SATURDAY, DECEMEER 4TH, I Q09,
THE AUTOCAR R 3ournal publisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall\? propelleb roab carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
To. 737. VoL. XXIII.] SATURDAY, D ECEMBER 4TH, 1909.
[PRICE 3D.
The Autocar ..
(Published Weekly.)
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CONTENTS. NOTES USEFUL f-lJ NTS AND TIPS ( ILLUSTRATED) " The Autocar League " .. MAIL AND PASSENGER SERVICE JN SOUTH AFRICA (lLJ.CSTRATED) THE NEW LA 13UIRE CARS SMALL CAR TALK • • F ;\CTS CO.NCERNlNG GEAR WHEEL TEETH (l LLUSTRATED) . . ON THE R OAD [ ~l5TIT UTJON OF AUTOMOBILE ENGINEERS • • AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION PUMP THE SANKEY ALL-STEEL WHEEL {ILLUSTRATED) .. ON TH E TRACK GRUYBLES (ILLUSTRATED) MOTOR UNION NOTES . .
PAGR,
gn-912
9 13 9'4"915 9 16-918
919 920 921-924 925-926
926 927 928 9 2 9 930 931
THE A MANS PNEUMO-SUSPENSION {ILLUSTRATED) • •
. . 932-933
CHRl~TMAS PRESENTS- TOURIST5' MOTOR CAR IN' ITALY-A
TRAVELLER·s CAR-AN ELECTRIC GARAGE H EATER-N EW
SPEED L1M11-s-A Cm,1e1NATION TYRE LEVER (lLLUSTRATED) CORRESPONDE.NCE • • · · 939-944 A NOVEL D OUBLE-ACTING PETROL ESGINE ( fLI.USTRATf•;D) A COMPRESSION INDICATOR (ILLUSTRATED) • • FLASHES • •
934
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Notes. A Three Inch Race. Before the four inch race was he! 1 last year there was considerable discussion in the motor world as to the adl'isability of bolding a race for still smaller cars, and there was a very general opinion in favour of a three inch r:ace. However, the outcry against the four inch ra e by more or less ignorant people, who alleged it was o dangerous that it was almost criminal to run it, was o strong that the Club decided that 1909 should pass without any race being held. We do not propose at the moment to discuss the \\'isdom of the decision, though there is much to be said in farnur of it. It is more interesting to refer to the po ibilities of a car rac in the I sle of Man. next year. The Manx people want it ; not rr:erely, as some hal'e suggested,
the hotel and lodging house keepers of Douglas and Ramsey, but the farmers themseh·es \\'Ould like a race prO\·ided it be held in }fay. September is inconvenient for them on account of the harl'e ting operations, but unfortunately there are great ob tacles in the way of holding the race so early in the year, because makers generally will find it difficult, if not impossible, to participate. Many makers \\'ill be badly behind in their deliveries of cars next 1Iay, and they will, quite rightly, feel that no effort on their part or that of the staff should be directed to any other \\'Ork than that of filling their orders to time. Of course, some of them could participate in the race without any train upon their resource , as they have sufficient staff to build two or three racing cars, tune them, and drive them without any appreciable effect upon the regular output f their factories. At the same time, the firms which can lo this are very few. Quite apart from this objection there is littl e doubt that the majority of manufacturers are opposed to a race of any sort, as they see in it a great deal of expen e and very little profit for any except the winner.
Standard Cars Only. Hitherto the Isle of r-.Ian ev nts hal'e been, to all intents and purposes, :nakers' races, although a number of amateurs have driven in them, and the evidence available at the moment leads us to suppose that the makers will not welcome any propo. ition to run a "three inch,'' or any other, race in the Isle of 1an. next year. \Ve do not say that all makers will be opposed to it, as we know some are in favour d it, but we think the majority will be aver e. It therefore remains to be seen whether the Club will deem it advi able to organise a race in. \\'hich private owner~ can participate, and which should be restricted entirely to standard pattern 19co chass is . Hitherto the Club has not catered very much for amateur competitions, though the bulk of its member are amateurs, and it must be admitted that it has recei,·eci no ,·ery great encouragement to do so by amateur owners, despite the fact that so many of them have expressed their ,Ji appointment that the Club should not cater specially for them. ~e,·erthele s, it seems to us that a simply organised event restricted to amateur owners more or Jes as some of the Brooklands eYents are restricted, is worthy of careful consideration. The great thing is so to organise the event that no great expenditure on the part of the participant is necessary, and the conditions should be as simple as possible. This is much easier to suggest than to carry out, but ll'e do not think it beyond the combined intellects and energies of the Technical and Competition Committees of the R.A.C., though \\'e ll'Ould ,·enture to suggest to these good gentlemen that. if they attempt to draft re~ulation. for such an e,·ent. theY should make them as simple and as straightforward as possible; but ll'hat rul es the,· do make should be ca rried out to the letter. particui'arly with re~ard to the employment of :i h ol utell' . tandard chassis, ll'hich hould apply not onll' to the engine dimension but also to the number of speeds and gear ratios.
