MAIICH 9TH, 1907
THEAUTOCAR B Journal publiobet > in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall\?.Propellet > roat > carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 594. VoL. XVIII. SATURDAY, MARCH 9TH, 1907.
[PRICE JD.
THE AUTOCAR.
(Published Weekly. )
- R.egiat:ieR:d as a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom.
Entered as i;econd-class matter in the New York (N. Y.) Post Office.
EDITORIAL OFFICE:
COVENTRY.
PUBLISHING OFFICES:
20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND .
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Nons • •
• . 325·326
USEl'UL HI NTS AND TIPS : CLEANING MICA WINDOWS-REPAIRING
CRACKED CYLINDERS-A NEW CAR-REPAIRING STUDDED TYRES 327 THE ZUST 28-40 H. P CHASSIS (ILLUSTRATED) , • 328·330 THE FUEL LIMIT RACES. CLUB COMPETITIONS AND TRIALS 33 1 How TO MAKE VULCAN ISED TYRE R EPAI RS {ILLUSTRATED) • • 332 ·335 AN AID TO EASY TYRE MANIPULATION (ILLUSTRATED) • • 336·337 WATERPROOF MOTOR CLOTH ING 337 FLOAT·CONTJtOLLED CARBURETTERS-NEW AND OLD (ILLUSTRATED) 338·340 IN THE Hous& OF CoMMONS • • 340 CoNTIHENTAL NOTES AND NEWS RUDGE·WHITWORTH TESTS OF WHEELS ( I LLUSTRATED) ANOTHER AUSTRALIAN R ELIABILITY TRIAL • • CORRESPONDENCE TH& ALBERT CARBURETTER (ILLUSTRATED) • • N1tw QUARTERS FOR IRIS CARS STEAM V. PETROL (CONCLUDED) FLASHES • • THE 1907 S COTTISH A.C. RELIABILITY TR1ALS ~ • • CLUB DOINGS • • SOCIETY OJ' AUTOMOBILE MECHANIC DRIVERS
· · 341·342
• , 343·344
344 · • 345"350
35 1 351 , • 352 -356 · • 357-359
36o .• 361·362
362
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Notes. A Burning Question. To-day (Friday) the annual general meetin g of the Automobile Club takes place . There are no burning questions down for discussion on the agenda, with the exception of the one proposed by a member of the indu try to the effect "that all members of the committee of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland who are admittedly members of the motor trade, or admittedly engaged in motor car business, shall have no vote on .questions before the committee which directly bear upon or deal with motor car competitions." Around this it is expected a hot debate will ra ge. We do not agree with the motion . If the membe rs of the committee who may be connected with the industry in an y way a re not to be trusted to vote on matters concerning competiti ons, we can onl y say they !). re entirely unfit to take part in any committee work at all. It must be remembered that each member of the committee is elected by the membership of the club as a whole, because the majority of the members votin g believe that they are good men, and fitted for the post. If the club membership in general objected to members of the industry, it would not continue to elect them in such large numbers to the committee. It can scarcely be urged that in filling in their ballot papers t,he members do not know the professions of the candidates, and that if they did they would vote against the men who know most about many of the .subjects dealt with by the club committees. However, if it is really seriously contended that this is the case, the difficulty could be easily l v rcome by stating the occupation of every candida after his name upon the ballot -papers.
The eposit System. During the las t few weeks we have received a number of comp laints from purchasers of motor cars who ha,·e paid the usual one-third deposit with. their orders. These orders have been accepted with a promise for delivery upon a certain date, but delivery has not been made to the time promised. The consequence is that the· ca r manufacturers are still holding the deposits, but the un fortunate customers are still without their cars. aw, it seems t o us that the depo.sit system is a good thing, and \Ye have always thought it was a good thing, because in the long run it enables cars to be sold morn cheaply, as much larger capital would necessarily have t o be invested in car manufacture if it were abolished . The friction at th e present time is majnly due t o resentment. The disappointed customer feels quite naturally it is bad e nough that his car should not be delivered to the time promised, but when in addition to this he knows the maker.s are using his money and paying him no interest for it, he feels far more irritated than the amount of the interest he is losing on his deposit warrants. There is no doubt the proper plan, and one which is perfectly satisfactory to both sides, is th at when the order is accepted a definite date of delivery shall be given, provid ed no further alterations are made in the specification. Then if de-livery is not made at the time stated, the manufacturer should pay interest on the depooit money at , say, five per cent. Of course, there is one firm at least which p laces itself under a considerable penalty if it fai ls to keep its dates of delivery, but this i s, perhaps, a rather mor-e' heroic method than the majority of firms could be~pected to adopt, and we think somethi ng on the Ii es we have mentioned would be satisfactory ta both uyers and seller~.
The Steam Car Disc ssion. Thi s di cussion at the utomobile Club, the report of which is completed elsewhere in this issue, was of very great interest. All sorts of rumours were current as t o certain doughty champions who were t o oppose and overthrow Mr. Coleman, but we must say, although he had plenty of opposition, he was certainly not overthrown. The discussion may be summ arised in the
