NOV&MBER 28TH, 1908.
THE AUTOCAR B Journal pnblisbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicalll? propelleb roab carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 684. VoL. XXI.J SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 28TH, 1908. [PRICE 3D.
The Autocar.
(Published Weekly.)
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CONTENTS. No1Es Uc; E F UL HtSTS AND TIPS (ILL UST RATED) How TO SET H EADLtGH rs-PROSECUTION B Y THE I R JSH A.C. NEW SMALL C ARS AT THE S HOW (TLLUS1RATED) SOME S HOW NOTES (ILLUSTRATED) . • CosTtNSNTAL NOTES AND NEWS ( lLLUSTRATED) • • THE STANLEY SHOW (I LLUSTRATED) • • M OTOR UN ION N OTES • • THK G LISSOIRE S HOC K ABSORBER ( I LLUSTRATED) • • O N THE TP .\ CK-ABERDEEN TO L ONDON NON-STOP R UN • • O N THE R O A D . Bv O w EN J OHN
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A P RFMIUM ON P P'TROL E X TRAVAGANCE- THE BOSCH T ERMINAL
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/ Notes. The Motor Show. There is no question whatever that the annual exhibition of 19081 which closed its doors last Saturday, is the best motor show which has been held up to date. \Ve a re not referring to mere numbers of cars exhibited, but to the higher standard of quality, and we have no hesitation in saying that on all-round merit the ca rs were we ll in advance of those shown in any prel'ious exhibition, both the design and workmanship being di stinctl y ahead of th e design and workmanship of a yea r ago. While it is true th a t advances have al so been made in the quality and suitability of the mate ri al used , it is equa ll y true that these are virtues whirh ca nnot be jurlged to any great extent in an exhibition, and the criti cisms must as a whole be directed to design and workmanship . · The improve-
ments referred not only to the chassis, but also to the carriage bodies, so that the car as a whole has distinctl y advanced since last year. Nevertheless, the re were many bodies in the show which were not all they should be. Some of them, in fact , could only be moderately comfortab\e for persons of six feet or over; but the vital points which go towards comfort in a body were much more widely observed this year than last.
To tum again to the mechanism of the car. While, as we have said, it unquestionably shows all-round advance, there a re still many inst ances of what we can only characterise as poor design. Many parts of the car which should be easily accessible, and which were ea sil y accessible on the best designs, were hopelessly difficult to get at on others. In fact, in some cases it almost seemed as t hough ingenuity had been expended in devising met hods whereby the carburetter, magneto, va lve s, and other parts requiring occasional attention or adjustment could be made difficult o f access. In some of the worst instances practically every part was hard to get at. In others one or two of the items we have named were inaccessible, though the merest change in design would have made them quite satisfactory.
To the really keen student of design the difference between the methods was obvious . In the best designs at was evident th at the whole car and all its details had been carefully designed in the drawing office, and every part of it gone over again and again till the designer was satis fied that no furth er improvement could be made at the moment. On th e other hand, it was equally obvious that other ca rs had been designed piecemeal, so th at, while the units might be very good in themselves, they became unsatisfa.'.ctory when embodied as parts of the complete ca r. ' · T He'n , again , the improvements in the vital matters of brake and steering gears were not so numerous as th ey should have been. There were fewer downright bad steering gears than in pre vious shows, but still many were shown which were very far from what they might have been had they been properly designed . Much the same remarks might be applied to brakes. Many of the brakes were too small. It is not a question of power, but of wear, which makes the small brake so unsatisfa ctory. It may be just as powerful as the brake of double the area, but the wear is more than twice as rapid, so that the brakes are constantly requiring adjustment,· whereas with a brake which is well up to its work very long distances can be accomplished before any adj ustment is noces ary. However, despite these and other drawbacks, the average of good design and good workmanship was higher than it has ever been, and the percentage of in d ifferent cars was lower than in arp previous exhibition.
Motori Racing. It was the unwelcome duty of The .Autocar to record the unfortunate state ment with regard to the Four Inch Race made by Mr. Joynson Hicks, M.P .. chairman of the Motor Union, at the meeting held by that organisation at Oxford last September. Not content with
