A1•,0 L 21ST, 1906.
THE AUTOCAR B 3ournal publtsbe~ in tbe interests of tbe mccbnnicall~ propelle~ roa~ carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 548. VoL. XV I.
SATURDAY, APRIL 21ST, 1906.
LPRICR 3D.
TflE AUTOCAR.
(Published Weekly.)
L Registered- as (a ·newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom. [ L Entered as second-cla ss matter at the New York (N.Y.) Post Office.
EDITORIAL OFFICE :
COVENTRY.
PUBLISHING OFFICES :
20. TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND.
CONTENTS.
NOTES: NEW CARS -THE SIZ E OF TYRES ...
P AGE ... 495-496
USEFUL H INTS AND TIPS: AN I MPROVED PETROL FJLTER (illus
trated)-WARPED S P \RKING P LUG PORCELAIN-CLEANING BRASS LAMPS-CURI~G ~jill;FJRING WITHOUT STOPPD,G- LOOSE CONTACT S AND F AULTY FtRI:'IIG T HE MULTIPLICATION OP [ MPULSBS (illus trated) ... Tue20 H ,P. LANCHESTER L AS0AUL&T GENERALITIES. By Rutulan .••
497 ... 498-499
499 500
CUBICAL CONTENTS ANO HORSP.:-POWER
ON THE RoAO. By Owen John
..• 501-502
503
C ONTINENTAL NOTES AND N EWS: THE MOTOR BOAT RACES AT
MONACO (illustrated)-QUlEN OF ITALY'S AER0!'.AUTICAL CUPENTRIES FOR THe; EUROPEAN C IRCUIT... • • • 504-510 T H E I NCLINED SCREEN (illustrated) ... C O-OPERATION A F ULLY-EQUIPPED TouRING C.-.R (illus trated) A ERONAUTICAL NOTES (illustrated) .• •
5IO 5IO 5II 512
T HE Ninv MICHELIN T VRt! Lt!VER1i (illustr ated)
... 513-514
A RA.CE FOR STE,Ui C ARS-H \RR0GA.TE SPEED I NQUIRV
514
CORRKSPnsotcNci,; : Mo row. L 1rERATURF. t N H • TELs - R ecKLEss
ANO lNC/IPABLE DRIVEf.1: ... - (NTERNA.L Ftt!CT ION' JN MOTORSOBJEC rtONA KLK MOTORISTS-RUNNING C usTS-THE HEDGELAi"'!D SOLID A >::Lit-THK A.C.G.B.I. ExA~UNATIONS AND C1rnTIF1CATES-THE 8ALA?rr,CING OP Pt.TROL ENGINES-RURAL O tSTRICT COUNCI LS ANO R.0\0i-WH":RV.. ARE THE P OLICE?THE SABA.RINI TWO·"-TR0KE MOTOR- SUMMARY OP CORRESP0S0ENC...: .. . 515-519 CAR D tPREc 1n10N. By J. T. WarJ... ... 520-521 AH EARLY L,vE AXLE (illustra,ed) 521 FLASKES ... 522 -523 CLUB D o 1~Gs 52{ LONDON TO EoI:iBURGH RELi \Bit.ITV D RIVE 524 R~TING ;Pr!TRO L M o r oR ° ' sv Cvl,l"D .R Dn-1ENSIONS (concluded J .• • 525-526
"THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES. Hritish I s les, 16s Ahroad (thin papt-r edition), 22s. Bd. per annum.
(
Notes. New Cars. Just now ll'e are rece1nng a number of complaints from owners of new cars. particularly of cars ,1f moderate or low price. It is quite evident fr om the nature of the complaints that the trouble is entirely due to careless test ing by the ll'orks teste rs, and sti 11 more careless examination on the part of those responsible for seeing that the car is in proper trim before it is taken away or sent to its owner. One of the commonest complaints is in the matter of steering. Within the last two or three days three instances of badly-adjusted steering ·gear have come to our notice; in each case the fault was the same. T he steering was so adjusted that it was impossible to get full lock on one side; consequently when a turn was made in this particular direction it was difficult or impossible to turn a corner. In one case the mal-adjustment was so serious that the car could only be taken round an ordinary bend by backing. In one of the other cases, a collision with a bridge was narrowly missed. and in the third a front wheel ll'as damaged. The stops to the steering had been so adj usted that turning one way the road wheel came right back, and rubbed against the frame. In the other ,ray, the wheels could only be turned a very I ittle out of the straight line, and consequently it was impossible to-turn any but the easiest bends. In some cases ,,·here the cars are bought th rough careful agents these things are put right, but most of the agents seem to think- and we can scarcely blame them- that when a car comes from the manufacturers it should be in a fit state for the road.
As an instance of gross carelessness on the part of maker , we may refer to a car recen tl y deli\'ered. The owner had scarcely received deli\'ery of the car before he found that the engine suffered seriously from overheating. He took it to the agents from whom he bought it. and they made it rather worse. ln despair, he called in a ski lfu l a nd capable reP.ai rer. who found_ that the float chamber of the carburetter bad a thick film of lubricating oil at the bottom, and that theautomatic air valve to the carburetter was so tightly adjusted that, no matter how fast the engine ran, it coul<l ne,·er get a supply of air. The water pump was also practically useless, a lump of solder having got into it and nearly put it out of commission. The exhaust pipe was so carelessly bent that at the bend its diameter ,ras reduced almost b\' half. There were ,;e1·eral other minor matters. mai~ly of mal-adjustment. We take this instance as one of a number. It is certai nh· about the worst which has come to our knowledge, but, unfortunately. it is not an isolated example; we could cite dozens of recent happening. The only wonder is that in several instances the,· have not resulted in serious accident . ·
I t appears to us that the cause, to some extent, is to lie found in the fact that the internal organisation of some facto ri es is such as not to be able to ll'ithstand any sort of excessive demand upon their productive resource . . Cars ,rhich may Le care~ull y tested and carefullv examined in the ordinan· ,ra1· are turned out half tested. and not examined at al l, w·hen the firm is really busL The matter has become so se ri ous ll'ithin the last- fe 11- ,reeks that it is little short of an abuse. It may be offered as an excuse that th is is one of the indispensable conditions associated with industrial prosperity, but real ly this will not be accepted as ar, excuse fo r ;-rn,· accidents that mav be caused. \\I ~ must urge tip-on all makers who b;ve complaint from new owners to follow the matter up very carefu l] and to see that it is rectified , as there is no doubt tha they are not only giving purchasers an infin ity o needless trouble. but are very seriously damaging their O\rn reputati oi1 and injuring the fair fame of automobilism.
