OCT OBER 12TH, 1907.

THE AUTOCAR B 3ournal publtsbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall~ propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No. 625. VoL. XIX. SATURDAY, OCTOBER I ZTH, 1907. [PRICE 3D.

Tl1E AUTOCAR.

(Published Weekly.)

Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom,

Entered as second-class matter in the New York {N.Y.) Post Office.

EDITORIAL OFFICE :

COVENTRY.

PUBLISHING OFFICES :

2J, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND.

CONTENTS.

PAGlt

1'\0TES

• • 551 · 55 2

U SEFUL HI NT S A N D TIPS : A CHEAPLY- MADE M OTOR H OUSE

(ILLUSTRATED)-STEERJ NG. A \.YA RN ING {lLLUSTRATED)How TO UNDO A T1 GHT RADIATOR C AP. .

553

THE 25 H .P . HILLMA N- COATALEN CAR ( ILLUSTRATE D )

• • 554-556

As OTHERS SEE Us

THE 30 H.P. S t X- CY L l N DE R NAPIER ( ILL U~TRAT E D} . ,

557

, . 558- 559

A N A CCIDENT AND lTS LESSONS

, , 560- 561

E NTRIF.S FO R RACES AT B R0O KLANDS . .

561

A SPEED I NDI CA TOR T EST- M OTOR L EGISLATJ O S I N T H E A m . . 561 T HE 25 - 35 H .P. C LE !liEN T C AR (I LLUSTRATED) . , 562- 563 THE NEW S TAN DARD CARS 564 THE ( HEN ARD• WALCKER ( ARBURETTER (ILLUSTRATED) , , 565 Two Goo n THINGS (ILLUST RATE D ) 566 THE N EW D E D ION CARS (ILLUST RATED) . . 567 R .A. C . P E RFO R MANCE CERTI F I CATE • • 568 HIS M AJESTY'S LATEST C AR {ILLUSTRAT ION) 568 ColtRESPOl'DE NCE . • , • 569- 573 CONTINENTAL NOTES AND N EWS • • 574·575 BROOKLANDS RATING~ , • 576 FLASHES , , 577- 578 CLUB DOINGS- R EVIEW 579 SOME QUERIES AN D REPLIES . • 580 RACES , RECO R D<:; HILL- CLIM BS , AN D T RIALS , , 58 1-586

&; • 7 Amo~: ~;~:;~o), ~, " '" ,ooom

"THE AUTOCAR" SUBSCRIPTION RATES:

The Cars of 1908. Prior to the British Motor Show of 1904 we published the first Buyer 's Guide, or list, giving the lead ing dimensions and principal p articul ars of every ca r on the market for the year. On the eve of each succeeding .~ -at annual British exhibition since we have prepared a similar guide, and we propose to do so before Olympia once more throws open its doors to the motor world next month. The work of compil ation is very heavy, and it is one in which th e co-operation of the manufacturer or concessionnaire is necessary. F orm s have been sent to all th e firms handling cars which we have on our lists, but in case a ny makers or concessionnaires have been omitted we beg th em to apply to us a t once for a f orm , so th at "The Autoca rs of 1908 " may not be l es s compl ete th an its predecessors.

H ow t horoughly this li st of ca rs is appreciated is perhaps best shO\rn by the fac t th at the numbers containin g it invaria bl y go out of print, despite the extra q uantity struck off. In fa ct, the copies of the last edition of The Autocar which contains the 1907 list now fetch half a crown. They a re not only greatly appreciated at home, but automobilists from over the seas constantl y r efer to them in their correspondence with us. It may not be without interest to say that we fi rst compiled the list for our own guidance without any inte ion of publishing it , but we found it so exceedin gly seful that we felt convinced it would be apprecia d by the motor world at large, and this opinion h been more th an justifi ed.

Carburetters. There is no p art of a motor car which is more interesting to th e motor engineer and th e keen amateur th an the carburetter, and we should say th at if a record of th e experiments and trial s which have been made could be taken it would be found that those in connection with the carburetter outnumber the experiments and trials which have been made with any other p art of th e mechanism. This is perfectly natural, and what one might be led to expect , as th ere is no question whatever th at, given a good engine, the four things which influence its running a re compression, carburation , ignition , a nd lu brication.

Now, to a large extent, it may be said that three of the main problems are solved . We do not mean th at no furth er progress will be made, but something much more nea rl y approaching fin ality has been arri,·ed at in the fir t three essenti a ls th an in the carburetter. We a re not at the moment purposing to discuss any p atented device. There are a few-a very few- p atented carburetters of remarka bl e merit, but with three or four notable exceptions th ey can only be bought with the complete car , and at the moment we propose rather to discuss th e more o r' less ordinary unoatented carburetter.

In its simp lest form a carburetter is an arrangement fo r p roj ecting a jet of petrol or other appropria te fuel. into an air orifi ce . Working conditions make it desira bl e to gi ve some means, automatic or manual, for red ucing th e vacuum on the jet at high speeds. A great dea l , too, depend s upon the exact proportioning of the jet and main air supply, but whatever proportions th ese may ass ume the essentia ls of th e carburetter remain the same. For an engine which run s at a uniform speed the design of a carburetter with the knowledge nowa d ays available is a comp arati ve ly simple thing . A few trials and a few adjustments and it is p oss ibl e to make a carburetter which will give the maximum power with the minim um consumotion of fu el.

The diffi c ul ty \\'ith • the motor ca r is th at the engine is necessarily continua ll y va rying its speed . The carburetter has to suppl y a combustibl e mixture which shall be correct both in richness and volume for any