MOTORING NOTES
THE 1926 MOTOR CAR
Tins is the day of the owner-driver. The new motorist Is nearly always his own chauffeur. To a large extent, too, he is his own mechanic. The same thing is true of the motorist of many years' standing. High taxation and high prices have made this essential. This, I think, is all to the good—not the high taxation and the high prices, but the fact that nine out of every ten motorists look after their own ears. This is the way, and the only way, really to enjoy motoring to the full. The motorist to-day demands a reliable ear at a reasonable price ; and if he look about him in an intelligent manner he can get what he requires. He wants, of course, to avoid the "cheap and nasty" ; what he does want is sound mechanical con- struction at a low price. And to-day he can get it.
Manufacturers have not been quite as quick as they might have been in grasping the importance of providing for the owner-driver, but at last they seem to have done so, and the general tendency in the car for 1928 is all towards simplicity. This applies both to the chassis and to the coachwork. It is generally admitted that in the case of intricate mechanism any improvements that take place should include all the component parts which together make the whole. This, unfortunately, has not always been carried out in motor ear construction. Manufacturers have devoted many years to the production of cars which are the very last word in reliability, and certainly they have succeeded. They are also devoting much thought to increasing the available power, and, at the same time, re- ducing the running costs, and here again they have succeeded to an extent which one would hardly have thought possible even two or three years ago. But one very important part of the motor-car has been more or less left to itself. Practically no advance has been made in the suspension of the chassis. Even the leading makers still pin their faith to the old-fashioned leaf-spring. True, the type of spring has been greatly im- proved, but to suggest that it is the last word in motor-car suspension shows undue pessimism. Were all of our roads perfect this question would not call so acutely for solution. Our roads, however, are anything but perfect. The great majority of motor-cars are not really comfortable, and it is time that manufacturers devoted greater attention and experimented more in this direction.
While there will be few striking innovations at the Motor Show, which opens at Olympia on Friday next, the 9th, and remains open till the 17th, there will be many improvements, chiefly of a minor nature. The day for radical changes has gone ; present developments deal more with details than with principles. Among the gc remul improvements which will be noted are greater accessibility of magneto, carburetter, oil. filler and oil-guage ; a greater number of cars will be fitted with four-speed instead of three-speed gear-boxes; gun-grease lubrication ; and the adoption of four-wheel brakes on even small cars—practically all of the larger ones are now so fitted. ' These are all manifest improvements, particularly from the owner-driver's point of view.
In spite of the criticisms of balloon tyres, the number of these tyres fitted to small cars is steadily on the increase. This form is not so popular as it was upon large cars, however ; just why I cannot understand. Personally, I think the ballnon tyre is one of the greatest boons to the motorist, whatever the size and whatever the power of the car. I have been using a set of Dunlops for some months now on a large five-seater car and already they have covered well over 10,000 miles Without any trouble whatever. Steering is in no way affected, while the comfort which they give to the passengers is very marked. But for some reason they have never become very popular on large cars, and there will be introduced on several 1926 cars semi-balloon tyres. Wire wheels, too, are regaining some of their lost popularity and are ousting the wood and the disc wheels.
A good deal of attention has been paid during the last twelve months to the problem of headlight dazzle, and many practical devices have been introduced, several of which may be seen at next week's show. Headlight dimmers, dipping headlights, and specially constructed lenses are among the solutions of this problem—a very real problem to all road- users. Many forms of improved windscreen wipers will also be exhibited.
One of the greatest problems for the owner-driver is how to keep his car clean. Before the War one could have a car washed and polished for a shilling or eighteenpence. Nowa- days the charge is 5s. for a small car and anything up to 10s. for a large one. This means that many owner-drivers tackle the job themselves, and a sorry mess some of them make of it. Properly to wash and polish a car is not the simple thing that many people imagine. Unless it be correctly done more harm, and lasting harm, than good is done. Besides this, with the ordinary bright varnish finish it is really necessary to wash a ear every time it returns from a run—an impossible thing for
the average owner-driver. The new lacquer finish, which is being introduced on several 1926 models, is thus a tremendous boon to those who do not possess a chauffeur. There are half a dozen or more of these lacquer finishes, and while they are not yet perfect, they are a vast improvement on anything that has been produced hitherto. The lacquer finish is impervious to petrol or benzoic., to tar, mud, grit or rainspots ; heat and cold have no effect upon it. It does the car no harm to be washed only once a month ; it is even possible to chip off the caked mud with a chisel, afterwards rubbing the parts with a rag, followed by a brisk rub with a clean and soft cloth. It is interesting to note that these lacquer finishes are not painted ;
they are fired through a sort of pistol, and unskilled labour may be employed for the work. When this plan of finishing a car
becomes general not only will it mean that the owner-driver is saved much worry and expense in 'keeping his car clean, but the price of painting will be greatly reduced.
E. T. BROWN.
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