f E BR UAR Y 6TH , I 9C9 .

THE AUTOCAR 'El 3ournal publtobeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcalll? propeHeb roab carriage,

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

1 -'fNo . 694. VoL. XXII.] SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 6nr, 1909.

[ PRICE 3D .

The Autocar.

(P ublis hed W eekly.)

Registere d as a newspaper fo r t ra n sm '.ss;on in t h ~ Un ite d K ingdo m . Entered as seco n d-class m atter in the Ne-.d Yo rk (N.Y.) Post Office .

Three Edit ions every Friday .

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CONTENTS.

NOTES

UsEFl" L I l 1NTS AXD T1Ps ( l LLU'TRATED) . . T H E · r6 - 10 11.P. l TALA (ILLU'iTRATED)

PAGE l 79 -1 80

r<lr . . 182 - 1S3

A PP LI CATIO:'\S FOR SPEED L Dt lTS-:\ HA~D\" SPARKI ~G PLCG

CARR!ER (IL L USTRATED) ..

ON T H E ROAD. B Y O W EN J OH:'\ A N ALL -BR ITIS H P ET ROL ( hLt:'TRATED) AN.-\ L\"SIS OF M OTOR ACCIDENTS

T H E :vf ERCEDES PATENTS ( l L L L"STR ATED) A Ni::w PETROL M OTOR l.; ~ION NOTES

TH E SANK I::\" \ -\1HEEL (lLLUSTR.\TED)

184 185 185-187

187 . . 188- 19 2

TH E DOAL O1L CABI NET (I LLUSTRATED)- IlROOKL.-\NDS A.R.C.

-R1::.v 1vA L OF T H E Ntct MEET:NG S:-. I AL L CAR TA L K .. CORRESPONDE!\"CE . .

TH E L ARRAD \

0

ALVE A~D I GXITIO::-l TDIER (1LLUSTRA1'ED)

19 ; r96 2o r-205 206 -207

RI G H T ON THE ROAD C LUB D OINGS FLA SHES ([LLL"STRATF.JJ )

207 20e 209 - 2 10

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I Notes. Date of Manufacture.

It is becoming ha rder and ha rd e r fo r even th e most expert motor enginee r to state de finite ly th e date of manufactu re of se ond-ha nd cars . O f course, many so-call ed second-hand car. maY be t hird o r fo urth hand , but th at is be ide t he q uestio n. There arc several well -kno wn makes ll'hi ch have not been materi a lly altered fo r three o r four yea rs , or , a t a ny rate, certain models ha \·e been p ractica lly un a ltered, and th e d iffe rences between , sa y, the 1905 a nd 1906 t ypes may be infinites im a l and sometimes a lmost impossib le to remember, so th a t unl ess a man has kep t a most care ful record of th e minutes t deta il s of the cars o f each yea r he i. quite a t a loss to . t ate definite ly o n bein g sh01rn a n old ca r 11·hether it be really of the date cla imed by t he ow ne r. The matter has been furt her complicated by the fac t tha t numbe rs of ca r, . ha1·e been de li vered, p art ic ul arly of a ll'e ll -kn o w11 French make, many months afte r being ordered, so that it is quite poss ibl e fo r th e owne r h im self to be unde r a misapp rehensio n. For insta nce, a ca r ma: not h,l\'e been de li\'ered till nearly the midd le o f 1906 . but the order may ha ve been g iven in 1905, an d i t is quite likely th a t t he actua l date of manufacture oi' t he large r po1tio n of his ca r ll'ill be 1905.

In the course of t ime t hese d ifficulties will lJ , · g rea tl y accentuated . As ca rs become more a nd more pe rfec t th e · imp rovements made each year must necessa rily become less nume i'o us, so t hat th e point ,;. 1" h ich cli st inguish th e ca r of o ne yea r from that of a nothe r will become mo re and mo re d iffi cult to fi nd. Th e o nl y remedy is to do wh a t o ne o r tw o makers a re a lreacly do ing , name ly, to stamp the four vit al p art s. o f a car with t he date o f manufacture and , in c icl enta lly, the ho rse-powe r, so t hat there may be no j ugg ling \Yit h the va ri o u. pa rts . If the fr ame, t he eng in e·, the gear box, a nd the back a xl e we re . tamped with th e year o f manufacture and th e power of the ca r it \Yould be a g rea t conxenience, and \\'Oul d pre \·ent a n immense amount of deceptio n. In fac t , th e pract ice woul d b.: 11-elco med by a ll purc hase rs of ea r s, and we fee l sur eth at most o f the makers would be i n favour o f it. Some 1ro ul d o bj ect because it might re l'ea l th e actu al date of o ri g in rath e r more c lea rl y th an they wo ul cl like, but it is suc h a comrn on sense proposition that 11·e 1ro nde r it has not long s in ce been accep ted by the Society o f Motor Manufacturers.

Of cour se, t he Society cannot fo rce its members to ela te their ca rs, but it coul d iss ue a st rong recommendation o n the subject . Such a course \rnul d no doubt lead to the practice be in g a dop ted by th e best people, a nd befor e long it would become general. Again, a ft er a comparati ve ly sho rt time peopl e wo ul d refuse to buy either ne1r o r second- hand ca rs unless they had t hese identifica ti on marks upon them. T he only way to fi nd out the date o f a car now, e xcept in th e case o f the very fe 11- ca rs 11·hi ch a re marked by t he makers, is to t a ke the engine number and the chassis numbe r , when they can be found, and enquire of th e makers 11· hen thi s p a1t ic ul ar engine a n<l thi s particular chassis 11·ere manufactured . T he wo rst of it is there a re p lenty o f ca rs 1rhic h ha \·e no numbers at a ll except o n th e engine, and e1·en th e eng ine is not always numbe red . As ·t hings sta nd t he honest vend or of a ca r is ha nd icapped because his 11·ord is suspec ted, and th e d isho nest sell e r is a ssisted b\· the absence of a ll\· systema ti c pl an of numbe ri ng a t; cl marking .

The Definition of a Good Car. T he re is no subject on which wider cl iffe rences of op inio n exist t h an o n th e defi nition of a good ca r. Almost a ll motori sts a re ag reed upon a \·erb a l defini t io n~ tb at first a nd fo remost the car should be: reliabl e and economica l in runni ng a nd maintenance; th a t it shou ld be of suffi cient po 1rer fo r its 11·eight ; smooth