f'l1E AUTOCAR :a Journal publisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall~ propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

VoL. XX.

SATURDAY, J ANDARY 25TH, 1908. [PRICE 3D.

The Autocar.

/Published Weekly.)

Registered as a newspaper for trans:rll'::sion in the United Kingdom.

Entere-d a!) second-clJ.ss matter in the Ne-.-v York lN. l. ) Post Office.

Editoric;/ Office :

COVENTRJ:'.

Publishing Offices :

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

CONTENTS. N OTES

PAGE • , 109- 1 l()

S!ffUL H INTS A:'•iD TIPS .. THE CAPC CART Hooo (ILLt;STRATJ:o) T HE R OYAL A .C . .\XD ITS A SSOCI ATES • • THE ).icw 10- 12 H .P. CovEXTR\' H t.:~IBER (lL LCSTR .\ TF.D) .. 0:-. THE G~A '.'l"D TruNK R OA D {CoscL1.:0Eo) • . T1-1 E 190S S I X - CYLINDER M ERCEDES ENGI:-.E. ( 11.LUSTIL\Tl!D) (OSTl!'.ENTAL NOTES A1'D .\'E WS CoMF0 1n ON THE CAR SoUTIIERN 1:--D I A T RIAl.5 ([ u USTRATFD) TnE P n tNCE H EN H Y RELI ABrLITY T RI AL THE 2,00J i\IJ LE TOURING CAR T 1~J.HS A N I NTERESTI NG T RIAL R UK . . A USTRALIAN i\lOTflRI~G E VENTS THE 190S V ULCA'.'< S PEF.D I NDICATOR (ILLUSTHATt:D) COLONEL BoswoRTH- THE MANCII ESTE1;: S 11 1 ... \\. ENGINE B1<AKING ( ILLUSTRATED) H1 c 1-1 CoM: >KESSIONS VlRRESPONDl::NCE . . THE A.C.A . CAR T ESTING MACHIN'E (ILLUSTHATJ::D)

\VATt- R I N' THE EXHAUST FLASHES .. \ \'ET J!'J \.YIRE \VH EELS. • • SO~IE QUERIES ,".N'D REPLIES C LUB Doi:,.Gs

F ROXT ORl \'IN'G . •

11 l l I 2 I IJ

• • I 14·116 . . u ;-:20

I 21 . . 122-r23

123 124 12 4 1z5 125 . . 126- 127

I 2] 127 • . 12~- 129

130 . . 131 • q5 . . 136-13~

138 . . 139-140

q 1 r..p q 3

I 14

IVith e,:ery copy Of this u.,•eek's is ,uc of '4 The A utocar" -is -i11c/uded n coloured supplement of Col. Bosworth, by Seymour L1tcas, R.A. Should lh!s supplement he missing f,om a11y copies, s ii!Jscr ibers are requested lo com1mrnicate u•ith lh~ publishers, llifje & S011s Ltd., :w, Tudor Street, £ .C.

Subscription Rates :

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j Notes. The Appearance Numbers Last 1reek we announced our appearance numbers­ two issut's of Th e A ,utocar in 11"hi ch 11·ill be gi1·en side and front ,·ie,l"S of all ca rs 0 11 the British market . together ,ritb the leading dimensions, pa rti culars, and price of each. This announcc"mtnt has exc;ted a great deal of interest. \\"e ha,·e recei,·ed a number ol con- gratulations upon the proposa I, and 11·e take thi s oppor­ tunity of th anking the ,rriters for their appreciatiYe remarks. Jn compiling these appearance numbers 11·e have come across one or t11·0 ra ther inte rest ing facts. \\"e may take one instance as typica l. There 1ra. a firm which furni shed us 11·ith details of no less than sen?n models for "The Autocars of 1908,'' pub­ lislwd t1ro or th ree days before the opening of the Olympia Sh01r. In other 11·ord . this firm sunpliec1 u, 11·ith parti culars of se1·en sep1rate :incl distinct

))O-.l" ers of cars 1rhich it ,m s making fo r 1908. up to th~ pres~nt time we ha,·e only been a ble to obtain photographs of one model ; the other s ix do not appear to h:i ,·e a ny existence except on paper. This is an e, treme case, but there a re quite a number of instances i11 1rhi{·h firm s making or selling se,·eral models only appe,1r to ha,·e two or thr<'e 11·hi h can be photogr.1ph ecl. l n the cases of agents for foreign cars th is is not difti cul t to understand , as it is fair to assume tha t in certain instances the Engli. h agent might not ha,·e a specimen of one of the fo reign models for ,rbicb there 1ras not any great demand ; but it seems extraorclin.1ry that a similar state of things should be existing in se1·er1l instances 11·ith home makers. It is only 1,-i· to ~a l" th:i t this peculi a r st:i te of affairs has not bJ~n re,·ealed in regard to lead ing manufacture rs.

Time to Decide. From the correspondence we recei 1·e it is e,·ir..l ent that the number of motorists 11·ho ,·isited Olympia ,rith the int t! nt to o rder ne1r cars ,ms at least as large as it eYer ha-~ heen, if indeed it was not larger. On the. other hand. there is no question that the proportion ot ,·is irors to the shmr ,rho did not order at t h-~ Lime and 1rho ha,·e not yet ordered their ne11· ca rs is larger ·th an usu:tl. :\fony c:iuses might lie cited as accounting for this. but in the main this hesitation has been due to the ,·ery e,·en merit of quite a number of cars in each c lass. The nm·ice is naturalh· be,rildered by the 1\·ealth of detail as to the adrnntages of the different l·:us ,rhich rome ,rithin hi. price limit that are poured into his ears. But it is not onll" the novice ,rho is hanging liack . There :ire man)· old and ,easoned motorists 11"ho fulh- intend to ha1·e a ne \\" ca r this year, but ,rho a re st il l ·i11 the throes of indecision. They h;w e narro1recl their li st of possible ca r do1rn to three or four, a nrl the more they go into the comparative merit, of the units of this trio or quartette the more undecided they become as to their fin a l choice.

T his ro111·ic,tion hiis been forced upon us by the lett: > rs 11·e ha1·e recei,·ed from numbers of correspondents 11·h c: > ha 1·e sti II to make their final selection. \Ve really do not ,rnnder at this hesitation ; the task is a most diffi c-ult one indeed, and it is pe rhaps a ll the more dil-li cult fo r the man ,rho knml"s 11·hat he ,rnnts than it is fo;· ~he utte r novice. Hom•n' r, ire think the hec; it.1tion period is being unrlul,· p rolonged , ancl :1 good man1· of those 11"ho are 11·aitin!..( t') rlra11· still fin er comparisons and to ba lance merits e1·~n more ca refll l h· than the1· ha,·e clone ,rnul cl do 11·ell to make up tht i r mind. :;t once, ,rnd fol lo ll" their 01rn personal preference. \rhen one ha. once na1-rm1·ed dmrn t~e possible cars to t11·0 or three, anrl then find . their mez-its to all intents and purposes equal. ,re think it is b::-st to take the car ,rhich most appeals to one's ideas of ll"hat a good car should be. Almost e,·ery man 11·ill find 11·hen he has rea c-hed this stage that for some une,plaint:cl rc >ason he has a sort of special affecti on fo r one or other of the possible ears that appeal to his jurlgme nt. Let him go for this car.