llatc&MBRR 12TH 190S,
THE AUTOCAR B 3ournal publtsbeb in tbe interests of tbe mecbnntcall\? propelleb roab carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 686. VoL. XXI.] SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12TH, 1908. [PRICE 3D.
The Autocar.
(Published Weekly. )
Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom. Entered as second-class matter in the New York (N.Y. ) Post Office.
Three Editions every Friday.
The THREEPENNY EDITION, printed on Art papet. The PENNY EDITION, printed upon thinner paper. The FOREIGN EDITION, price 3d. , printed on specially hght ba~k paper !or drculation abroad.
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CONTENTS. Noll'ES
US:1:PUL HtNTS A:-;'D T1rs (ILLUSTRATED)
Mi::. ETING THE ENEMY
SOME htPERIA PARTS (ILLUSTRATED)
NoK-PREEZlNG S01.uTTONS
MOTOR UNlO~ N OTE.$
THE PARIS SHOW ( ILLUSTRATI IJ)
THE 1909 EtSEMAN:-: )lAGNEfO ( lLLUSTRATRD)
ROYAL A.C. GENERAL COMMllTEE
A CAI{ WITH A P ERSPECTIVE
AMATEURS AT BROOKLANDS ( ILLUSTRATED)
CORRESPONDENCF,.
PAGR 955-956 957.958
958 959 960 961 . . 962-969 . . 970-971
97 1
972-973
973 974 , , 979-985
701000 MILES I N THREL-AND• A•THJRD YEARS (ILLUSTRATED)-
THE R.A.(. A:-ID f S-"l'ERNATlOXAL (ONYEREXCE • ,
FLASHES (ILLUSTRATED) • •
CLUB D OINGS
SO:\IE QUF.KIES A:,JD R FPLJES
986 987-9 8
989 990
Subscription Rates ;
British Isles-Home edi tion , 10s. i penny (thin paper) edition, 6s. 6d.
Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s. 8d. per annum.
/ Notes. The ibaris Salon. There 1s no doubt that the French annual motor show has fallen from its high estate, and the centre of interest has shifted from P a ri~ to London despite the advantage the Parisians have 01·er the Londoners so far as an exhibition building is concerned. ;(o one can truthfully maintain that the huge dingy shed kn01rn clS Olympia can ·ompare favourably with the imposing light and graceful Grand Palais, ll'hicb even, i'f les sumptuously illuminated than_ h~eto[ore, till presents an almost infinitely more pleasing aspect than Olympia.
i\fotor exhibitions are not made, or marred, by the building, or the Olympia Motor Sho11· had died long :igo. but by the ca rs and general a ll round interest of the exhibits. Pa ri s still leads in the ,·olume of its accessory and parts exhibits, which constitute a much l«q;er and more representative department than at Olympia, but 1rhen it comes to chas. is and complete ca r, Olympia h:is far more of an inte rnational display anc a much more interesting collection of cars. \Ye do not assert that there are no interesting cars in the Salon which h,we not been previously exhibited at Olympia. but 11·e say unhesitatingly that if one has 1·isited the London shmr one can find 1·ery little that is novel or meritorious in the Paris show ll'ith ll'hich one is not al ready 11·ell acquainted .
In London practical ly e1·ery French and other foreign tirm of note 1\'aS 11"el l represented . Tn Paris all the leading and many minor French houses show their wares, as do many of the foreign firms of importance, but only one English make-the Siddeley-is to be found. Therefore. in Olympia we find Engfand plus the 1Yorlcl, but in the Salon ll'e only find France plus a sriyr ller portion of the world and practically minus Efgland.
London the World's Motor Mart. Speaking from memory, ll'e belie1·e we are rigl)t in saying that :.Ir. Edge was the first to publicly recognise the trend of a ffairs, and some years ago he boldly prophes:ed that London 1rnuld become the 1rnrld 's motor mart, and that Paris 1rnuld lose its then undi puted position. To a large extent this has been brought about b1· the French them~eh·es. In all their so-called icterr.ational sh011·. they have kept a ll the best positions to themselves, and the foreign, and especially the British, exhibitors have been gi,·en the worst positions in the Grand P alais. At Olympia a ll have fared equally, and the fo reign firm s ha,·e shared and shared alike 11·ith the home firms, and each ha1·e had equally good positions. Beyond this it is 11·ell to remember that it has not paid the British firms , with one or two Pxcentions. to exhibit in Paris, but it has naid the F:-c11ch to exhibit in London, so th at, notwith-standing the gr011-th of the Bri tish industry and the exce llence of the British ca rs , those French houses which have made and continue to make good ca rs still command as large a market in England as they did when the majority of British cars could not be compared farnurably with theirs.
These are the main reasons 11·hy the French exhibition has fallen to a secondary place ; there are others, but we need not go into them here. , ve still have the greatest admiration for French motor ars of the best makes; indeed, ll'e fl atter ourseh·es that ll'e can appreciate r•. good car 11·hcther it he made in England or . any other country. and our pages prm·e this incontestably. but we must say that, so far as the Salon is conc<:·rned, the French have but reaped ll'hat they ha1·e sown, and their short- ightedness has robbed them of th~ premier international motor exhibition, and has giveri it to those who treated all exhibitors with impartiality. Yet in a way \Ye are sorry, as we cannot forget the past. France gave us the motor car, and for this 11·p and a ll true motorists must ever be grateful.
