AUGU ST 8TH, 1908
THE AUTOCAR B Journal publisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall\? propelleb roab carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 668. VoL. XXI.J SATURDAY, AUGUST 8TH, 1908.
[P RICE 3D.
The Autocar.
· Published Weekly.)
Register~d 4.S a newspaper for transmission in th~ United Kingdom.
Entered as second-clas~ matter in the New York (N.Y.) Post Office.
Editorial Offic , :
COVENTRY.
Publishing Offices :
20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E .C., England.
CONTENTS. NOTES
MOTOR CAR LECTURES • •
RACING AT BROOK.LANDS (ILLUSTRATED)
ON THE TRACK .•
DRIVING A 35 H.P . TALBOT
THE RIVINGTON PIKE HILL CLL\1B {ILLUSTRATED) . •
THE I2·I5 H.P. HILLMAN-CQ_-".TALFN • •
PAGE . . 205-~?06
207
. • 208- 212
. . 213-214
215 . . 216-217
• • 2 rS-220
PNRUllATIC TYRE IMPROVEMENTS (ILLUSTRATED} • •
AN Oto RolIAN ROAD • •
USEFUL HtNTS AND TIPS
ON THE ROAD
THE NEW STEPNEY \VHEEL
THE MOTOR YACHT CLUB EFFICtENCY TRIAL
221
222
223
. • 224-225
225
. • 226-227
SMALL CAR TALK-IN THE HousE OF Cm,IMONS • •
228
CORRESPONDENCE • •
. . 229-232
Two SUMMONSES FOR ONE OFFENCE-THE FouR-INCH RACE • .
233
HORSE ASD TRAM AcctDENTS-THF HENRY EDMUNDS HtLL-CLDIB
233
MOTOR CARS AND PARLIAMENT
FLASHES
A SPORTING BoDY-THE PASSING OF THE HoRSE . •
THE NEVER• OUT GENERATOR {ILLUSTRATED)
. . 03+•236
• • 236-238
239
CLUB DOINGS
REVIEWS . .
Subscription Ratea :
ll ritisb Isles 16s. Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s. 8d. per annum.
N/!tes. An Example from Norfolk. The Norfolk County Council notify that there have been many complaints of inconsiderate driving of motor cars along the coast roads and in the coast villages and towns. Consequently, the Chief Constable has • been requested to give instructions to the police to stop any cars which, in the opinion of a const,1ble, may be driven at a dangerou. rate or in a dangerous manner. The policeman is to stop the car by holding up his hand, inspect the dri,·er's license, and b: >ak particulars concerning it. He is to inform the dri,·er that in his opinion he was driving too fast under the particular circumstances. He is also to caution the driver, and say that the case will be recorded, and if he is subsequently found driving at a dangerous speed he will be proceeded against, and the fact of his having been cautioned brought to the notice of the magistrates. In cases 1rhere the car is not driven by the mrner, the policeman is to politely request the mrner, if present, to in. truct his driver to show greater consideration for the com·enience of other road users in future. The Chief Constable of Norfolk states in regard to this notice that if thes_e essentially r~asonable methods do not bnng al:out an improvement, 1t w;ll be nece. sary to apply for a speed limit of ten miles a_n hour along many of the coast routes, and whether this is done or not ,rill depend entirely upon the conduct of motori ts themseh·es. It is fairly evident from the w8rding of the circular that most of the culprits are ,·isitors. :-Jorfolk motorists themselves realise that, 11-hil e the,· ha,·e ome magnificent open roads, such as eh"' first ·ha! f of the road from :-Jorwich to Ipswich and the glorious highway from :-Jorwich to ~ ewmarket, there are many other roads, and particularly tho. e connecting the -popular resorts on the coast, 1rhich are quite unsuited for fast dri,·ing. This should be perfecth· ob,·io us to the casual vi itor, as many of the roads are little better than lanes, and, of course, there is the hea,·y traffic o,·er them in the neighbourhood of the sea. ide t01n1s, o that the combination of fast driving and dust is apt to cause the maximum of inr- : nvenience to a large number of people. There may be case in ,rhich the police ,rill stop motorists needlessh· 11011· that the notice has been issued, and if this hap1;en, 1Ye should ad,·ise a ny motorist so stopped to 1nite a courteous letter to the Chief Constable detailing th e circumstances, and expbtining clearly why the police constable ,ras held to have made an error in juclgment, or to ha,·e shmrn an excess of zeal. Of course, we should onh· recommend this in a case 11·here the motorist is hone· th· com·inced that he was not dri,·ing too fast. From the comnmnsense and courteous manner in ,,-hich the matter has been approached, we feel com·inced that the Chief Constable will give attention to any reasonable explanation which is sent him. \Ye only wish ,re could say as much for the Surrey authorities, and tho. e of one or two other anti-motoring counties, ,rho appear to regard a ll motorists as 1realthy criminals ,rho should be exploited as far as possible to enrich the jounty exchequer.
The Advantage of Four Speeds. From time to time we have dwelt u])on the advantages of four speeds instead of three. -"\Ve do not say that all cars should have four soeeds, but we unhesitatingly assert that the vast majori'ty are much pleasanter to drive and to use with four soeeds than ,rith tlnee. When engines of huge power and remarkable flexibility are used, three speeds mav suffice. There seems to be a general misunderstanding e,·en among those who ,,·ould be exoected to knm,· better, as the ach-ocate of three soeeds nearlY akays take the line that with three speeds one can ·go as fast as any reasonable person would wish, and that if the engine is big enough practically all ordinary hills can be climbed upon the top speed. They seem to think that the ad,·ocates of four SDeerls must ,,·ant four soeeds because of a sinful lust for high speecl . Tt does -not occur to them that if
