FEBRUARY 15TH 1908.

THE AUTOCAR R Journal publtsbet > in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall~ propelleb roab carriage.

EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.

VoL. XX. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 15TH, 1908.

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The Autocar.

(Published Weekly.)

Registered as a newspaper {or transmission in the- United Kingdom.

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

Editorial Office :

COVENTRY.

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

TS.

PAGF

).lQTES USEFUL Ht:-.Ts AND T1Ps . . TH E 24- 30 H .P. LA BuIRE CAR (ILLUSTRATED) THE 2 1000 MILES R ELIABILITY T RIAL .. THE ScoTT1c;;1-1 R ELIABt11Tv TRIALS

0PE!'J HILL-CLIMBS. B,· A C LUB SECRETARY . . i\l QTOR T RANSPORT FOR THE COLONIES (ILLUST,~ATED ) 0:-. THE R CJAD. Bv OwE:-. J OHS J\I QTORIN G IN A BYSSINIA (ILLUSTRATION) THE I2- J4 H.P. FOUR- CYl.Il'."DER DE DION C AR ( ILLUSTRATED) THE UN1vERSITI F.s A:-.o :\[oToR ENGINEER I :-l'G OttVSTR .\TED) L GGAGE Co\RRYING 15.000 MILES FOR{,--? FROM THE RIVI ERA H or.IF:

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CONTl:-.'ENTAL ~ OTE<:; AND ~ EW S

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80:i.1eAY To CALCUTTA RECORD Ru:-.r- IMPOR TS A:-.o Exr oRTS . .

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GAPE CART Hooos ( ILLUSTR ATED)

I N THE H ousE oF Co M:-.10Ns-To THF. H.P.L

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CORRESPONDENCE .. A :-J'EW PUNCTURE PREVE:-.'TING D EVI CE A HIGHWAY BY THE SEA- F ORTHCOMING RACES r~ ..\)I ERICA FLASHES C1.us DOINGS So:i.tE Q U ERIES AND R ErLIES. THE )fANCHESTER i\loTC'R SHOW

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Notes. How Cars are Treated. ' From time to time we have refe rred to the shockingly careless way in \1·hi ch unintelligent 0\\·ners treat , or rathe r maltreat, their cars. A case in point has been brought before us by a \1·ell-known manufacturer. The owner of one of his cars brought the car back and complained that for three days it had ·been running nearly twenty miles an hour slower than usual. On the floor boards being taken up the fir st thing that \\'as noticed was that the gear box was so hot that it burned the finge rs . Further investigation disclosed the fact tha t the foot brake had been "adjusted " three days pre\·iously, and that it had been sc rewed up to such a n extent th at it was rubbing a ll the time . As a result it had pra r tica lly melted the fri ctional segments of the brake bl ocks. We ha\·e had two specimens of the fri ctional surfaces sent us, and they a re burnt in a n extraordinary manne r.

:'\ow the damage done by thi s gross carelessne s does not end with the brake blocks. In a ll probability the heat generated by the constant rubbing of the brake has tempered the bearin gs o f' the gea r box, and possibly e\·en the gea rs themseh ·es. lt seems astonishing that neithe r the 01\·ne r nor his < iri\ ·er should have had the commonsense to connect the tightening of the brake with the sudden loss in s!) eed , but e \·en if they fa il ed to do this it \\·ould he imagined that hey would ha \·e fe lt the rub bing of the brake or smelt the burning of the grease.

This brings up a point in connection with secondhand ca rs \Yhich is not without interest . The examiners of second-h and cars under 1'he Aittorar examination system find that, almost without exception, the ca rs \\·hic h are in the best condition are those which a re 01n 1ed br keen amateurs \\'ho look ::i. fte r and drive their cars themseh·es. The next best a re those owned lw motorists who are thoroughly p rac tica l \\'ho may not ha\'e th e time or inclination to look after their ca rs thems h·es, but who knO\\' enough to engage good a nd ca reful rnechani c-rlri, ·ers 11"ho take a pride in keep ing their employers· cars in the pink of condition, and \\'ho a re enrou raged to do so.

Another inte resting point \\'hich our examiners report i th a t , speaking broadly, the ca rs owned by peop le \1·ho a re only ab le to use them for e leven months out of the yea r at the \1·eek en ls a re in much bette r conditi on th.an those 1d1ich are used dailv. This is , of course, \Yh a t might be expected, as· it means that persons \Yhose 01 portuniti s for motoring a re limited and confined a lmost exclusi\·elv to the \\·eek ends are unab le to pil e up anything like the same mil eage as those 11"bo use their cars daily for shopping and town \\'Ork genera lly , in addition to country driving and tou ring . It mea ns roughh· that the average owner 11·hose business or profess ion confines hi s motoring to the end of th e \\'eek only averages bet1l'een four and li\ ·e thousand mil es a yea r, while the ca r in daily use may co ,·e r anything be t11·ern ten and twenty thousand miles in th e same time .

Although, as 11·e ha,·e said, the po int is a fairly ob\'ious one, \\·e do not remember to have seen it brought up before. After a ll it works \·ery fairly, as it means th at the man 1\·ho uses his car comparatiYely little-of course on the assumption that he looks after it properly -obta ins a better price for it \l'hen he sell s it to make room for a ne11· one . and as he has harl so much less \1·ork out of it than he 1rnuld had he enjoyed more le~·s e, it is only right th at he shou ld obtain a better pri ,e for it.

yre Sizes. Tot so ve ry long aO'o no one thought of using odd makes of tyres on the back wheels of a car, but ncmadays it is quite a common practice . As a rule, it is done with the idea of making comparati\·e tests , so that the motorist may know which is the more clur:i hle make. It is also often comnul sory if a tour is under-