"WHIPPETS.”
Model "96" 5 Seater Coach- G. $1,000.
SEE THIS CAR!
Study the specification and put the Car-te Any test you wish. You will realise that, although you may bay many more costly cars, you cannot get better value for your money then a Whippet" offers you.
GELMAN & CO., LTD. | DURO MOTOR CO.,LTD.
KOWLOON. Hong Kong.
THE
THE HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 7th, 1927.
MOTORING NOTES
POPULARITY
OF
A Weekly Review dealing with Matters of Interest to all Local Motorists.
DUNLOP
is due to the fact that the tyres have done and are doing all that is claimed for them.
On the
track or on-the-road-they give complete satisfac tion and will continue to do so. You can rely ou what we say about Dunlop in our public an- it for yourself, if they are nouncements and prove on the car you buy.
DUNLOP RUBBER CO., LTD
FORT DUNLOF. BIRMINGHAM,
Basc KONG BRANCH!..
· 16A, DES VŒUX ROAD CENTRAL.“
Motor Notes-Kowloon's New Motor 'Buses--Pressed Steel Magic "Don'ts" for a New Driver—"
Cars for Overseas-The Studebaker Commander.
KOWLOON'S 'NEW MOTOR BUSES.
IN SUMMER OR IN WINTER
IN HUMIDITY OR
“DROUGHT
Austin Seven
Cheerfully carries on.
Its metal body resists even the Hong Kong climate, and its sturdy well-tested engine recks not of Tropical rain storms, muddy
roads or any of the shocks
that Motorists are
heir to.
OWN AN AUSTIN AND ENJOY LIFE.
ALEX. ROSS & CO. (CHINA), LTD.
Prince's Building and 14, Chater Road. Telephones: C. 27 and C. 2487.
[A-F3,3].
· MOTOR NOTES.
MOTOR CYCLING MOUN
TAINEERING.
20-SEAT THORNYCROFTS.
According to The Motor Cycle,' SUCCESSFUL LOCAL TRIALS. Ben Lomond, the well-known Scot- tish mountain, has been elimbed by a motor cycle in two hours 42
minutes.
AN IRON ROAD. The Motor Cycle states that a new road surface is being tested in France which consists of heavy ion plates riveted to a concrete
base,
BRITISH ARMY AND MECHANISED TRANSPORT,
An important sidelight on the decision of the War Office to place the control of practically the whole of the Army mechanised transport under the Master-General cf Ordnance is the suggestion, re- corded in Motor Transport, that under the
new scheme the Army might manufacture its own moto vehicles For some years past British motor manufacturers have co-operated with the Army author. ties in the design and production of suitable vehicles, and from the point of view of economy and eff ciency it is desirable that the Army should continue to rely upon the trade for its transport require
ments.
Since the first official trials of the new Thornycroft vehicles of the China Motor Bus Company, to which reference was made in the Daily Prese last Saturday, a fur- ther test took place in the New Territories the Hon. Mr. E. D. C.
Wolfe (CS.P.) and Mrs. Wolfe
being among the passengers.
The teste have shown that the new buses provide comfortable and safe travelling, and the braking system which sets on all four wheels is very reliable.
PRESSED STEEL MAGIC.
THE NEW MORRIS BODIES.
[BY GEORGE C. STRAD. ] "
There has sprung up in the last few months a vast factory on the. Morris grounds at Cowley, near Oxford, where modern magicians. perform miracles with sheets of steel.
We are all accustomed to such
parts of a car as the chassis frame and cross members being made of pressed steel, but the extension ci this principle to the manufacture of the entire conchwork has really to be seen to be believed.
merc
The new works contain some of the most enormous presses in the One of the features of the new world, exercising. pressure of vehicles is the low deck which many tons to the square fach. makes the bus casy to enter and is an improvement on many of the Some of them, indeed, are so vast
that the earringe of the huses running in Kowloon. There framework on the railway neces is no noticeable vibration and the sitated the selection of special seating arrangement, while provid-routes where bridges, eto, would ing accommodation for twenty pas-not interfere with the transport of sengers, gives ample room to move the huge castings. about. The first class seats are beautifully upholstered, and all above deck fittings DIC quite modern and designed for comfort. A simple lever, operated by the driver, controls the front door, and in the rush hours the conductor is thus relieved of the work of having to look after two entrances.
In these works are made th frame of the chassis and the body work. In each ease the original piece of material is a rectangular strip of sheet steel,
Let us start with the frame mem- hers. A flat strip of steel is placed in one huge press. An operator pulls a lever, the die descends,"" there is a dull crunch, and then. when the die rises, the fiat strip of steel is perforated with all the holes necessary for rivets, etc.
2
All In A Few Minutes.
The engine develops 35 B.H.P. at 1,300 revolutions per minute and up to 45 B.H.P. on increased re- volutions. Easy inspection of the bearings is possible without renov LABOUR AND CAPITAL." ing the engine from the chassis. A filter fitted to the lubricating
This strip of steel is passed on Jowett Cars, Ltd, Idle, Brad-
system is arranged that any dirt few yards to another mighty ford, are again extending their or carbon falls to the bottom of press, which with a most inspiring works (for the fifth year in the case, eliminating any tendency crunch shapes the side member o pession) to cope with the ever-grow-to chake the gauze, which can be the frame webs, fanges, up and ing demand for this very popular removed or replaced through an
down sweep for rear axles in one The side member is light car.
inspection door on the side of the operation. crankcase. The lubrication of the now practically finished, and only
is chassis on the grease-gun requires cutting at each end to the system throughout, with a quick exaot length, and is ready for the action bayonet connection so de-fitting of spring shackles, etc. signed that the nipple is automati. From the flat strip of metal to the cally cleaned when the grease-gun finished side member only a few is applied..
minutes have elapsed, and all the work is done cold.
Two new models have been added to the firm's range, a very stylish coupe it £108 and a rakish looking sports model with a guaranteed speed of 80 miles per hour,
These have at once attained a popularity equal to that enjoyed by the firm's other models, and the shops are working night and day
to meet the demand.
A visitor to the works would 'cer- tainly express his astonishment at the industry and painstaking effort put into their work by these Ide" workmen, who would ce tainly resent. being described as
Lidle workmen.
What a difference a capital letter makes!
TESTING A THORNYCRÖFT SIX-WHEELER IN AUSTRÁLIA. With the object of ascertaining whether a Thornycroft rigid six wheeler would be capable of taking loads of petrol in bulk through rough country during the winte month, the British Imperial Oil Company of Australia recently submitted a Thornycroft type "A3" rigid six-wheeler, to a gruelling
test.
With a load of 800 gallons this vehicle easily negotiated a lengthy course on one of the worst roads in Victoria, over tree trunks, through trenches of mud, and up banks and down
of various gradients.
Two private cars which accom panied the vehicle on the test be came begged with mud, higher than their radiators and differen- tials, but the Thornycroft backed into this and easily pulled each of the cars out.
The engineering staff of the British Imperial Oil Company were more than satisfied with the resulte of the test, out of which the Thornycroft came with dying
colours.
In view of this performance it is small wonder that, this vehicle has been christened locally as the "Mud's Master and acclaimed "lorry which nothing can
116 1
-stop."
Electric light is provided by n 12-volt dynamo, supplying four in- terior lamps, mounted in tandem with the magneto. Batteries are of 70-amp capacity.
More interesting, from the spec- tacular point of view is the man12 facture of body panels, doors, mud- guards, etc., at one or at the most Petrol is carried in a twenty-two operations. Here, again, flat gallons steel tank fitted across the sheets of steel are fed into a power rear of the chassis and accessible for ful press, and the unfortunate filling from pump or can. The metal is forcibly squashed to the The amount of supply to the carburettor is by shape required." vacuum tank, which is attached to scrap metal after the various the dash..
operations is remarkably end).
After the panels and other body components have been shaped, fur- ther interesting processes place. The panels are joined to gether by means of electrical weld- ingin itself a meet interesting watch. The body operation to framework is assembled, the panels are fitted, and the various parts are made into a complete whole by welding and riveting.
The gear-box is mounted on the rear end of the engine crankcase ensuring perfect alignment. There are four forward speeds and are verse, the top gear being direct drive. Gear changing is effected by a central lever in an invisible gute mounted above the gear-box. A speed and mileage recorder, and a mechankal tyre pump driven from the gear-box, are fitted.
The body has been designed and built by one of the leading coach makers in Enghnd, and is painted yellow, which is the colour adopted by the China Motor Bus Company,
OFFICE CONTRACT FOR NEW-
HUDSON BICYCLES.
The Postmaster-General has te cently placed a further order for nearly 2,500 New-Hudson bicycles for the India Office Imperial Chinese Fost Olice, Sudan Govern- ment, Eastern Telegraph Cable Co., Director of Navy Contracts. This makes the 23rd large contract placed by His Majesty's Post Office with Messra. New-Hudson, Ltd., and the total number of bicycles now supplied in over 23,000.
take
The bodies pass from, operation And finally Bre to operationi, mounted on a chain track, which the hnal operations of assembly are creeps forward continuously, when
completed.
The bodies then pass to another part of the vast building, which, at first sight, reminded me of a film studio. The lighting is by a countless number. Dif
mercury. vapour Tampe mounted overhead with their peculiar violet light. The lamps are valuable in that they cast no shadow daring the process of painting, and allow every part of the car to be finished perfectly.
· The ceHufoss is sprayed on to the car, and goes through various baking, operations, until it finally emerges with a hard glossy finish, absolutely uniform in every part, Meanwhile upholsterers and others have been manufacturing the seat cushions, the interior up- holstery, etc., and in a very short space of time the complete body Anished in every particular is ready for mounting on the chassis, which has been simultaneously pro- duced in some other part of the works.
ROADS IN CHINA According to the Chinese Econo- mic. Bulletin of November 19th there is a total of 26 bus companies operating in China. These com panies are operating five in Kiang 8, five in Chêkiang, one in Shensi three in Kuangtung, one in Fukien, With the enormous output of two in Hupeh, two in Kunno, que | Morris ears it is possible to utilise
FLIVVER PLANES.
in Anhyei, one in Kiangsi, two in the very best machinery and DETROIT, MICHIGAN, Nov. 30th. Kuangsi, and three in Szechuan. materials irrespective of
...cost, Demonstrating the alleged prao- The development of the motor With a firm having a smaller out- tienbility of airplanes for business | bus service has been the result of put, such an outlay on machinery uses, Harry Brooks, chief pilot for road building throughout thewould make the cost of the car pro- the Ford Motor Company, to-day country. Up to the end of 1928 an hibitive, but in the case of a Morris Innded one of the new **flivver | equivalent of 13,180 miles of road the large output allows of vest planes" in Woodward Avenue in bad been built. The construction sums being expended on machinery the Detroit downtown district in of good roads in China under the all to the advantage of the pur front of a building where he was leadership of the National Good chaser, both for service and for scheduled to make an address. Roads Association began in 1921 economy.
The flivrer plane is a small ahip when there were only about 300, li These works of the Pressed Steel priced around the cost of a of improved roads in all China out- Company (Great Britain), Ltd.. moderate-sized motorcar. It has a side the foreign concessions and are easily the most impressive I low take-off and landing speed; leaned territories. Since then the have ever visited, and any visitor doen better than a mile a minute mileage of good roads has steadily who is fortunate enough to at eruising throttle, and has increased. This Association was penetrate the works cannot but feel gutaline economy better than the organized in 1921 with Dr. C. C. that Mr. W. R. Morris is making average motorcar under ordinary Wang de ita president and it has every effort to produce the first flying conditions.
establisbed 47 branches in 18 pomible car, both as regards the (Continued on next Columar.) provinces,
chassis and the bodywork.
WILLYS-KNIGHT.
MODEL "70" 6 CYL. DOUBLE SLEEVE VALVE. TOURING CÀNG 1.800.
THE CAR THAT NEVER WEARS OUT.
An Owner writes: "Mr Willy"-Knight bas gone 140,000 Miles and bas never given one minute's * trouble.
This, ar has had ver "hard usage and avary Mile has been a hard "оде. At 135,000 miles I Tecame saxus to "are just how it was wearing insila, so I had the pan taken off.... the sleeves Werd perfect as was every other part of the engine,
which showed no wear at all,"
GILMAN & CO., LTD.
HONG KOS.
DURO MOTOR CO., LTD.
Κουτσου,
Give your
high gear
some exercise on the hills by using Socony, the gasoline that brings the mountains down to
the motorist
SOCONY
SES.US, PAT OPP.
MOTOR GASOLINE
SOCONY
Gasol for Oil
STANDARD OIL CO, OP NEW YORK, 26 Broadway