THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH, MOTORING SUPPLEMENT, SATURDAY, JUNE 21. 1930.
THE SPORTSMAN "WEE
THEN I drive,'I want action. · In my new Nash '400' Twin-Ignition
Eight, I get it
"Not being an engineer I can't explain all the reasons for twin-ignition superiority, but I feel it every time I touch the throttle This car's performance satisfies me at every speed
SPEAKS!
What I want in a motor car is a responsive engine, ample power, easy steering, road· balance and above all, endurance- ability to stand hard usage-and that's what I get in my Nash, with surprisingly little expense. Of course, I admire the slim grace of the Nash body lines. too No man to-day forgets that a handsome car is a social asset.”
+
Notable Twin-Ignition Eight features include: New Straight Eight, Twin-Ignition, Valve- in-head engine · bearing crankshaft - centralized chassis lubrication – built-in automatic radia- tor shutters-hydraulic shock absorbers-Duplate non-shatt erable plate glass throughout-etc.
WONG SIU WOON,
21, Pottinger Street, HONGKONG.
41-(1530)
1930 NASH 400
INVENTORS SEND DEVICES.
SHANGHAI AND NOISE.
Committee Examines Campaign Against the
6,000 Annually.
Horn Tooter.
MAJORITY REJECTED. THE RED PROBLEM.
Further evidence as to the There is much ado at the moment internationality of the automobile about "tooting" of motor car horna recently was made available in a and sirens in Shanghai. Stepa are report of the New Devices Com- being taken to make illegal unneces- mittee of the General Motors Corsary sounding of these instruments. poration showing that it examines It is agreed that something, should an average of 6,000 new automo- be done, but it might be preferred tive devices a year, offered to the to be numbered among those who committee for adoption on General are not lawmakers or who are not Motors cars by inventors from guardians of this law. Pity the countries, all over the world. poor police officer, whose duty it is The food of inventions, coming to decide when it may have been not alone from those countries necessary or when it may not have Will upon the European and American been necessary to "tootle." continents where automotive not someone side with him who has manufacturing has seep its to blow his horn and who automa- principal development but from tically comes within the limits of many countries without automo-this indiscriminate diatribe? bile factories, hastens the day when the automobile may be truly considered a child of the world and not of one or any half dozen countries as it was at its inception. In fact, the automobile at the present time has a truly interna tional character, as is witnessed by the fact that the products of twenty-three countries go into the manufacture of a Chevrolet. sirens,
Naturally, only a few of the 6.000 devices which the General, Motors committee examines an nually, are found to be practicable but the interesting point from the standpoint of the motorist is that the inventive brains of the whole world are beginning to be focused upon the happy task of providing him an ever better car at lessen- ing cost.
NEW CARBURETTOR.
More Power in New Method.
EVEN DISTRIBUTION.
Every great invention has had its period of test and experimenta- tion before Its final acceptance. This is true of the down-draft carburettor, which is a feature of the new De Solo straight eight power plant.
It was the racing car that brought the down-draft principle to its present development for the automobile.. In November, 1926, Frank Lockhart broke a track re- cord with 145 miles per hour: down-craft carburettor using a mounted over the supercharger. The next year Lockhart, de Paolo, Duray, Woodbury, Comer and Arnold all used it, and it has been in nearly all racing cara sinco
During the war two inverted Can the Councils not legislate the carburettors were designed for pedestrian and the ricksha7aeroplanes. The war ended before The former idles in crossing they went into production. Since the roads, in extreme cases 1927 "down-draft" has been used he being well aware of the on a well known marine engine, approaching car deliberately delays and forces the driver to apply his brakes. In Honan Road, for instance, the writer has noted pedestrians, conscious of screeching
continue their
look round surprise and
stroll,
showing anger.
FOR ALL CLASSES OF
MOTOR
INSURANCE
WRITE FOR OUR PROSPECTUS
and back of this, for a generation China Underwriters,
Ltd.
HEAD OFFICE Hongkong Bank Building,
"Ma Des Vorux Road Central. Tel. 28121,
or so, it has been standard equip ment of a famous tractar engine, An improved fuel pump made pos cible its use in passenger cars.
The great advantage of down- apparently obvious to surroundings, draft carburettion, as employed on and when gently bumped with the the De Sole straight eight, is the bumper,
better performance obtained from mingled Motorists have no recourse other the fuel. It provided 18 per cent. than their sirens when people more power, faster acceleration, insist on crossing roads at other more flexibility, easier starting, places than crossroads.
range. This saves, Country improved performance in high the entire bumpkins are not the worst--they gear, with no sacrifice of economy gear shifting in traffic and gives One can accelerate from 5 miles fine performance on the open road, watch for an opportunity, us they believe it, and scurry across, Of or less up to top speed in high The down-draft manifold that aa- with the De Solo, with companies the new carburettor course, many times they meet with gear accident, mainly because of their efficient performance throughout gives even distribution. inexperience with fast trafic.
Enough has been said of the ricksha;
A Central Clearing House. The New Devices Committee was organized as a central clear ing house for all inventions sub- mitted direct to General Motors Corporation. Instead of allowing a meritorious device to drift by a By all means legislate, the devious route through various honking of siren and horns in channels, the New Devices Com-residential districts during sleeping mittee sees that it goes direct to hours, the noisemakers of joy the person most concerned and riders, near hospitals, etc., and the with a minimum amount of delays habitual blasts of certain indivi-
All kinds of devices are sub-duals. mitted some of which are very
By other means of legislation valuable and others that are not regulate pedestrian traffic
on the technically or economically sound. main thoroughfares, synchronize In order that nothing of merit this movement with motorized will be rejected without proper traffic-Shanghai is perhaps the that "nothing could touch it for] The next day the noted aviators consideration 3 very minute only metropolis in the world where get away and fast pick-up." lined up on the airport runway, Inspection is given every device. at least an attempt has not been
"Possibly no automobile," re Brock at the controls of a Lock-
The Corporation, is interested made and much of the "tooting" torted Brock, "but how about the heed plane and Schlee behind the in receiving ideas or suggestions will automatically regulate itself. Lockheed Vega monoplane?" The wheel of an Oakland Eight Sedan. relating in any way to the manu- "Step-on-it."-N, C. D. News. A "DEAD HEAT."
Lockheed, with a top speed of 135 At the drop of a flag both facture or improvement of any of A unique acceleration test be- miles per hour, is one of the machines leaped away, the Oaks variqua products. The great tween an aeroplane and an auto- fastest commercial planes. land in the lead and the propeller majority of devices submitted con- mobile held recently at the Detroit) Admitting that the plane with "wash" from the plane blowing the sist of articles or devices, which Municipal Airport in Michigan,] Its ratio of one horsepower to each starter's hat into the middle dis-I have been patented or for which resulted in a thrilling run which nine pounds of weight enjoya an tance.
applications for patent-aré-pend- observers declared a dead heati advantage over the Oakland, Schlee kept the Oakland in ing or are proposed to be filed
A friendly controversy between which has one horsepower to each second gear until it was Edward F. Schlee and William 37 pounds of car weight, Schlee forty miles an hour and then snap-idea is submitted which
doing but frequently a device, article or Brock, famous trans-Atlantic, contended that the Oakland, ob- ped into high. He still was capable of any patent protection. long-distanco flyers, finally result-taining its traction from solid accelerating at 55 miles per hour
PLANE V CAR. Acceleration Test.
MOTOR CARS AND CHITS.
is not Shanghai Wants System;
Abolished.
ed in a modest wager and an ground, would out-accelerate the when Brock caught him just as the the car behind. Since the car and actual acceleration test. Schlee, plane down the runway before the plane left the ground only 250 feet plane were "nose and nose" when having driven one of the new propeller. could take hold" suf- away from the starting point. The the latter took off, the contest was Oakland V-type Eights, asserted' ficiently to develop flying speed. plane then soared upward and left declared a tie.
SHOWROOM FIAT GARAGE
67, Des Vœux Road, (24821.)
FIAT od 520
Pod
JUST
6cylinders
UNPACKING
Model 520 Super Six $3.000-
AN OPPORTUNITY THAT CANNOT OCCUR AGAIN!
-Model 509 Super Four $2.100
A. GOEKE & CO. FOURTH FLOOR-CHINA BUILDING,
TEL, 22221.
414
HUGE LOSS YEARLY.
That the chit In Shanghai is “on its last legs" has been heard on many occasions before. In spite of efforts various organizations to do away with this insidious evil, the "pencil-pusher" persists running himself into debt, usually each month.
But now a number of organiza- tions whose annual chits amount to $4,000,000 are considering ways and | means to eliminate chits. We refer to the association of hire car owners. With about 800 motor.cars plying for hire in the Concession and Settlement, which earn about $4,000,000 per year, the manage- ments find themselves confronted with a huge task of collection. A conservative estimate, which was given us by an officer of the associa tion, places the annual loss and cost of collection at about two lakhs.
At one time this loss could be borne, it was stated. Now, how- fever, with the depreciation in ex-. change, cars cost 80 per cent, more and replacing parts is proportionate- ly expensive.
Another item enters into con- sideration. The increased cost of petrol, the price of which was re- cently advanced by 40 per cent. One of the leading garages is pay- ing $4,000 more per month for "gas."
At a meeting of the association held recently, it was agreed in principle by all present that the chit system should be abolished. Ways and means were discussed, but a definite policy could not be decided upon. As an alternative, the association point out that tariffs will have to be increased...
According to a spokesman-"It the fares are raised, it will mean that the honest customer will be penalized because of the actions of dishonest persons or the failure of others to pay their legitimate debts. If we (the hire car owners) can place our hire service on a cash basis, we feel that rates will not have to be raised-if not we are confronted with a problem, which appears to offer no solution other than raising rates. We, by that I mean the half dozen largest hire. servicea, may perhaps be able to formulate a working policy on a cash basis and thus avoid any In crease in prices."--N. C. D. „News.
New Marmon. Big Eight"|| -amo ef klarancia's four view standa
COME TO STRAIGHT-EIGHT HEADQUARTERS
FOR THE ONLY LINE OF FOUR STRAIGHT- EIGHTS IN FOUR PRICE CLASSES
INCE 1926 Marmon has concentrated on one type of
Scar-the straight-eight-improving it-perfecting
it. Marmon invented the Down-Draft Manifold which made the straight-eight really practical, by keeping the end cylinders from being "starved.” This year Marmon introduced Double-Dome Combustion which makes the straight-eight smoother, quieter and far more pow erful. On the basis of its past and present accomplish- ments Marmon has attained indisputable straight-eight leadership.
THE CARS—Four Distinct Price Fietās
The New Marmon Rig Elght, the finest product of a company long noted for fine products (16 feet, 10 inches overall).
The New Marmon 879, for the fine car purchaser who would buy conservatively(15 feet, 11inches overall).
The New Marmon869, the most advanced, yet time- proved straight-eight for the still more conservative price buyer (15 feet overall).
The New Marmon Medel A...the world's only time-proved, moderately priced eight-cylinder auto- mobile (14 feet, 4 inches overall).
Arrange for an early Demonstration
Sole Distributors
THE ORIENTAL MOTOR CAR Co.
353.7, Hennessy Road,
Tel: 20406.
MARMON