N OVUIBlt k 16TH, 1907.

THE AUTOCAR B Journal publtabeb m tbe mtereata of tbe mecbanicall~ propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

No . 630 . VoL. XIX. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16 TH, 1907. [P RICE 3D .

THE AUTOCAR.

(Published Weekly. )

Reg:stered as a n ~wspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom,

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

EDITORIAL OFFICE :

COVENTRY.

PUBLISHIN~ OFFICES :

2 0, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C. , ENGLAND.

CONTENTS.

NOTES

. . 757• 758

USE F U L HI NTS AND TIPS: E LECTR l C LAMPS-MAGNETO T D lI NG

ON TALBOT C A RS ( l LLUSTRATED ) - DANGER OF SPOKI NG BAC K WHEELS . . 759 R EMINISCE:-ICES (I LLUSTRATED) .. • , 7 60-76 2 ON THE R oAo . B v OwEN J o u N 763 TH E ID EN F RON T · D R l VE N LANDAU LET (ILL USTR ATED) 764 CoRRESPONDE:O:CE • • • • 765-767 THE N E W T OURIST TR0PH Y RACE I N 1908 . . 768 THE AMERICAN SHOW S E AS ON 768 MARTYN'S PATE:-IT M OTOR CAR T ERMI NAL (ILLUST RATED ) • , 769 TttE: M n ToR UN IO:-l L EGAL A :-1 D L EGIS LATf V E D EFE~CE Fu :-,, o . • 769 Mo-r.O R I S G I ~ MALA YA ( [LLUSTRA TED) .. • • 7 70• 77 1 TH E PARIS SALON . • . . 772- 77 3 S OME QUERIES A ND R !!PLIE S .• FLASHES THE OLYMPIA SHOW ( ILLUST RAT E D ) • •

· · 774·775

I NTROD UCTION MOTOR-PROP E LLED CARRIAGES • • CARRIAGE BODI ES • • ENGI NES, PARTS, FITiI NGS , AND A CCESSOR1£S

776 , , 777- 846 · · 777-779 . . 780- 832 . , 833-836 .. 836-846

" THE AUTOCAR " SUBSCRIPTION RATES: British Isles, 16s Abroad {thin paper edition) . 221;. 8d. per annum.

( Notes. The New Tourist Trophy Race. As announced elsewhere in this issue, the Royal Automobile Club has decided that next year the fu el limit shall be dropped and a Tourist Trophy Race held -in which the limitations will be by engine size and minimum weight of the complete ca r. The view which the Club has taken of the matter is precise ly the same as that which we put forth immediately after the last Tourist Trophy Race, when we stated th at for th e present, at any rate, the fuel limit had t aught as much as could be learned from it. In othe r words, that it was time to leave the carburetter and turn to something which was a t least as important-that is, to obtaining the highest possible power from a given size of engine. We also pointed out that it ,rnuld probably only be a que tion of tim e before the engine limitation would be found to be unsatisfactory . That is to say , after a c;e(tain number of races for engines of restricted dimen­ sions development would be for th e time being advanced as far as it could be, exactly a s has been the case with th e carburette r. H o" ·el'l:'. r , into thi s 11·e need not enter at the moment. The new limitations will p ermi~ a four-cylinder engine of 4in. bore , as the maximum rating obtained by squaring the bore in inches and multip lying this by the number of cylind e rs is arrived at with a 4in. bore. Of course, any other number of cylinders may be used so long as the rating of 64 is not exceeded. We hope th e conditions of the ra ce will make it necessa ry that the strokes should be ve rifi ed . The competitors will have an absolute ly fr ee hand, and can use any length of stroke they like as only the bore is restricted, but a t the same time, if the utmost is to be lea rned from the new Tourist Trophy event the stroke should be disclosed in a ll cases, and so far as the more successful engines are. conce rned it should be verifi ed after the race. When the first ra ce has bee n held it will be seen whether it is necessary to limit th e stroke .

The probabilities are that none of th e competitors will go to extremes eith er in the way of very short or very long strokes . If th ey do this and their cars p er form well it may be necessary to impose some limitation on th e strok e, in asmuch as extremes in either direction are inadvisable, as they tend to the production of a type of engine wh ich is not desirable for ordinary everyday use. At the same tim e, we think it woul d be a mistake to impose an absolute ly fix ed length of stroke, a nd we think our proposition of some months ago would be th e best compromise. It will be remembered th at we suggested the advisability of limiting the bore to four inches and then giving a certain amount of latitude in the stroke. For instance, that no stroke less than four inches nor more than six in ches should be per mitted. This would prevent extremes in either direction. Another point which should be considered is the question of fuel. Altlwugh we have advocated th e abolition of the fuel limit we think th at the matter should not be entirely neglected, and th at a record of the amount of fu el used by each car should be taken. Consumption would have no bearing on the result, but it would provide information which would certainly be desirable, as it might be th at the winner would achieve his victory at an absolute ly extravagant expenditure of fuel, whil e some of the other placed ca rs which might be almost as fast would complete the journey on a re:.aon able consumption. If the quantity of fuel used is not recorded the race will lose much of its educational value. There is no doubt that if a good entry is secured this race will be one of the mo t interesting which has ever been held under R.A .C. auspices. \Ve think it should be, and hope it will be regarded in th e light of an experiment, a s was th e first fu el limit race. That is to say, after it has been run it will no doubt be found that certain modifications in the regulations are necessary, and these no doubt wil 1 be made for subsequent events of th e same character. In any case, the race will have the same effect as th a t which has been achieved by the fuel limit races. l t ivill tend to improve the moderate powered type of car, and when we see the numerous improvements which have been brought about in moderate powered ca rs almost entireh· through th e three T.T . ra,e s whi c·h ha , ·e so