THE 1934, 14 H.P. ROVER
A Very Attractive Six Cylinder Car
A MODEL OF GOOD DESIGN
HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1933.
SPARKS
FROM THE PLUGS
GETTING USED TO A NEW CAR
Made To Measure Driving Seats
CAR WIRELESS ARRIVES
Built-In Receiver For Motor Show
Dashboard Control
an
dashboard. There are only two
HEAD LAMP POWER
Bulbs of 21 c.p. which are Efficient
Am "Overseas Reader", from Perak writes as follows to the "Autocar."
BELL ON A CAR
A Question of Sportsmanship
The bell, I believe is perfectly legal and some years ago was specified as 1 correct audible warning of approach.
The matter is n question of sportsmanship; ho, good driver is guilty of excessive use of any kind or horn. I use the bell for only one purpose, which is to" attract
Car radio will be as common in as an optional fitting, with Britain shortly as it is in the serial in the roar. United States, writes the motoring
A correspondent recently men- correspondent of the "London
tioned the Strilux anti-dazzle Every - motorist of experience Daily Telegraph."
The set is Ekco's standard 7- system, with which I am not knows that sowie cars appear to Reasons for the sudden, crop of feature is the oval illuminated dial, tice very much the same as the vers who, when there is plenty stage super-heterodyne. A neat acquainted, but it sounds in prac the attention of those selfish dri- One slides built-in boot, but there is a parti- be "made to measure."
receivers of this type are clear. cularly good type of staunch grid easily unto the driving seat; the
Automatic volume control elimi" with stations by name, let into the American Tilt-Ray system "which of room, grimly hang ta the centre for luggage aft of the spare wheel steering wheel metaphorically falls nal 12 h.p. of the 1912 output I. To overcome the now distressingly into one's lap; the gear lever can nates sudden changes of signal knobs to control everything. I bad I have, had on my car, for Ave of the road, afraid to pass the common difficulty of jacking up a be found without looking for it. strength as the car speed on a trial run, and everything behav-years, and which is eminently slow-moving vehicle in from and car with a big, rear överhang, alots Indeed, one has the curious feeling the road and strings round corn- ed admirably, ·As with all car're.. elicient and the same of simplifyet hot prepared to allow anyone are Atted to the rear spring that one has driven this very carign have made sets more com-
ers. Then, improvements in deceivers, the sparking-plugs have city in operation. It is, of course else to get by. shackles into which the jack-head slides. Short of a permanent jack- ing system, which every car should have had years ago, this is the best way I have yet seen of deal
Ever since I owned (and drove for 50,000 miles in several coun- tries" of Europe) one of the origi- have regarded the successive Ro-
affectionate vers with
interest. writes a Home Motoring expert. When you begin to reckon up the qualltles that endear you to any particular car or make, you gen- erally find that absolute reliability in all circumstances counts above the rest, My chief and tenderest i ing with a totally unnecessary, and ↑ justment does for all of them. Car receivers fall into two plas- Radio, showed me sets of the other. efacient
recollection of that remarkable old; car was her persistent refusal to let me down anywhere between Land's End and the passes in the Alpine Trials. I cannot now read the moving accounts of that great est of all competitions without thinking of her astonishing feats. her, enduring steadfastness. The course of the Alpine Trial was no more of a joke in 1912-13 than it is this year to the cars that are twenty-one years younger. Then, as now, it was the acid test of 'de- sign, material and workmanship, plus that indefinable quality" that makes a car stand out above the ruck.
i
scandalous ́inconvenience, I am going to copy it at once in my own six-year-old car,
Engine, transmission, brakes, road-holding and steering are 'all'
for the well above the average money. The 1,577 c.c. (£14 tax) engine is one of the quietest I have ever driven and also one of the most efficient in proportion to the noticeable effort. The car goes fast but deceptively so-in which respect it resembles a big and ex- pensive machine. I understand that the actual car I drove has done better than seventy miles an hour at Brooklands. The highest speed I attained on my short fast The New Models
stretch was sixty-four by speedo-. The new series of Rovers are meter, but that was from twenty these. The four-cylinder Ten, sold miles an hour and in less than a as a saloon at £238 and as a mile. The gear-change, with the "sports" four-seater, at £268; a free-wheel locked, is very good, new model, the 1-litre. Twelve swiftly done and without scrape. four-cylinder, selling as a salcon. With the free-wheel'in action, no and as a close-coupled coupe at clutch-work is necessary, but you $268, which is also to be had as must wait until the engine-speed "sports" saloon is done to idling-point before a four-doored coupe (£288) and open four-seat-changing.
er; the Fourteen six-cylinder (a Steepng, Brakes," and "Climbing · successor of the Pilot the drop- ping of these meaningless nick- names is a sensible move), which costs £288 as a saloon and £995 as the "Speed Hastings" coupe: the 16-h.p. six-cylinder, costing, as a saloon only £438; and the Speed Twenty six-cylinder, which cost £495 as a coupe or saloon and £505 as a "sports" open tourer, All of these have the following specialities: Engines
What is still more beculiar ig
not once, but many times before. oact, and there are the all-metal that drivers varying considerably Catkin valves, smaller and more in shape and stature all feel at robust than any of their prosent home in it. The same seat ad-tars.
to be fitted with special suppres foot-operated, as every dimming sors. Passing cars may cause a system should be.
Furthermore, American head little splutter in the loudspeaker, lamps are seldom of more than light, and do not blind oncoming but it is not serious.
twenty-one candle-power. and drivers as do the lamps of over Mr. W. I. G. Pake, of Page Car
when focused correctly give an thirty candle-power used by Bri-
and powerful driving tish and Continental makers. They all and that they alt natu- ses-those to be incorporated in a
the upper alon rally,
resting new purchase as an extra attinge, to be fitted into existing cars, f
A five-valve all-metal superheter- against the back squab, the hands and those designed to be added to on the tower rim of the wheel a car already on the road. In the dyne may be sunk Into the floor- boards and worked with remote No infrequently this "made to Arst type comes the Exco set, control from the steering column, measure" feeling is a characteris- which, I understand, will be built while a plece of rabbit wire" in tie of sports cars developed by into 18 h.p. and 20 h.p. road racing. The racing driver models for the coming Motor Show, demands a seating position that gives him perfect control in all yet affords the circumstances,
And. maximum possible comfort, curiously enough, the factors of safety and comfort are closely re- lated.
The Novice's Error
Austin
VENTILATION
the roof is a first-class aerial
The speaker would be generally installed to the left of the gluten į Dedal.
The amount of current used by this set is a little less than thai || faken by one headlamp. Mr. Page¦ has also a curiosity among mid-1 get car sets that works of 12 volts
A Subject That Merits of high tension, with headphones.
Study
The G.E.C. have a car set mak- ing use of their own Catkin valves, and Lissen have a battery model employing Class B amplification. Marconiphone are also working on
the problem,
The novice may at first be mis- led into believing that a semi-re- cumbent," "armchair" position, with the steering wheel a remote accessory, is the most comfortable.
There is scope for much study It is not. Years of driving in all sorts of cars has convinced me yet in the ventilation of motor
The most expensive set in the that the only safe and really com- cars without draughts. The sun show was Priced at £150, it was fortable position is that in which shine roof has not simplified the intended primarily as an exhibi- the driver sits almost bolt upright, problems, and it would seem as tion piece, but a purchaser who his upper arms paralled to his if we need to get away entirely said he liked to see the internal
the conventional winding craftmanship of his radio spine, the wheel sufficiently close from to be grasped at the bottom when window. Of course, different peo- bought it on the spot. the elbows are touching the back ple attach different values-
draughtless ventilation. Some do squab.
not seem to mind Beat or fumes as long as there is no 'suspicion of a draught, while others must have a
costs. plentiful supply of fresh air at all
10
which act as either injectors or There are variotia ventilators
ejectors, and some of these give very good results, but the ideal solution is a system which intro- duces fresh air as well as exhausts the oil. It is not enough to rely
There is no perceptible vibration
This, in turn, means that the from engine or transmission at seat must be raised adequately any speed on any gear, and second above the floor level, so that the ably quiet. The steering, brakes, tural angle to one another, and so as well as third speed is remark thighs, and backbone are at a na-
standing features of a particularly heels, takes the weight of the legs and hill-climbing are the out that the cushion, and not the
alluring light car. I should put
Visibility is all-important so far the 14-h.p. Rover steering about as comfort and safety are con." second or third on my list of good cerned. Nothing is
more tiring steerings, irrespective (overhead
of price than to have to crane one's neck valved) that are four times as The brakes, which are hydraulie; in order to see over the steering powerful as their rating: longer are extremely powerful but safely wheel or to judge the width of the wheelbases; undersling chassis, graduated in their action. You car. A low bonnet and an almost upon leakages for the supply of affording (as I discovered at once) very soon discover that you can upright back squab. practically al- fresh air, as this invites the draw- 'proper headroom
pull up quickly without heavy ways result in a comfortable driving of fumes from beneath the among other
bonnet. things: very quiet gear-boxes with pressure. The combination of sus- ing position being obtainable. easy change; free-wheels that ren pension (which is
shock-absorbers der clutch manipulation unneces- sary; "remote." that is to say ad- steadiness produce as good road-
holding on corriers, 'up to jacent, gear-levera; an ingenious"
the device for controlling the charg- maximum I reached, as any car ing-rate of the battery: direction- costing twice as much. indicators built in flush with the coach-work between the front and rear windows; and higher-geared back-axle ratios.
and
very good) steering-
I have found the Hillman idea Adaptable Humanity Yet it is amazing how the hu of hinged rear quarter windows man frame can adapt itself to the excellent, but with a front window most awkward positions. I have open a fraction one could have a sat in cars that seemed designed circulation of fresh air without The new Rover climbed Wester- for nobody but undersized hunch-draughts. On the Buick cars this ham Hill in about sixty-one se backs with feet but no legs. I principle is carried further by the cursed coachbuilders who use of pivoted windows in the conds, from a crawl at the cross-have
front doors add roads, on
rear quarters the judging by the bodies they pro which give the same effect, but second speed. speedometer showing a steady duced, had never been in a car. thirty-three miles an hour. This riage, let alone a motor-car. in provide even better control. The Fourteen saloon, which I puts it second to cars rated at 24-| their lives,
Perhaps one day automatically had out last week over the Wester- | h.p. and 28-h.p. by four seconds—
The 1934 Fourteen
But where I have been com-controlled ventilation will be pos- ham trial route, is certainly one a very "meritorious performance, pelled to drive such a car for a sible, but as most people have dif- of the "most attractive six-cylinder it seemed to me. I was particu-long distance I have almost in- ferent ideas of what is ventilation. cars I have ever driven at underlarly delighted with its behaviour | variably got accustomed to the It might not be a desirable im- £300. The bodywork is roomy (the with the throttle wide open and position. The erstwhile Instru-provement, so that we are rather leg-room, for instance, is equal to the engine doing its best. "High ment of torture has become at forced to look for the solution in that in a 28-h.p. American car I engine-speed on low gears is not least tolerably comfortable. Some effective control f drove the next day), very well betrayed by either noise, vibra- times I have even got quite to like finished and of excellent appear- tion, or what is usefully if vague- that which seemed, at first, so ance. It is a six-windowed carri- ly known as fuss. This Rover is bizarre. age. You will remark the follow- one of the least fussy cars of any ing details. Owing to its wheel sort I have ever driven. It is base of 9:11. 4. in. it carries no also one of the pleasantest..
CARS
WHICH ALMOST DRIVE
THEMSELVES
As a matter of fact, many Brist- ing systems would be quite satis- factory for alt ordinary people and I have let myself go on the sub purposes it they were adjusted fect of seating comfort because with intelligence. Those who dis- several motor manufacturers have like draughts do not always realise already started delivering their how they can be avoided by clos 1934 models, and therefore, not a ing windows on one side and open- few motorists will shortly be taking them on the other. It is not ing over new cars. The gradual generally realised that a window towering of the bonnet line, de on one side, can generally be kept creed by next year's fashions, 1s open even when it is raining. The resulting in improved visibility principal dimculty Ind as a driver Lower chassis, too, are enabling is to obtain ventilation for myself the seats to be raised relative to without causing draughts to the the floor without diminishing rear passengers with louvres headroom or increasing the over- above the windows and scuttle It is remarkable how many me- an invention which enables the all height of the vehicle; ventilators this can be obtained, chanical Improvements there are most amateurish driver to change What is more, there seems, in while I find that in most cars in the cars which will appear on gear as easily as running an elec most of the 1834 cars which I have sunshine the market' next year. -
trie car at a seaside amusement so far examined to be a sort of "stan draughts if the windows are all roof need - not mean Specimens of the Binger cars park
dardised driving position which closed." were on view in London, and 'sl-
The operation of changing gear enables most people to feel at ease."
Latest Announcements Of 1934 Models
!
1334 Features
It may be necessary according
though there is two or three consists merely of placing the The allding seat now universally to the direction by the wind par- pounds increase on certain models Fear-lever into the desired post fitted. helps, while the pedals, ually to close the sliding roof, but in comparison to the price of last don, accompanied by an easing steering wheel, gear lever and Fear, this is accounted for by the of the accelerator pedal. When the other controls seem to fall con- there is generally some way of en- number of additional "gadgets" on accelerator is again depressed the venient to the hands and feet of oying the blue sky without feel car goes away smoothly in the pre-small women or large men able to drive through fine rain
ing a draught. It is indeed pos the car.
For instance, each car is hitted selected gear. The gear-change is
t»] and mist with the roof wide" open i with an electrically controlled dis silent in the hand of a begin- rection finger. It is operated from ner as in the hands of an expert It is perhaps just as well that without any moisture reaching the the steering wheel by a switch,
this is so, for many purchasers of Interfor. driver. and mental aberrations are guard the 1934 cars will be, a smaller of other things to hold their at- One of the most interesting of next year's models will find plenty fed against, as the moment the
edition of the Wolseley Hornet. tention, without worrying about driver straightens up the wheels the direction finger. automatically
Almost Its many new feature the comfort of the driving seat, familiarity that was a feature or falls back into its neutral position will be a new type of starting me- The general use of free-wheels, his handling of the old car
chanism known as the pedomatic, giving what is called a "clutchless - There is, however, little to i- Clutchless Gear
system. Once the battery is gear-change" "does simplify Briv- learn in order to get the best out Where the price is in excess of switched on a touch of the acce- Ing. But the motorist with rela- of the 1934 cars - As a whole they that of last year it is invariably lerator pedal starts the engine, tively little experience will find are lighter and essler, to handle accounted for by the introduction The price of the new car has himself thinking about this new and generally more pleasant to of what is known as the pre-¦ not yet been pred... It will be an- feature and," for a few days, will, drive even, than their most excel-- selected clutchless gear... This is nounced 'on' August 24,25
not drive - with quite the same lent predecessors, the cars of 1933.
A
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ser
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AA
I should not like to say which is the cheapest set in the show, but there are 3-valve battery sets com- plete for £3 17. 6d.
ASIA LIFE BLDG.
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