AUG UST 31ST, 1907.
THE AUTOCAR B 3ournal pubhsbet, in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall\? propellet, roat, carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
~o. 6r 9. VoL. XIX. SATURDAY, AUGUST 3rsr, 1907.
[PRICE 3n.
TflE AUTOCAR.
(Publish ed Weekly.)
~egistered as a new:::paper for transmission in the United Kingdom.
I:ntered as second-class matter in the New York (,\J .Y.) Po~t Offi ce.
E!)cTORIAL OFFICE :
COVENTRY.
l"'U3LISHING OFFICES :
2J, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E .C . , ENGLAND.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
NOTES C'SEFUL HINTS AND TIPS-A R ULE FOR T YRE IZES • . THE 18 AND 24 H.P. :M ASS CARS {ILLUSTRATED) .• TH E S'IORAGE OF PETROL . BY DOUGLAS LEECH)IAN • • Ox THE Ro.Ao. BY OwEN Jott~ .. A \VORD FOR THE GARAGE P ROPRIETOR . • A SEAT-STARTED MAGNF.TO (ILLUST RATED ) . . CHEMICAL TESTS OF RUBBER TYRES . . PRt:-.'CE RANJITSIHNJI'S STATE CAR (ILLUSTRATED) CONTROL OF LONDON TRAFFIC .. So:-.1E ELASTEs TESTS
SCOTTISH R ELIABILIT Y T RIAL , 1907 , .
. . 339-340 . . 340-341 . . 342-343 · · 344-345
346 347 . . 34S-349
349 350 35x 352
352
W O MEN AS M OTOR CAR DRIVERS
THE l RtSH A c. RELIABILlTY T RIALS
353
353
Co~TINENTAL NOTES A!-1D NEWS
·, 354-355
POl)l"TS OF I NTEREST ON THE BRESCIA CIRCUIT (IL LUSTR ATIO!'J)
356
CORRESPO!'JDENCE..
· · 357-362
A DIARY 01<~ 1\·IoTORJNG IN SouTH A FRICA . Bv DR. G .
ARMSTRONG L UMLEY
· • 363- 364
CLUB DOINGS ( ILLUSTRATED) • •
• • 365-366
A SPRINGLESS AUTOMATIC A . ..IR VALVE (IL LUSTRATED) . .
367
THE 12·14 H. P . AOAl:IS ENGINE ( ILLUSTRATED)
FLASHES (ILLUSTRATED) . .
IMPORTS ANO EXPORTS • • ExrERIMENTS I N STEAM PRooucTtON . Bv J. H. LESTER THE 1\10Ton 1sT·s LoT IN GERMANY • .
367
• • 368-370
37 1 372 373-374
"THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES : British I sles, 16s. Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s. 8d. per a nnum.
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Notes. Bigger but not Better. At this time of the year many manufacturers of motor cars are engaged in testing machine of a more or less experimental c ha racter which, if satisfactory, will be introduced next year, or p erhaps the yea r after, as a standard type. So far as th e old-established and e.:-.perienced motor car makers a re concerned, it woul d be presumptuous to ass ume that th ey do not know their business, but from what we have seen during the present yea r and the year or two preceding it we ha ,·e come somewhat re! uctantl y to th e conclusion th at the makers of some good ca rs really do not know when to leave well a lone. What they do is something like thi s . They bring out a model of, say, 16 h .p. which is really a very satis fac tory and successful car. It gives very great satisfaction to its owners, and, with the exception of a few points \Yhich are ooen to adverse criti cism, the owners a re , ·ery p leased ,vith it . They naturally ta ke good care to tel I th e makers where th ey have found the ca r wrong or where th ey think it i$ open to improvement, so th at long before the makers have to turn their attention to the mode ls for another year th ey know exactly what a re th e shortcomings of th e present type. Where th ey so often go wrong i . in not contenting th emse lves with rectifying these shortcomings and otherwise leaving well se,·ere ly a lone, only making such improvements in detail or in materia l and workmanship- as experience may dictate. They are not content to do this ; they redesign the 16 h . p . , and make it , say, 20 h.p. In this larger ca r th ey a re careful to eliminate th e fau l ts of its predecessor , and generally do so successfully, but in nine cases out of ten th ey introduce some a ltogether new ,·ices into th e la rger pattern .
If they had been content with imprO\·ing the smaller one and making it right where it was wrong, it would probably have been one of the best ca rs of its power for the year. Instead they bring out a larger car, and from a great many standpoints it may not be so good as its sma ll e r predecessor of th e previous year. This sort of thing l1as happened so often (and th e present yea r has certainly not been without it examples) that it is quite obvious a number of cars a re being made on th e wrong plan. In tea d of making th e small cars better, it is a case of bigger ca rs being made not o good. ]t should be understood th at this deterioration is not intention a l. lt is not due t o attempts to 5camp workmanship or to buy cheape r a nd infe rior material ; it is simp ly due to th e fa ct that in evolving a new model a new set of exoeriments a re sta rted uoon, and th ere is not tim e to n~operly check th em befo-re manufacture in quantities is en te red upon. This state of things ought not to be continued . Lip to a recent period e,·ery o,1·ner of a motor ca r ,1·as wil ling to act as a sort of nrivate expe rimen talist for th e manufacturer. H e recognised that both he and the maker of his car were pioneers, and that th ey must th erefore both of them put t heir shou ld e r to the wh ee l. There is no longe r a~1y eel for this, and th e buye r of a car to-cl ay ought to e ab le to feel confident th at if it is bigger th a n its i ed ia te predecessor it is also better.
Tyre Pressures. It is gene rally accepted as in disputable that th e majo rity of motor car tyre s wh ich decay premature !) have been insuffi cien tly infl ated. This under-inflati on is not such a common ,,hortcoming to-day as it used t o be. Since the Southall gauge was introd uced some· twelve month,, or so- ago, the re ha s been quite a number of imitators, and tHe gauges whi ch rea lly giYe the actual pressure in the tyre are used by a great ~11a!1 y motoris.ts, though there is no doubt that the maJ onty still do not use the m. They rely upon the misleadin g pump ga uge, or else do not troubl e about a gauge at all. At the same tim e, the re is no doubt th at tyres ca n be over-inflated, and co mmonsense must be used .
F or in stan ce, if one has a car whi ch is th oro ugh!:
