -' _ of the Dominions of zhe superiority of ! the high efficiency over the low effici- : enev engine. This, I think, should r.< : be difficult, in view of the fact that ■ our competitors them selves are already inclining to this very opinion. "It does not require much observation to realise the keenness Xe Zeal - - a. -. u: . t.- . as soon as they realise that a foreign car is incapable of any performance whi nnot be tec mplished British-made one, the British manufacturers must automatically secure at least their share of your country's purchasing power. “From my short personal study of conditions in your country, it is diffi- , cult to avoid forming the opinion that - the demands of its motorists are to some extent dictated by the propaganda of our competitors, and in no case is this more apparent than the j much-discussed width of track and amount of road clearance. •We widened our track from 4S inches t 56 ii es as a res tin nous represents.*.:' - ~ ' ; state of your roads made the large size necessary, but on driving over those roads myself I was quite unable to understand how such necessity arose. As you know, l was able to cover 1.500 miles of all types of roads during j my stay, and in the whole distance I j found no surface that could not have been easily traversed by any type of Morris-Cowley car. "It gives me great pleasure to ex- ( press mv sincere appreciation of the ; m . to me by your Prime Minister. Mr. Coates, during my stay. The interviews I had with him were of inestimable value to me. and as a result of them I am abundantly satisfied that he, like myself, is convinced that the successful future of Mew Zealand is largely dependent on the extent oi her trading reciprocity with the Mother Country. •Finally, I must thank everyone whom I met in New Zealand for the ; cordial welcome which they extended ! to myself and my party, and the most ! hospitable manner in which we were received. My impressions of my first j visit to New Zealand are all pleasant ones, and it will be my earnest desire ; to visit your country again whenever \ it becomes practicable for me to do so. Its attractions are so diverse that -t i is almost impossible to cite any as outstanding over the remainder. “IRON POLICEMAN” NEW SAFETY DEVICE i Unable to stop foolhardy motorists at railroad grade crossings by any of ; the safety devices now in use, an attemnt will be made in L SA to halt : them with an "iron policeman." This model will stand in the middle \ of the road waving his metallic arms in the hope that an instinctive timidity I in the face of the law, will prove a sufficient deterrent to the desire to ! beat the train. j As the train goes over a certain portion of the track some distance from \ the road, an electrical connection will be established which will cause the I device to wave its arms up and down. • signalling the approaching motorist to ; stop. The arms will continue to wave until the train has passed. There will be red lights in the p;.im of each hand, and at night the figure will be illuminated either from the top* or from the base. If it is found necessary. will fie possible to instal a whistle in the policeman, which will blow as the arms j | wave. 4

TRAFFIC PROBLEMS EASED 3> FOUR-WHEEL BRAKES pr.i.em which is cor, iron ting nearly rec - pounded n Axneri writes following experiments u: :t - . a 1 . .r~ B day at t . - f traffic Mis sing observations on cars driven either by chauffeurs or cwDtrs. it was relatively easy t cars equip] ' wheel brakes were generally first away as ‘go* signal was flashed, and seemed to travel greatest distance between tiers were made after a thorough study of makes and models of -cars equipped with brakes on four wheels, so that guesswork was eliminated. Xfie apparent reason for greater speed of these cans between signals lay in the sense of braking safety afforded the dri : Irivers revealed the ansi i they usually drove at a speed inside the safe stopping limit of their cars. In other words, a man would drive at 3v miles an hour between traffic signals if he felt sure that a i this speed he could stop his car within the distance separating him from the car ahead. Eliminating the personal equation of relatively slow and relatively fast drivers, and basing deductions on an average, it appeared that the average driver would .make better time if he were using a car with fourwheel brakes.”

TESTED ON THE TRACK NASH POLICY WITH NEW CARS Mash is the only manufacturer in its field, so far as the distributors kn nv. to submit each finished car to an actual driving test before releasing it for shipment. Special! y built testing tracks are maintained by Xash Zdotors. A staff of expert mechanics is maintained at each of these tracks and after a rar has been driven for a given length* of time, these men submit a written report as to its exact position. Adjustments, when found necessary, are made immediately and no car is permitted to leave the factor:.* until the tester has given it his final O.K. Throughout the process of produc tion there are countless other inspections and tests, beginning with a .* Brinnei test for hardness of raetal that goes into th- crankcase and ending. before the final track test, with the actual running of the motors under their own power. This motor test is not completed until after each mo*or has been taken down, inspected and assembled again. Thus we are in a position to assure each new owner that his individ 5 actu driven an tested at the factory* before sh'-mer.t was made.

THOSE FIRST 500 MILES STUDEB AKER’S PREPARATION F r ancoar: K-menCs nade br ■ - . n: years have more signiilc2ir-»:*e to* ■* - non of Ausnalisf-. Ltd.. explains the sit nation as f: 11c vr< In cl.e first place. liftins: the old ion ; n immediate speed has increased :enfold the pleasure •: f driving a new ;_r When - new owner gets into his . • - nee tfe - . - - - - t " s inowner of a new car has t: ploc s at 2 miles an hear before he can really enjoy the performance he has bought i - car manufacturers and you will see that the only makers who do not insist on a thorough breaking in p-rioc at low speed are manufacturers of th€ most expensive cars. Rolls-Royce heads the list —yon can drive a Rolls high sp>e-ed the minute it leaves thn specters !£.•»> inspections on Studebaker cam before they are passed on to thr purchaser. Sixteen hundred and ter mechanical operations are not allowed to vary more then one-thousandth c: an inch, and 415 operations are held : - : ne-hall fci isandtl of an inch. Finally the cars are giver a thorough test and preliminary breaking tn on dynamometers befrre being released for delivery. This las: test, with the preceding inspect! :t: and skilled workmanship, make cer- - . r leaving 1 tory can be driven 40 miles an hour immediately without injury to the The Easter programme of a Sydney speedway included the following 1 . . S —FI . tar- odi 500 C-C- invitation motor-cycle scratch race: five mile encourage motor-cycle handicap: five mile car scratch race: five mile car handicap: five mile sidecar hand! car.

AUSTIN’S PROGRESS SPEECH BY SIR HERBERT Remarkably rapid development of the -Austin Motor Car Company, and the ever increasing demand for Austin 1 productions throughout the British Empire was reflected at the last annual rt Austin presided- Approximately 1,000 Austin agents and dealers were present- and Sir Herbert gave some amaz- : ing figures concerning the prosperity of the company. He mentioned that during the past year the sales were 41 per cent, greater than the previous year, and that the two largest distributors for the home market had sold together cars to the value of one and three-quarter mil- ■ lion pounds. The Austin company are nearly doubling their programme for ISiIS. and anticipate an output in excess of 70,000 cars. Important alterations had been made to the 12-H7 ; h.p. model, making it an ideal car for the overseas market, improvements in- ■ eluding standard 4ft Sin track, wider rear seat: in fact the whole car being a very commodious one, while the engine power had also been increased. Austin export trade had increased during the year by 3S per cent., and he expects 100 per cent- increase during the coming season. The 7 h.p. model has proved popular in every market on account of its remarkable performance and outstanding economy of maintenance.