jAN'U•KY 4rH, 1908,

THE AUTOCAR B Journal publtsbet) in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall\? propellet, roat) carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALT ER STANER.

No. 637. VoL. XX.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 4TH, r908. [PRICE JD .

The Autocar.

(Published Weekly.)

Registered as a newspaper for trans:nission in the United Kingdom.

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

Editorial Office :

COVENTRY.

Publishing Offices :

20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E .C., England.

~NOTES • •

CONTENTS.

USE! OL HINTS ANO TIPS .• ROYAL A.G. AND M.U.: A DIRECT COMPARISON A LEAGUE THAT IS A FAILURE , • To TH& ALPS AND BACK (CoNCLUDED) , , RACING AT BROOKLANOS , •

3 4 s 6-7

7

THE HEATING OF MOTOR HOUSES (ILLUSTRATliD)-ScoTTISH

MOTOR EXHIBITION THE WORLD'S RECORD, 777 MILES I'1 A DAY,. 1907-A RETROSPECT (ILLUSTRATED) , , TH& BRIGHTON RoAD: PROPOSED ALTERATION

8 9 • • 10-18

19

APPEALS TO QUARTER SESSIONS-THE L IGHTS ON VEHICLES ACT . , 20 THE R.A.C, SCHJ<ME FOR ASSOCIATION • • , • 21-22 A TowN oR CouNTRY CAR BoDY (ILLUSTRATED) 22 AEROPLANE DEVELOPMENTS 22 CoRR.E-SPONDENCE • • , , 23•27 CoNTINENTAL NOTES AND NEWS , , , , 28-30 THE 1908 ORMOND-DAYT0NA M&RT 30 FLASHl<S , • 31- 32 BERLIN : SOME IMPRESSIONS , • 33-34 CLUB DOINGS. . 34 THE PRINCE HENRY OF PRUSSIA COMPETITION , , 35-36 HORSE•POWER AND \1/IND REsISTANCE • , 36

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British Isles, 16s. Abroad (thin paper edition) 22s. 8d. per annum.

Th~( ., A. C.~~~:i,:r Union. As we said at the beginning of negotiations which have led to the separation of the Royal Auto­ mobile Club an,d the Motor Union, competition be­ tween the two bodies must necessarily take place when they were cut asunder. The truth of this has already been exemplified by the official outlining of the Motor Union policy which we published last week and the new Royal A.C. scheme for associate membership which is published to-<lay. We have carefully com­ pared the two documents, so that the advantages offered by both: of the organisations may be set forth side by side, and on page 4 will be seen a direct comparison of the tangible advantages offered to the motor world by the two organisations. To all intents and purposes it will be seen that the Royal Automobile Club o•ffe rs practically everything which the Union offers, and it may be said with equal t ruth that the Union offers everything which the Club promises. In both cases a certain number of paper promises are made. The Club legal department has not yet been organised, and the Union technical and touring departments, we suppose, exist mainly in name, so that in these matters the two bodies are approximately equal.

·At the present moment the Union has a vastly larger following of affiliated clubs than the R.A.C., and the question is whether the provincial clubs at large will follow the example of the Nottingham Club by leaving the Union and associating themselves with the Royal Automobile Club. If any number of them do this there will be no question as to which will be the greater organisation. The Automobile Club, with its prestige and the large income provided by its full members, can undoubtedly, if it aspires to a national programme, attain its ambition, as its financial resources render it much stronger than the Union, and its influence in Parliament should be very much greater if full advantage is taken of it. The R.A.C. scheme is a bold conception, and if handled wisely will establish the Club on a much wider national basis. Its members come from all over the country, it is true, but the new scheme is intended to bring in at least half a dozen associate members for every full member it already possesses. The sum of the matter is that, without bias, but merely looking facts in the face, the Royal A.C. is the organisation with the greater potentiality. The ideal, though we fear impossible, settlement of the matter would be for the Club and the Union to reamalgamate on entirely new lines, the present = members of the Union becoming associate members of the Royal A.C. under its new scheme. By these means we should have a truly representative national body without the period of rivalry and duplication of effort, which can only end in the survival of the sjonger and more useful organisation.

Brooklands 1908 Programme. Qn page 7 we give the outline of the Brooklands programme for the current year. It will be seen that ther~ are three two-day meetings on the occasion of the Bank Holidays and four Saturday meetings. This is undm.1btedly a wise arrangement, and better than the very large number of meetings which were included in la~t year's programme, though not all of them were held. We particularly wish to congratulate the committee upon the arrangement they have made to prevent a. monotonous series of victories by one car in any one class. For instance, supposing in the 26 h. p. class a car \'{ins the short distance race, it will not be allowed to start in the next two short distance races, though it will be allowed to go for the long distance 26 h .p. race at the next meeting. After having stood down for two races the victorious car will have the option of competing again, or if the right be waived it will be eligible to compete in its standard class championship held at the last meeting of the year.