GARAGE GOSSIP

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 698, 25 June 1929, Page 6

GARAGE GOSSIP

“That young cliap tells me that so far he’s never had to pay out any money for repairs on his car.” “That’s i every word true. I’m his father.”*1 An extensive use of flares is being i made by the automobile association 1 road patrols in England during fog ' periods. The flares are used at cross--1 roads and other danger points. 1 The current priee of first-grade i motor spirit in New South Wales is 2s i a gallon, inclusive of a 3d State tax. [ It is feared that there will be a move ’ to add a Commonwealth tax of 4d. In response to a suggestion from the i Auckland Automobile Association the 1 Manukau County Council has under- ! taken to keep a lookout for trees i which threaten to impair visibility on | corners. [ A tally taken recently at the intersection of Khyber Pass Road and Mountain Road between 8.30 a.m. and 9.30 a.m. disclosed that an average of eight motor vehicles passed each minute. At least one motorist has great faith in the fireproof qualities of motor tank wagons. He was observed at Hamilton recently striking a match on a wagon which was in the act of discharging petrol into an underground garage tank. Detroit not only holds the record as being the biggest automobile manufacturing centre in the world, but is also the city in which motor-car thefts are the most prevalent, 12,336 vehicles having been stolen last year. About 90 per cent, were recovered.

I A negro was seen driving a flivver i round and round a tree out in thei i woods recently. Asked what he w'as i doing, he replied, “Fse malcin’ des’ as i many turns as I pleases widout gettin’ • called down by a cop.”

TECHNICAL SERVICE

A.A.A. MAN HAS WIDE EXPERIENCE The Auckland Automobile Association has appointed Mr. G. P. Robertson as technical advisor to its members and appointments may be made with him at the association offices. Mr. F. Cullen, one of the pioneer automobile engineers of Auckland, has filled this position for some time, but failing health has necessitated his retirement. Mr. Robertson has excellent Qualifications. He is a New Zealander, who rounded off his experience in the Sunbeam factory, returning to the Dominion in 1920. Mr. Robertson was for some time test house superintendent lor the Sunbeam Company, and he had extensive experience with research work. 1-Ie was in the factory during the building of several types of aviation engines, and is himself a pilot. During his service with this firm he was associated with the famous racing drivers, A. Divo, K. Lee, Guinness and Captain Rickenbacker. The latter will be remembered as the sponsor of the car bearing his name which was produced for some years. Rickenbacker is now one of the executives of the La Salle organisation. Mr. Robertson is also principal of the Motor Training Institute, and, in addition to giving practical instruction with a demonstration chassis, he lectures on legal matters bearing on motoring. That every car and motor-coach should be fitted with a windscreen wiper was the opinion of a Manchester jury at an accident inquest. They considered that this accessory should be made a compulsory fitting.

HUGE ADVANCE

CHRYSLER MAKES GOOD The annual report of Chrysler Motors shows figures interesting not only as the record of Chrysler achievement, but Indicative of the condition of the motor-car industry in America as a whole. The working capital of the Chrysler organisation has increased from 9,659,624 dollars in 1922 to approximately 78,000,000 as of January 1, 1929, an increase of about 750’ per cent, in five years. Car production has leaped from 31,429 cars in 1924 to 444,762 cars in 1928, a growth in output around 1,300 per cent, in four years. In three years Chrysler has risen from 27th in size to third in the entire automobile industry, and the second largest publicly owned automobile corporation in the world. As a climax to these achievements, .Walter P. Chrysler is building in New York City the world’s tallest sky-scraper, towering 68 storeys.

; NOW COMES TWIN-EIGHT

BUGATTI'S LATEST—A “SUPER” CAR Sixteen cylinders, forty-eight valves, two crankshafts, two camshafts and a power output of 250 h.p. are the outstanding features of a most unusual engine produced by M. Bugatti, one of the foremost manufacturers of high-speed cars. The mere mention of 16 cylinders suggests a bonnet of almost interminable length, states the “Autocar,” but this Bugatti is shorter than the firm’s eight-cylinder model of the same bore and stroke, for its cylinders are not in line, but in two banks of eight, each engine being complete in itself, and the two being united by gearing. It was during the war that Bugatti conceived the double eight engine for use oil airplanes. A few were built, but for some reason or other the idea was not pushed, and now the dual power plant has been brought forth as a four-litre model, each engine having a capacity of two litres, and each being supercharged. It could be best described as a super-sports car, for it has been catalogued and plans have been laid for its production, but it is doubtful if many will get into the hands of the public before 1930. The intention is that it shall participate in races—the 24-hour event at Le Mans, records and hill-climbs — this year, and be openly offered for sale after it has proved its merits. There is nothing particularly distinctive in the chassis. As to the speed of the car, makers prefer to remain silent, but with the power available, and the low weight of the chassis, it ought to be wonderfully fast and have extraordinary powers of acceleration. The performance of this car will be watched with the greatest interest in the races for which it is entered, the first probably being the 24 hours’ event, at Le Mans.