GARAGE GOSSIP

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 378, 12 June 1928, Page 6

GARAGE GOSSIP

Five miles of concrete road have been laid in Colorado, in which rock containing £4,000 of gold ore has been mixed.

According to Lord Desborougli, the internal combustion engine has “ruined the earth, made the air dangerous, and the sea foul.”

The German Government has issued regulations prohibiting the use of solid tyres except on certain types of motorvehicles.

The latest Erskine cars to reach Auckland are fitted with an adjustable catch for the door lock. Every door rattles sooner or later, but this is provided against on the Erskine by a serrated adjustment on the catch for the bolt.

Isn’t human nature weird? The same chap who invests £2 in a silver radiator ornament will insist on driving another 200 miles before changing the oil.

Pedestrians know that they are safe from the motorist driving a brand new car. The motorist does not care to dent his fenders the first 1,000 miles or so.

A man staying at an hotel awakened in the morning to find a chambermaid putting liis tea tray on the table at his bedside. “I did not hear you knock!” he remarked. “No, sir, of course not,” she retorted, “I am Ethyl.”

To ensure type pumps working properly, a few drops of oil should be injected occasionally through the air orifice at the top of the barrel. Too much lubricant should not be applied, however, or the pump may cause a great deal of trouble by blowing oil mist into the tyre valves.

Tyres coloured to suit the finish of the car are promised. American manufacturers began experimenting with the idea in order to improve appearance, but they have discovered that economy, too, is involved. Rubber deteriorates less quickly when it Is coloured with a pigment than when it is natural.

Three Glasgow Corporation tramcars were caught in police speed traps and £ 6 was collected from the civic authorities in fines. It was stated that the trap was marked by a nail in the pavement, and one of the cars was alleged to have travelled at over 30 miles an hour.

Probably no living person has travelled more miles by car than “Cannonball” Baker, United States’s veteran record driver. Recently he completed his eighty-first transcontinental record attempt, from New York to San Francisco, a distance of 3.690 miles. In these runs alone he has covered just on 300,000 miles, while bn shorter distance records lie has sped over 200,000 niilep of road. Baker's fastest drive across America was accomplished in a Falcon-Knight sedan. The time was 73 hours 47 minutes.

New Zealand’s motor fleets require over £1,500,000 worth of tyre replacements annually. The dutiable value alone should exceed £1,000,000 during 1928. During the first quarter of this year, tyre imports were valued for duty purposes at £251.430, an incrense of £20,100 on the total for the fi, -t quarter of 1927. Following are details of the quarter’s ijnports of tyres and tubes; Canada, £151,514; Great Britain, £46,213: France, £28,559: United States, £22.66.5; Germany, £944: Italy £727; Australia. £608; Belgium, £2OO —total. £251,430.