MOTORDOM

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 728, 30 July 1929, Page 7

MOTORDOM

By

HEADLIGHT

INDUSTRIAL ROMANCE j RISE OF HUDSON MOTOR CHIEF The rise of William J. McAneeny to the presidency of the Hudson Motor-car Company, second largest independent in the automotive field, forms one of the j major industrial romances of j America. He was born in adversity rather than with a silver spoon in his mouth. In his youth and even in his earliest boyhood days he worked to earn his own support. Then came years as a soldier in the Spanish-American war, as a salesman, as a storekeeper, and ' then after being purchasing agent for ! relatively small concerns, he plunged into the automotive business when the horseless carriage was still move or less of a joke. In Mr. McAneeny’s two decades with Hudson he has served sucessively as purchasing agent, factory manager, a director of the company, its secretary, and its first vice-president and treasI urer. For many years he has been | one of the directive group which determined and executed all Hudson business policies. I Even after he became one of the I company’s leading executives, he per- ! sonally tested cars on the road. Last summer, when the present Hudson and Essex models were being proved, he rode them thousands of miles and made many suggestions for their improvement. OIL FOR NEW DESIGNS ; OPINION OF TECHNICAL MEN Contrasting the varied requirements of the motor of ten years ago and today, it is necessary to refer to increased power, pistons required to travel three to five times as fast, increased acceleration, and the fact that in the combustion chambers the gas is being compressed twice as much, with correspondingly higher temperaj tures. ‘ All these Improvements have meant a greater task for the lubricants, and the Vacuum Oil Company, being in : close contact with manufacturers, I knew the trend, and over two years ! ago commenced to develop oils which would provide better lubrication and ' greater factors of safety under the more exacting conditions. The company has now made available the new ! Improved Mobiloil. Referring to changes in design, driving conditions, fuels and oils, Mr. H. C. Mougey, chief chemist of the Research Division of General Motors Corporation, said they were among the factors that, made higher speeds more j common. Engineers, without increasing engine size in proportion to car I weight, or without increasing crank- ; shart revolutions a mile, had greatly I increased engine power. Engine oils and fuels, satisfactory two or three S years ago, might be unsatisfactory j under present, day conditions. The opinion pf Mr. L. H. Pomeroy, : vice-president of the Institute of Auto. ! Engineers. of England, and general i manager of the Daimler Company, is J that the modern engine is being asked ! to work over a far greater range of speed, load, and climatic conditions | than ever before. GERMAN CAR PARADE i j Schonheitskonkurrenz. Without giving you the opportunity • of trying to pronounce the word, its ; meaning is given—it is the German for | “beauty parade.” I "That-word-in-the-plural” are popular | on the Continent and for the event at S the annual international tournament at j Weisbaden, Germany, there were over 400 entrants. i Studebaker gained the distinction of being the only make of car to receive an award for each model entered in j the “that-word-in-the-singular,” held on the second day of the tourney, i Eight Studebaker cars were awarded prizes following the promenade ini review before the resort’s noted kurhaus.

CAUSES OF ACCIDENTS DETAILED N.S.W. FIGURES Interesting figures covering motor vehicle accidents in New South Wales during the past nine months, compiled by the N.R.M.A., indicate the directions in which care is needed and in which greater supervision by the police is required. Failure to grant the right-of-way is shown to be responsible for by far the greatest number of accidents, the number, 723, being twice as great as that arising from any other cause. Second on the list is the item “colliding with pedestrians,” numbers 343. Other causes are: Misjudgment, 30G. Hit while stationary, 300. Theft, 206. Skidding, 195. Cutting corners, IS6. Following too closely, ISO. Failure to signal, 160. Inattention, 150. Operating too fast for conditions, 144. Careless backing, 122. Driving on wrong side of road, 100. Fire, SS. Confusion, SO. Cutting in, 77. Runaway, 71. Mechanical breakdown, 61. Passing on wrong side of vehicle, 60. Passing on curve, 50. Passing on hill, 50. Intoxication, 9.

WORD “TYRE” IS WRONGLY USED Judging by the present application of the word by many people, a tyre is spoken or written of as meaning' a cover or casing. This is a misleading and incorrect description, inasmuch as a tyre consists of a cover, a tube and a column of air—without which it cannot function —and it is really not a tyre at ail until these units are combined. It is quite a common thing to hear motorists say “a tyre and tube,” meaning a cover and tube. This slipshod method of describing tyres can easily lead to errors; for instance, should a motorist telegraph or write to a tyre house or garage, for, say, a 29 x 4.40 tyre, they would naturally forward a cover and tube, whereas, the motorist only required a cover of that size. Thus it can be realised that the maker really does not supply a tyre at all—he supplies a cover and a tube, and the user supplies the column oE compressed air which carries the load.

NEW FORDSON TRACTOR GREAT RECEPTION IN ENGLAND Remarkable world-wide interest created by each new production : of the Ford Organisation is again 1 evidenced in recent cables reporting on the first appearance of the new Fordson tractor in England. When every available Ford factory was working at high pressure to cope with the demand for the new car, pro duction of the Fordson was discontinued, but a tractor plant is now established in Cork, Ireland Thus the new model is an All-Brit-ish product. The report states that one of the largest crowds yet seen at a tractor trial witnessed the event, and the ease with which the new Fordson performed its work immediately assured its popularity among users of tractor i haulage. | Many improvements in design have beeii incorporated in the new model, : the most important being the 50 per cent, increase in power. Additional features include high tension, magneto ignition, with a special impulse starter coupling, which provides a hot spark at the slowest engine speeds. Owing to a special design fuel system, models for use with either petrol or kerosene are available. Special provision has also been made to ensure the ease of gear changing and the installation of a centrifugal pump in the cooling system prevents any possibility of overheating.

THE ART OF COASTING “DELIGHTFUL SILENT RUNNING” Little has been heard lately of the free-wheel device that was promised as a boon to motorists who desired to save fuel and reduce wear and tear on their machines. Free-wheeling, or “coasting,” however, may be indulged in without the aid of any special freewheel clutch. It is a pleasant and interesting adjunct to the art of driving and is practised a good deal in England, where motorists generally become adepts in the handling of gears. Some experienced drivers object to “coasting” on the ground that the drivers’ control of his machine is weakened when he runs with his engine disengaged, and forces him to rely entirely on the brakes if he has to stop the car in an emergency. This is undeniable; but "coasters” reply that a car with unreliable brakes should not be on the roads at all. The simplest method of coasting, but tlie one unanimously condemned by experts, is to depress the clutch pedal and leave the engine running and in gear. This imposes undue wear on the clutch withdrawal mechanism, and the cost of repairs to this will far outweigh the saving in petrol achieved by this kind of coasting. GET INTO NFUTRAL Coasting, if to be done at all. should be done properly, and the proper way is for the engine to be freed from the back axle by disengagement of the gear, i.e., in the gear box. The clutch is disengaged momentarily as for ordinary gear changing, the gear lever is slipped into the neutral position—and not through the gate, so as to engage another gear—and the "coast” begins. The clutch pedal may then be released and the engine either left “ticking over” or stopped altogether. When the “coast” promises to i.e long, as when there is a good hill to be descended. *he engine may be switched . off. The car will then run along and its only component parts working will be the road wheels and transmission up to the gear box. The engine and gear box will enjoy a complete rest, the benefits of which (especially if, as often happens, the “coast” follows a long, gruelling climb) need no emhpasis.

A Disabled Drivers’ Motor Club lias been formed in England.