DEcE.HBER 26TH, rgo8.
THE AUTOCAR B Journal publtsbe~ in tbe interests of tbe mecbantcall\? p,ropelle~ roab carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 688. VOL. XXI.l SATURDAY, DECEMBER 26TH, 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 paper. The PENNY EDITION, printed upon thinner paper. The FOREIGN EDITION, price 3d., printed on specially light bank paper for circulation abroad.
Editorial Office :
COVENTRY.
Publishing Offices :
20. TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C .. EnKland.
CONTENTS. NOTES • •
ADJUSTABLE PEDALS (ILLUSTRATED)-1\'lOTORlNG JN SOUTI-1
AMERlCA • • • • • • • • • • • •
PAGE
I027
1028
USEFUL H1:-JTS A:SD TIPS (ILLUSTRATED) • • 0, 0, DOUBLE 0, ANDORRA ! ( ILLUSTRATED) SECURITY BOLTS ABOLISHED (ILLUSTRATED) , • THE 1909 14-16 H.P. STRAKER-SQUIRE (ILLUSTRATED) • • "THE AUTOCAR" LECTURES THE NUM~ER OF MOTOR CARS IN THE UNITED KINGDOM . THE UNSPEAKABLE \.VtLKlNS (ILLUSTRATED)
1029 1030-1034
1035 . . 1036-1039
1039 •
• 1040-104r . . 1042-1043
TIIE GODIN ELECTRIC HOHN (ILLUSTRATED) CORRESPONDENCE A.EROXAUTICS (ILLUSTRATED) AKROPLANE JOTTINGS .•
1044
. . t0~9-1053
1055
A CoNTRAST-THE GR.\.ND PRIX ABSTENTION'S-1909 IRISH
TRIALS-ROYAL A.C ANO ASSOCIATED Cl.UBS-TRIALS OF TYRES, "OtL, FUEL, ETC.
FLASHES {[LLUSTl<ATF.D) CLUB DOlNGS • • FITTINGS FOR THE MOTOI<. HOUSE {ILLUSTRATED)-CoNTROL
OF CITY TRAFFIC • • ENGlN'E STARTI~G FROM THE SEAT (ILLUSTRATED)
1056 1057 1058
1059 xo6u
Sub•cription Rates :
Brlt!sh Isles-Home edi tion, I6s. ; penny (thin paper) edition, 6s. 6d.
Abroad (thin paper edition), 22!=-, 8ci. per annum.
Notes. A Suggested Tax on l >etrol. Last week ,re referred to the rumour in the Lobby of the House of ommons with regard to a tax on petrol. Motorists are already 01·e1taxed, and the suggested further burden is of a nature which only has one thing to recommend it, and that is, it ,rnuld bear less hardly uoon the man of limited income and limited time tha1{ upon the man with plenty of time and plenty of money. Speaking broadly, the con. umption of petrol represents the amount of work clone in speed, weight arrying or 'c!istan e. Hence a man who drives a fast heavy car long distances will use vastly more petrol than the man who drives a smaller, lighter, and slower machine shorter clistances. At first sight, therefore, the tax seems less objectionable than some others which ha,·e been suggeste l, because it is fair all round; but this is only a negative virtue.
On the other hand, the man who uses much petrol is doing more for the industry of the country than the man who uses little, as he is spending more money upon his automobilism, and it is hardly reasonable that he should be taxed for this. Every additional mile covered by a car adds to the industrial prosperity of the country, as it means work and trade for all who participate in any ll'ay in the manufacture and maintenance of motor cars, or, to put it still more convincingly, the more cars are dri,·en the sooner will they be worn out and the more they are used the greater will be the sums spent on tyres, renell'als, and replacements as well as upon petrol. Holl'ever, it is a question whether the matter need be gone into at all seriously, because we understand that the Chancellor of the Exchequer is entirely opposed to taxation on this principle, so that unless he i~Jbout to change his beliefs the suggested ne1r form o: .t~xation is out of the question.
Horse-power Denomination. From time to time we have referred to the unsatisfactory practice_ which is so general of giving an engine two nominal horse-powers. Instead of calling an engine une definite horse-power it is given two, such as 8-10, 10-12, 16-21, 18-22, and so on. Quite the best systen, of double horse-powering is that adopted by a few makers who give their own horse-power and the horsepower by the R.A.C. formula. For instance, if they call a particular model the 18 h.p., and the R.A.C. formula makes it 23, they call it the 18-23 h.p. model, and so on. This is all very well so far as it goes, but there is no uniform custom, and the consequence is we still find one maker calling a car 16 h.p. while another 11"ith the same ize of engine calls it 22 h. p.
The fact remains that, unless a uniform system is adopted, the present slipshod method ll'ill always gi,·e rise to al I sorts of misunclerstanclings, and in some cases we fear to misrenresentation. This side of the question has been part1cularly brought home to us by a custom which appears to be growing, and that is of selling second-hand cars with a double horse-power title ; cars which in some cases were never sold by their makers as possessing two horse-powers. For in tance, ll'e find an 8 h.o. car becomes an 8 -10 or 8-11 on the second-hand market, or a 15 h.p. develops unexpectedly into 15-20, although the makers never sold such a . model. We are afraid this s01t of thing will go on till such time as the members of the Society of :tviotor Manufacturers agree definitely among themseh·es that they will designate their cars by one horse-power alone. It will be a little troublesome at first, as quite a number o( makes have become well known bv double horsepower titles, but it will be an excellent-thing to get the matter on to a definite basis.
In the meantime buyers of second-hand cars should look with susoicion upon v ndors who call their cars by different powers from the makers, an_d if t_hey have any doubt as to the correctness of the title given the~· should at once refer to our Buyers' Guide or write to the makers.
