12
THE
CHINA MAIL,
AN THE MOTORISTS PAGE
Have You Seen the
B.S.A. New Models?
Surely you will be interested in the many new features which make B.S.A. Motor Cycles ever the best value in the world.
WE HAVE JUST RECEIVED MANY NEW MODELS OF B. S. A. CYCLES
(One of them is Illustrated above)
COME AND INSPECT.
THE SINCERE CO
LTD.
Sole Agents.
WHAT YOU WANT
Is a machine of quality at a low price. We have now in stock
GİLLET D'ERSTAL 32 WORLD'S RECORDS
•
Models from H.K.$470 up.
F.N. 23 WORLD'S RECORDS
Models from H.K.$480 up.
.. and
MONET & GOYON
Fitted with the famous M.A.G, engine holder of 26 WORLD'S RECORDS Models from H.K.$360 up.
also Side-cars Accessories and Spare Parts.
Sole Agent for Hong Kong and South China: THE FRENCH MOTOR CYCLE CO. 46, Nathan Road, Kowloon.
LANES OF TRAVEL
HELPING THE MOTOR INDUSTRY
CONCENTRATION ON MOTOR
TYRES
|might well auggest their forma- MICHELIN'S QUALITY
tion, and seek to identify himself actively with their work. Serving on committees, giving liberally of his time and talent, are as much a part of the dealer's job as com- bating unjust motor vehicle legis- lation.
create confidence.
No "side-lines" such as
solid
tyres, rubber heels, golf balls, ten-
nis balls, etc.-these would only hamper the efforts of Michelin.
The sole afni: to make the best possible pneumatic tyre.
оле
Mr. Alvan Macauley, President, National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, President, Packard
By interesting himself in public Motor Car Company, writes:-
Local lanes of travel are a most affairs the dealer can become one auto of the leaders in his community. important factor in the
The consistent excellence of They Through his local papers he is in a mobile dealer's business. are becoming more and more im- position to make his voice heard Michelin tyres has always fascin- portant as registrations and con- in favour of all progressive pro- ated motorists. It is to scientific Prospective automo- methods of manufacture that gestion grow. Good streets and grammes.
owe their superiority. good roade-paved to adequate bile buyers take their patronage Michelin width are the chief creators to a man whom they know and in Thousands of problems arising of demand for more cars. The whom they place their confidence. from mass production have, lack of such facilities is the Fighting actively for those things by one, been scientifically studied most serious obstacle to increased which are important to the car throughout the years. By constant owning public helps to widen the and minute observation, Michelin sales.
"The condition of the roads and dealer's circle of friends and to eliminate anything that is useless streets in a dealer's territory is a more important factor in his suc- cess than the population there.
Communities well interlaced with broad, smooth traffic arteries show a higher percentage of car registration than occurs in more thickly settled districts lacking such advantages. The number of new cars that will roll from any sales floor depends largely upon the inviting aspect of the tho roughfares over which purchasers must drive them. It costs an owner 10c a mile to operate his vehicle on a concrete paved high way as against a fraction more than 12 a mile over un- improved roads. This differential
turo.
Vision
in production or detrimental to The automobile industry recog- nised the need for organised high-quality, not only in the general The organisation of the business, but way promotion years ago. Lincoln Highway Association, in the smallest detail of manufac- founded in 1913, by automotive manufacturers, has striven in- cessantly for a great interstate In the preceding short history of system of paved roads. Associa the pneumatic tyre, it has been tion officials vigorously pushed shown that Michelin's constant the Federal Aid Road Act until it aim is to foreses and anticipate Here, of was ultimately passed by Con- the march of progress. gress. The increasing mileage of a different order, is an instance of good roads resulting from this this spirit. In 1908, Andre Miche- measure has been one of the lin saw a film of an airman who greatest influences stimulating had succeeded in flying over a dis- tance of 50 yards after four at- National Road Building tempts on different machines, threa the wider use of automobiles.
The national road building pro- of which he smashed. Thereupon. gramme is now progressing satis- the brothers Michelin offered a of 25 per cent. in operating ex-factorily and with a reasonable prize of £1,000 to the aviator who, pense is an important sales in- degree of speed. But the comple- within ten years, should fly in fluence, but comfortable travel. tion of through interstate and less than six hours from Paris to safety, and lack of congestion are inter-county routes is only a part the summit of the mountain which still more important.
of the picture. From the dealer's overlooks Clermont-Ferrand. standpoint a more important con- do this. It was necessary to fly 250 sideration at this particular time miles and to climb to a height of lies in the paving and maintenance 4,400 feet. At this period, flying of streets within municipal limits was still regarded as a dangerous and the development of back roads folly without any practical future. feeding in from districts off the and the offer of Michelin appeared beaten path. In these two resto cause small risk to their parse. pects we, as a nation, have not Three years later the prize was kept abreast of the times or our won. multiplying traffic.
I have made the above state- ments dogmatically because they are facts. For years we had car tain theories in the automobile business as to the value of im- proved highways what they meant to automobile sales. But the time has long passed since these were theories. Experience in every section of the Union where adequate highway systems have been already completed de- monstrates beyond a doubt that the local automobile dealer can devote a portion of his time no more profitably than in making himself a factor, if not a leader; in the movement for more and wider paved streets and high-
ways.
Local Pride
KINGSTON BY-PASS
To
A writer in "The Motor" thus de- acribes a Christmas Night run on the Kingston by-pass:
Was
Therefore, the prime considera- tion of the territorial dealer is the opening up of the hinterlands from whence will come a million buyers who have yet to own their first automobile. With the pre- "Having reached the neighbour- sent market narrowing down to hood of my home again and sleep replacement business, the possi- not beckoning, the fancy took me bility of converting thousands of to look at the Kingston by-pass road non-owners into motorists is of under a wonderful silver moon. intense interest to those who earn There was a blustering wind, but headlights were 'an insult to the Aside from local pride and a livelihood, from car sales.
Local inertia is making many bright mistress of the heavens, and public spirit, the automobile deal- er has the best of selfish reasons an otherwise hustling community I rode from end to end of the Dealers ap- Boven-mile concrete highway with- for making his influence actively a one-street town. felt as a leader in the fight for pear to be satisfied if they are out meeting another of my kind- more and wider streets and roads situated upon some main high- and this before ten o'clock at night| in his particular community. way; but traffic is fleeting and "To anyone accustomed to the Both the business and agriculture tourists do not stop to buy auto- usual procession of headlights on of any district benefit generally mobiles. The logical prospect is that overcrowded road it
uncanny ex- through good roads, bat the a local resident. If a man lives nothing short of an
At the top of each of motor car merchant profits from within the city limits, his desire perience.
the road them in the most direct and cer- for car ownership is whetted by three little inclines tain way. He should therefore be paved streets wide and free from stretched out-a silver tape with If he inhabits the clearcut pale karba bare, unten- especially active in civic organisa- congestion. tions that interest themselves in back country, tapped only by aanted, inviting you to hustle the public affairs.
pair of muddy tracks, it is not revs, to their highest possible." Most communities have a likely that be will be interested in Chamber of Commerce, a Com- the purchase of a good automobile. A New Ford's Record mercial Club, or similar body, Adjacent to the 125,000 com. The agent of the Ford Motor Com- These organisations have, or munities of the United States are pany in Soarabaya cabled to Singa- areas pore on February 7 that the run, should have, Good Roads Com- countless undeveloped mittees. Many Rotary Clubs, potential automobile markets from Sourabaya to Batavia to Kiwanis Clubs, and other business where mud and ruts are retard-Sourabaya was covered by Schutt on men's associations also have ing new car sales. The opening of a new Ford on February 6 in 11 Good Roads Committees. If such these partially isolated sections is hours 26 minutes, the distance being committees do not exist in the of immediate importance to the 846 kilometres and the average speed 76 kilometres. All records dealer's city and there are needed automobile dealer.
were broken, including the La Salle, street and highway improvements
by 32 minutes. that should be, promoted, he
(Continued on Page 13.)
1
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1929.
DODGE
ODGE
VICTORY SIX
SOLE DEALERS FOR SOUTH CHINA : SOUTH - CHINA MOTOR CAR CO.
33, Des Voeux Road C. Tel C.,5644.
ESSEX SEDAN
$2,550
1929 Model
NOW ON VIEW
at
KIN CHEONG HONG
37, Connaught Road Central,
Telephone C. 6.
Sole Agent in South China for: BROCKWAY MOTOR TRUCKS
A CAR
YOU'RE PROUD TO DRIVE!
of
=
a lot of dependable mileage in that car don't sell it! Let us repaint it in
a bright new colour, and you'll be proud to take it through traffic! We use a fast drying, weather re- sisting finish. Call on us for an estimate,
THE REPUBLIC MÒTOR CO. OF CHINA.
30-32, Des Voeux Road C.
Telephones C. 1210 & C. 6252.
DUCO
PAINTING
Photo shows a retouched photo of the specially designed racing car of Major O. D. Seagrave (upper right), British sportsman. In it be hopes
to attain the almost unbelievable, time of 260 miles an hour over sands of Daytona Beach, Fla. Above, a part of the car's impressive power plant.
Beam-Lite
and BUSES
Hartford Batteries
* Auto Bulbs
THE ASIATIC AMERICAN · CO.
48, Stanley Street,
Tel C.. 244
SHOW BOOM:
11. Queen's Road, E Tel. C. 375.
Safety Factor
OFFICE:
The natural tendency in automo- bile manufacturing in the past five dr six years undoubtedly, has been toward the development of faster and more powerful motor cars, and until the past year, little attention was paid to the relative development pf scientific safety applianos. More and more time and effort has been spent recently, however, in im proving the most vital of all safety factors adequate, and thoroughly reliable brakes-particularly by the experts of the Hupmobile plant.
QUICK AND
EFFICIENT
REPAIRS
FIAT GARAGE
67A, 67B, Des Voeux
Tol. C. 4811.
Ed. C.