So Very Moderate.
In the province of Ontario,
Canada, the tax on a private car of less than 3 hp is only £10. ed. per annum. Surely a motorist's paradise 1
Words of a Prophet,
HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1930.
MOTOR NOTES.
Eastbourne Motor Week.
At some time in the fature motor manufacturers may operate for only ten months in the year, is the pre- diction of Mr. Henry Ford as a result of present-day world condi
For the first time, as already an tions. The problem that requires. attention at the moment, in the nounced, a Concours d'Elégance is to be held at Eastbourne on Wed- opinion of Mr. Ford, is that of pro- viding steady employment for work-nesday, September 10, and will be men engaged in the industry. Fewer 'Buser.
In an endeavour, to tackle the problem of traffic congestionin London it is understood that the streets number of buses on the between 10 a.m, and p.m. is to
'Olympia Coachwork Competition.
feature of the motor week organ- ised for the benefit of the Princess Concours The Alice Hospital. d'Elégance will differ in certain respects from similar events held in different parts of the country
6 h.p. LIGHT CARS
IN 1931?
FRESH FIELDS MANUFAC- TURERS MIGHT EXPLORE.
The 9 h.p. (Treasury rating) mo and on the Continent, in that com-del is the best seller in the automo- mercial vehicles are to compete,
old- in
BROOKLANDS BONUS THREAT.
TRACK RULES TO BE
CHALLENGED....
There is keen resentment among racing motor drivers and firms in
of a rule-o! Captain B. R. S. Birkin and Mr. WB. Scott, is two race at Brocklands last month.
Steps are being taken to bring the administration of the rules of Brooklands before the British Rac- ing Drivers Club and the Royal Automobile Club.
MOTOR ROAD TRAFFIC.
EXTRAORDINARY VOLUME
AND WEIGHT.
SYNTHETIC GLASS.
TO BE MADE COMMER- CIALLY.
Special interest attaches to an. entirely new production, which has
remarks The
WAKE UP, BRITISH just been brought to the commerci
MANUFACTURERS!
COMMERCIAL VEHICLES AND EMPIRE TRADE.
In the 1930 survey of the moter It has been stated in official industry of Great Britain, publish-quarters in London that the con
a stage in France, Jlator, 2
Tre new substance is tormed by its inventora "Similex," and "the processes employed in its produc tion have been covered by patents. Certain of the difficulties in the caso of former attempts to produce a substance of this kind would ap- pear to have been overcome and
Flexible Plate-Glass,
be limited, at first as an experi- special classes, being set aside for bile world of the present day, says terested in car racing, at the dis-ed by the Society of Motor Manadition of, the commercial-vehicle, Similex fexible "glass," which," ment; while in another direction it them, as well as private cars. It The Light Car and Cyclecar, and qualification-for technical breaches facturers and Traders, data are industry is better than that of of course, is not actually glass an has been suggested that New and should be interesting to see how it has always been the tendency of
given which enable circulation to be most of the other manufacturing all, is shortly to be made in quani- ties on a commercial basis. An Old Bond Street, W., should come the butcher's van can be made to the trade to concentrate upon the
made of the weight and volume of trade, of the country. The maker power-driven traffe passing over our of commercial vehicles, is certainly important factory has already been under the unilateral parking sys- outshine that of the baker's, not to
more fertile fields. "In this con- mention motor coaches and lorries.
roads. The figures are of extra in a better position than the makerlaid out for its manufacture and tem
nection we hope it will not be over-
of private cars, except, perhaps, Motorists and "Speed Cops."
ordinary dimensions.
an encouraging feature of the en-- looked by the manufacturers when
The number of cars paying tax, in a few instances. It is vastly terprise is the fact that the, mak- Particulars of the annual coach.
am still aufficiently
plancing their 1813 programmes
B total of important, however, says The Comers intend to market their produc- work competition in connection fashioned," writes "Focus" with the Olympia Show in October The Light Car and Cyclecar, "to that there is often a good crop to
980,645, represents 13,408,680 horse-power, and assum-mercial Moter, that a close study tion at the approximate ruling: have been issued by the Institute resent the employment of Road be obtained from a field that has of British Carriage and Automobile
been lying fallow for some years.
ing that 93.7 per cent. are in use should be made of the conditions Prices for plate-glass. Manufacturers. This competition is
all the year round, doing an average which are likely to obtain in the arranged by kind permission of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and
of 6,500 miles, then the total mileage not-far-distant future. Traders. Ltd, and it is the fifth
comes to 5,991,739,000. On the low average of two persons per car, the successive year in which it has been
'mileage amounts to held. There are three sections; (1)
Captain Birkin had not resigned, passenger for enclosed drive coachwork, such
as it was stated he would do, either 11,963,478,000 miles, and at the con- as limousines, landaulets, saloons cabriolets and coupés de ville, (2)
from the Committee of the Brook-sumption rate of twenty miles to for owner-drivers' coachwork, and
a gallon of.petrol, these cars use landa Automobile Racing Club or (3) for mass production, enclosed
590,173,000 gallons a year. coachwork, c. covered coachwork
from the panel of stewards. with accommodation for four or five persons, which is a standard pro- duction of British car manufactur- ers having coachbuilding plants. There will be three prizes in each section, a silver cup, a silver medal, and a bronze medal."
SERVICE
-REAL SERVICE!
Latest Machinery Expert Mechanics European Supervision
MAY WE SERVICE
Fund money for any other purpose than building and repairing roads, but the idea of introduinge speed cops to this country is one which has appealed to me ever since the fearsome penalties proposed by the Road Traffic Bill were first made pubile. If we are to be thrown into guol for three months or fined £30 for driving in what a policeman considers to be a reckless or dan- gerous manner, we are certainly due to welcome any move which will tend towards educating our constables concerning what is dan- gerous and what is not," Sale and Barter.
car sale in Western Australia was Az account of an amusing used recently reported by a General Motors representative in Perth. The sale of a used Chevrolet van valued at £75 bad, as an initial. payment, the following items:-
130 bushels of wheat at
4. a bushel
60 fowls at es, each ...... 14 chickens at 35, cach...
1 prize drakke
"We refer specifically to the 11 h.p., 7 hp. and 8 h.p. (Treasury rating) classes. Cars of 8 h.p., 9 h.p., 10 h.p. and 19 h.p. have been very popular of recent years, but no considerable attempt has been made to explore the market for cars in the classes enumerated."
Pedestrians Assist Motorista 1-
In Norfolk hotel a few days ago, says a writer in The Light Car and Cyclecar, I saw a notice, sign- ed by the chief constable of the ans neing. the narrow twisting county, impressing upon pedestri- roads which abound in the district the importance of warning drivers of the approach of other vehicles. It was the first notice of its kind that I had seen, and it certainly £s; d.impressed one as indicating a par- ticularly common-sense attitude on a the part of the chief constable con- cerned. The idea is one which is well worth imitating by the authori- ties in other counties which have narrow dangerous roads. Everyone nowadays is in some way or other a "motorist" and ready to help drivers of vehicles if ways means for doing so are appropri- ately pointed out to him.
50 0
6 0 0
3'10 0 10 0 2 0 0 1.2 G
15 0
4 turkeys at 10s, each.. 3 turkeys at 78, 6d, each 2 fireproof doors at 78,
ed. each .... Making a total of £43. 179. ed. as the first payment towards the ownership of the van!
Seeing the World by Car.
National Trust Work,
and
A: the annual general meeting, in London, of the National Trust for The two Cambridge ündergradu- Places of Historical Interest Cr
There is also a threat among large firms interested in racing to stop the practice of giving bonuses to drivers who win races at Brook lands next year."
Mr. Scott has formally entered a protest against the disqualification. In neither case was there any
baulking, and no driver entered a allegation of dangerous driving or
complaint.
The decisions were given because bath drivers are alleged to have passed from one section of the track to another reserved for faster cars, at the fork, a most difficult part of the track.
The track is marked off with blue, red and black lines. The rule is that cars with a speed below 90 miles an hour must keep to the left
m.p.h." to the left of the red line, of the blue line, cars below 100 and cars of over 100 .p.h. to the left of the black line.
Grouping to Blame? "The rule has worked well for
W!
Active Rivals,
Phenol and formaldehyde form "It may well be that a consider the basis from which "Similex is able portion of our trade in com- obtained, and the inventory claim? mercial vehicles will eventually be a great advance over previous at- with our Dominions, and we are tempts to make synthetic flexible sure that many of our makers are glass in the fact that not a par- looking forward with great interest ticle of urea enters into its com- to the recommendations which may position, the latter compound bav- by made at the Imperial Confering given rise to various troubles, ence, which will carry out its work particularly in the matter of homo- during. October.
geneity and in the length of time required for the material to set and dry before it could be used. "When it is realized that the Bri-As the first operation in the maru- facture of "Similex" consists of a tish Empire has an area of cold mixing of phenol and formol, 14,000,000 square miles of territory in will be seen that the process is passenger occupied by 431 millions of peo- the exact opposite of that employ
ple, and with extraordinary resoured in the formation of aynthetic materials, the possibilities of reci- use ces in the way of food and raw resins at present in commercial A very important feature of the procal trade must strike even those who have, but little knowledge of "Similex" product is the fact that economics and trade in general. i: can be supplied in any degree Our makers must, however, expend of hardness or elasticity to suit considerable portion of their the particular purpose for which
Of the 97,987 hackney vehicles, representing a total seating capa city of 1,814,874, some 93.3 per cent. ard in use all the year round. "The average mileage is 20,000, which gives the
enormous
mileage a year of 91,633,020,000, sengers per vehicle as an average. calculated at the rate of ten, pas On a consumption basis of 18 miles per gallon, hackneys use 185,206,375 gallons of pettol a year.
Commercial Vehicles,"
were
YOUR CAR?ates who are doing a world tour National Beauty, reference was
with a Riler "" have left the inade to the excellent work that the two or three years it has been gallon, the consumption of spirit is every maker to be: what the Ameri-year. This class, it was calculated,
NO JOB TOO SMALL. NO PROBLEM TOO INTRICATE.
14
American continent and are alread been carried out in the past,
are
ady on their way to New Zealand. Some $930,000 has been expended in force," said a famous Brooklands. The car bae, naturally, been speci- on the acquisition and equipment of racing authority. "It is not the ally equipped for its arduous jour properties held by the National rule that is to blame, but the group ney and, as it is desired to dis- Trast, and during the past year pense with hotels as far as pos- $20,000 has been subscribed arding of the cars entered in a race.
Each car has a potential speed sible en route, the body is of speci-nineteen new properties have been MAIN SERVICE STATION design. By removing the seats, acquired, many of the important, which is thought to be knows, and
Hat platform extends the whole as, for instance, Runnymede, by the on the programme the cars
grouped so many confined to the length of the car and, with the Thames as Egham. In the course hoods erected, side curtains in posi- of a speech Major Clough Williams- red line and the blue, and a limit whole interior is enclosed. An ex- tra petrol tank is fitted and two specially constructed copper water tanks are carried to guard against 29208 the horrors of thiret in such dread
10, CROSS LANE 93198tion and the windscreen ahut, the Ellis described the National Trust handicap of fast cars to the black.
WANGBAI
THE PEAK
PEAK GARAGE
IN CASE OF
EMERGENCY
as the keeper of the nation's mem- ory, and said that he was one of those who saw no good reason why England seemly, and should not be as served and managed as any well-tended private estate.
Where Do Old Cars Go?
An insurance man whom I mët in an hotel, writes "Focus"? in
"The grouping' was at fault.. In the first race 16, runners were con- fined to the red line, and only two allotted to the Black. In the second race eight cars were grouped to the red line and two to the black In the third race 15 were redline and two black. In the Gold Star 14 were red line and one black, and so on.
"The two cars disqualified are much faster cars than the groupers realised,
localities as the Austarlian, Per- sian and Syrian Deserts, all of which come into the itinerary of this ambitious tour. Two engineers from India and their native enauf teur have just completed a journey of 5,780 miles from Lahore to Lon. The Light Car and Cyclecar, was don with a 4-yearold-old 20 h.p.able to throw some light upon a
"They were travelling at 120 Armstrong Siddeley. Bofore start-matter which has always interest ing, the car had already covereded me the destiny of a car which m.p.h. or more and were actually 64.000 miles in India but, despite is a "total loss" "As a rule," he being driven with greater safety by this total it completed the home. said, "the garage to which it is going outside the red line, as is ward journey over mountain tracks taken after an accident gives the alleged.
Instead of the lines aiding the and deserts, sometimes through insurance company a small price
for it and then passes it on to a fast men, they are slowing them thick sand and even snow, by aver aging 141 miles per day's run on ear breaker." "What do you con-down. a fuel consumption. of over 17 sider a rational price for a car
away, or there must be more dis- m.p.g. Preliminary preparations which is incapable of being recon- for the trip occupied over 12 months ditioned ?" I asked. "It all de- crimination in the selection of cars and the most risky stages of the ends," he said. "If it is an up-condued to the red line xtatus.?? MODERN MOTOR SERVICE route were from Quetta to the Per-to-date model of a popular make it
23193
LANE, CRAWFORD, LO
sian frontier and the 550 miles between Baghdad and Damascus.
MICHELIN
FOR RELIABILITY AND DURABILITY
Tolophone:
Distribuckets
A. GOEKE & CO.
China Building, 4th Floor OPASTE DEPOT FIAT GARAGE, 67, Dre Vorr-Bu"CENTRAL;
R-
to
may be worth £20 to a car breaker largely for spares, but some make, are not worth as many shillings." Pre-war thodels, he went on mention, are often more valuable than comparatively recent produc- tions on account of the greater weights of bronze, brass, copper and aluminium which they contain. Robot Lights.
Fear entertained by some of the experienced motoring Members of Parliament as to the efficacy of trafic control signal lights were ex- pressed recently in the House of Commons, when Sir Cooper Raw son asked the Minister of Transport whether he was aware that the automatic coloured-light.system of traffic control in Piccadilly had proved inefficient; and why it was being repeated in Ludgate Circus. supplemented by manual control exercised by policeman on point duty. Mr. Morrison replied that these two systems of signaling were intended to serve different pur- poses. In the one ease the light signals conveyed information to the elephone police as to what was happening at
2
the various points. at which they were installed in the other case. the light signals directly controlled the traffic In-neither case were the signals automatic. He was, in formed that both systems were regarded as efficient, and satisfac tory for their respective purposes.
"Either the line must be taken
The total weighted useful load of efforts in developing vehicles suit-it is required.
"Similes" is less than one-third gistered is given at 10,198,974 cwts. requirements. Our rivals were ear the weight of ordinary plato-glass, the 339,794 commercial vehicles re-en in every way to meet overseas Only 1 per cent of the vehicles are ly in entering the majority of the and this should enhance its value not in use all the year round, and available markets, and it will be for cars and aircraft.
2 year. The ci vital importance that every-en-
a further of 14,000 miles, cover not less than quato share in this trade, but it is
interesting to make the remainder, at the average rate an uphill task to win a more ade 4,570,958,000 miles average load, pasuming that half of deavour should be made to do so. each journey is rur unloaded, is The great point for British manu-analysis of these figures. It was taken at 16 cwts.. which gives a facturers to remember is that it is generally agreed that the class of persons able to afford private cars. those earning over £400 ar total of 3,658,788,400 ton miles per no good waitng for this trade to come to them; it is necessary for year. At the rate of 12 miles a
can calls a go-getter. The Bri- cumbered about a million, or rough- 360.913,166 gallons a year.
The total road mileage available tish product is far more adaptly one forty-fifth of the population. meet individual re. The total number of cars taxed on for all this trafic is 179,059 miles. able to Most of it passes over, first-class quirements than is a mass-produc- borse-power (which corresponded to and second-classed article, and this is a valuable the private-car class) newly regis- stress tered in 1923 was 165.616, from (5,588 miles) (15,747 miles) roads only, which feature upon which more helps us to visualise some of the might well be laid. This quality which it could be calculated that should appeal not only to Empire the car-purchasing class of the com buyers but to those from foreign munity bought ten cars in 1029 for-
every baby to which it gave birth. countries." causes of road congestion.
Referring to the necessity of pre- serving countryside_amenities, Lord Ponsonby said: "The construction of roads, the erection of buildings, the suppression of unsightly hoard- ings, and education with regard to” the scattering of litter are the chief subject which call for attention. Societies have been formed for and other factors the conclusion is
dealing with litter with some suc arrived at that average life of the British car is nine years, compared
cess, but there is still a great deal with 67 years in the United States.
to be done in the way of teaching The trend of events is, however, for
"It could be calculated that the people that picnics are just as en- this car life to became shorter., and it is likely to decrease rapidly in car-purchasing class of the com-joyable if paper and refuse are est becoming more important a factor munity bought ten cars is 1920 for scattered over the ground. As to. in estimating future sales and the every baby to which it gave birth," hoardings, ameals have been made, said Lord Ponsonby, when opening but, so far in few eases successful. extent of the replacement market,
an exhibition illustrating the dis-As to buildings, we find on the one . The export of complete cars in
value of figurement of town and countryside, hand a great architectural revival
at Haslemere, last month.
and on the other a greatly increas 1929 was 23,897, of a
It was significant," said Lorded activity on the part of the worst What are £4,331,329. This combares with ex- ports of 18,192 and a value of £3,250,000 in 1998. The net imports Ponsonby, that in 1920, while sort of jerry-builder. of cars in 1929 was 22,416, of a value 737,098 babies were, born in Great known as "rihhon" development of 99,138,316. Of this number, 8,375 Britain, 319,11% mechanically-oro- and the bungaloid growth, which from U.S.A., 2,208 from peiled road vehicles of all types disfigure the outskirts of towns, and Canada, and 1,180" from France, wore newly registered almost one more especially our coastal villages,
(Continued on next Column.) features of modern building." Italy, the next on the list, supplied to every two babies born. It was are among the most distressing
British Factories' Output, From the survey, it appears that the output of British motor fac tories in 1999 was 238,505 vehicles, of which 189,347 were cars, and it is estimated that 190,000 old cars were not re-registered. From this
came
only 284 carS. ・・・
TEN MOTOR-CARS TO EVERY BABY.
LORD PONSONBY'S DISCOVERY.
7707
::..
"ALWAYS IN FRONT
SOCONY
GASOLINE plus MOTOR OIL
STANDARD OIL CO, OF NEW YORK