1931-11-12 — Page 3

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 1931.

THE WORLD'S MOTOR - CARS

A Buyer's Guide to Olympia.

THE "BABIES "

Better and Cheaper Than Ever.

FLOATING POWER.

Plymouth Proved by Tests.

Not content with relying on laboratory experiments to test the reliability, sturdiness and general excellence of the new Plymouth's Floating. Power and Free Wheeling, Chrysler engineers in charge of this remarkable new low-cost car proved

By A. G. Throssell, Dally Telegraph's Motoring Correspondent.]

London, October 13. feet wide is revealed, and access to Olympia is a huge place, easily the rear seats is exceptionally easy. the biggest and most comprehensive The standard saloon now costs £150, collection of machines for motoring or, with a pillarless four-door body held in

any country. This year 157 10s. A de luxe saloon with there will be less crowding, but sliding roof coating £169 108. is these points by submitting them to cars of all sizes, shapes, and prices among the exhibits.

every gruelling test known to auto- motive science.

When Floating Power was first

and early experimental |

ure gathered together more or less The new model is the Super Nine, .anyhow. I propose to dissect the It has an overhond-valve engine show and rearrange the pieces on rated at 9 h.p., four-speed gear-box, some sort of plan, so that motorists hydraulic brakes and underalung conceived and would-be motorists who are in- worm drive to the back axle. With care built, all the resources of the terested in one particular type or a wheelbase of 7ft. 3in, and track Chrysler engineering laboratories, class of car may know just what of 3ft. 7in., there should be plenty one of the finest and most complete of power to pull a four-door, four- Let us begin with the smallest seater saloon. The de luxe Superindustrial laboratorics in the coun- try, were concentrated on the new cars, which, generally speaking, are Nine shown costs £197 108.

Plymouth. the cheapest. "Economy motoring"!

there is for them to see.

Baby, Flyers.

The

is the slogan this year,

Radiators, exhaust pipes, springe, and the The remaining "bables" are of a makers have concentrated on cars rather different character.

rubber mountings, as well as all movable parts, were shaken, pound- that are economical to buy, to M.G. Midget, for instance, hus a license and to run. Neven has this parformance that is anything but ed, twisted or rotated literally mil- claas been so numerous, the avall-Infantile.

several lions upon millions of timea by spe- able choice so wide, nor, it may be changes in this little flyer. The cially designed testing machinery added, the appeal in value for fabric two-seater remains as at pre- before passing final engineering in- money so strong.

sent, but is reduced to £165. On spection.

There are

A "baby" car is an excellent intro- the same chassin there is a new, More than a dozen experimental turned over to highly duction to motoring; it is also an panelled body with a disappearing cars were excellent tender to a bigger vehicle, hood and rather more room at £185,| trained and specialised test drivers while the new kind of "grown-up and the coupe continues, but is re- who put thousands of miles on them around Detroit and on steep moun- baby" claims, and not without justi- duced to £235. fication, to serve as a satisfactory Then there is a new Midget with tain grades.

As a fitting climax to this com- family car.

2-4 seater body on a six inches) "Peter Pan" Car.

longer chassis with rear petrol tank prehensive series of tests, the first First to be mentioned is that and a windscreen of the type that two production car were sent weat Peter Pan of the "babies," the folds flat forwards; its price is £210,jon what proved to be a 10,000 mile condition of Austin Seven. It has recently, in and the exhibits on Stand 64 also journey where every racing. form, reached'n speed of 109 include for the first time the laurel-weather and road that a motorist: miles an hour, but not even to-day crowned Montlhery Midget, costing will encounter, was experienced.

From Detroit these new Ply~| has it yielded to the temptation to complete with supercharger the un-

mouths sped direct to the alkali "grow up." The only changes in babyish price of £575. the standard cars are new dome- Finally the two lowest-powered waster of Death Valley in Cali- shaped wings, new wheels, and dip- eura of the lot, both taxed at £7, the formia. Bounded by the Panamint, ping head-lamps.

Jowett and the Rover "Scarab." Amargosa and Funeral ranges on But prices are radically altered-The former has a two-cylinder en-each side, Death Valley is 338 feet) to the benefit of the purchaser. The gine, but it pulls a full-sized body below sea level. Not a breath of de luxe saloon, which has real and goes up Alps if asked. A num-air stirs in this forgotten section leather upholstery and a sunshine ber of improvements have been and the normal temperature hovers roof, is £128, actually less than the made this year, including putting around 134 degrees Fahrenheit.

In this uninhabited and danger- standard saloon cost previously. The the tank at the back, and the prices| latter is now. £118, and the tourer are lower, starting at £135.

ous country, the new Plymouths and two-seater models are the same, The Rover "Scarab," recently dea-were driven mile upon mile in order This most famous of the babies is cribed in The Daily Telegraph, aug-to confirm engineering specifications to be found on Stand 113,

gests, with its air-cooled "twin" on ample cooling capacity; proper

given a four-speed gear-box and rear petrol tank, most up-to-date] fittings for a "baby." This year it. boasts a silent third among its four

INTERNATIONAL RECORDS.

-

THE

CHINA MAIL.

this

ALWAYS AT YOUR COMMAND

0-6

THE DRAGON MOTOR CAR CO.,

Telephone 30228.

The

BUICK 8

The Eights with Buick's Prestige

The 8 as Buick Builds It

Aside from Buick's amazing speed, smart luxurious Fisher Bodies and thrilling all-round performance you will be just as favourably impressed with Buick's safety features.

Chief among these are Buick's big, dependable, easy operating brakes. It is a mighty comforting feeling-- to the driver as well as passengers to know that the enger power and flashing speed of the Buick Eight are always under safe, perfect control.

LTD.

Play safe in selecting your car, From any and all. angles, you'll like The Eight as BUICK Builds It. They are real motor cars the kind you have always wanted to own.

33, WONG NEI CHUNG ROAD, HAPPY VALLEY.

Of the other 8 h.p. ears the engine a revival of the post-war functioning of the water and oil Singer Junior, which is a whole foot cycle-car, but it has a respectable circulatory system; adequate crank-down the mountain side. When the and proper air cars reached the bottom they were longer and a few inches wider and performance. At £89 it is much the case ventilation is meant to carry four, has again cheapest car in the show. The cleaner, dealgned to keep out the driven under their own power back been modernised. Last year it was] Rover stand is No. 108.

alkali dust with its penetrating and to the top and again catapulted destroying abrasive action on mov-down the steep gravelled slopes of famous kill. Not a plece of ing parts.

From the intense heat of this glass broke, not a major portion of desert waste the new Plymouths the all-steel body was bent or twist- climbed swiftly up the ten-mile ed, nor an inch of the sturdy frame grade to the heights of Mt. Wilson, was out of line and the rugged where the famous astronomical ob-mountings of the Plymouth Float- servatory la located. Within the Ing Power engine were just as space of a few hours these pheno-strong and solid as before the series menal care were called upon to of falls. function in the 134-degree heat of

The "Riley Nine" now holds the

speeds, and the allent third, be it following international records:- noted, makes gear changing much! exsler, so that driver and passen- gera all benefit.

The Junior costs £150 for the four-door saloon with

sliding roof.

This year Junior with a larger (9 h.p.) engine and a "Kaye Don" saloon body of rather striking design. A specimen in brown and heron grey will be shown on the Singer stand, No. 110, priced £185.

there is a "special"

m.p.h. 108.90 108.89 108.06

All these tests were conducted

50 kilometres

50 miles

100 kilometres

100 miles

108.05

1 hour

108.1J

200 kilometres,

102.28

2,000 kilometres

66.82

3,000 kilometres

65.78

4:000 kilometres

64.85

1,000 miles

67.80

2,000 miles

65.64

Hundreds of miles were put on each car up and down this mountain road in order to test the ruggedncas

!

.

24 hours

66.69

"IN A CLASS APART."

Death Valley and in, the 40-degree and recorded before one single new chill of the mountain peak above Plymouth was built for shipment to Plymouth distributors throughout the clouds,

the world,

of the car in general, as well as the

Apart from the difficulties nor- revolutionary, two-point suspension

For Two or for Four. The Morris Minor of last year, has also, as it were; split into two, mally associated with the mainten-¡of Floating Power; the pleasure, and, though they both pay the ance of such high average specda in giving, economical Free Wheeling,

According to a recent edition of same tax, they are quite distinct a comparatively small car, Eyaton, and the four-wheel hydraulic brakes, the, Caps Argus, one of South care. The Minor has the side-valve in securing the first six of these, so often called upon to perform Africa's leading newspapers, a new engine introduced this year and the bad to contend with unkindly ele-positively and quickly in mountala Registration-Index for cars-"B.C." chassis of 6ft. Gin. wheelbase, and menta.

on Cape Town's A thunderstorm visited driving. The low-swung construc-is to be seen romaine a true "baby." In its two- Montlhory during the progress of tion of the new Plymouth, with its streets. senter form it is the famous *100 the ran, and heavy rain fell double-drop frame and resultant Special Interest, however, lies in car, and the saloon with sliding head throughout its duration.

low centre of gravity, insured com-the fact that only two vehicles com- ia no more than £125. These cara In his report to the Riley Com-fortable riding and maximum safe-plete the class, ie, H.C.1" and have the tank at the rear and an paay, Eyeton states that the engine ty on turns and bends.

"H.C.2": these being the two electric petrol gauge on the dash, functioned perfectly throughout, and Following their return to Detroit, Humber cars (a "Pullman" saloon and winding windowe have now re- was revving In excess of 6,000 r.p.m. Chrysler engineers accepted the and a "Snipe" tourer) belonging to placed the sliding pattern.

|during the whole run.

favourable reports of the test Sir Herbert Stanley, G.C.M.G..

The older overhead-valve 8 hp. The performance is the best of all drivers. Thoroughly satisfied with South Africa's new. High Commis- Morris engine, having proved its possible tributes to Riley engine de- every phase of the car's perform stoner. "H.C" represents, of superior power output is now the sign, for It must be borne in mindance, one more test remained--the course, the initial letters of Sir basis of the new "Family Eight" that the 6,000 r.p.m. were obtainedļsafety test.

Herbert's Bank of Office.

model. Thirteen inches more wheel-without the benefit of supercharg To the top of Bald Mountain, Like as its many exceptional. base and a stouter frame allow the ing, and that the engine design is north of Detroit, the new Plymouths qualities have again and again been mounting of a four-door body, with the same as that which permits such travelled. There, in front of en-termed "in a class apart," the Hum- ample room for four grown people, a wide margin of efficiency to the gineers and officials, they were un-ber now finds itself officially placed and the good-looking six-window ordinary Riley owner-driver. [ceremoniously rolled over and over in an interesting "Class Isolation." saloon is a real car. Its price, fully equipped and with sliding head, is £152 108., and there is also, though a specimen will not be shown on Stand 111, pretty little sports coupe at £175.

A "Pillarices" Saloon. Triumph also has a baby, and a grown-up baby, and its exhibits on Stand should be unusually inter- gating. The smart and nippy little Super Seven has now a slightly dif- ferent chassis for the closed models, The open car is the same as before, but is down in price to £140. For the saloons semi-elliptic springs allį round are fitted and a rear petrol tank.

The chief feature, however, is the pillarless saloon body. In this model the two doors on either side] close on each other, and when both are opened an entrance nearly four

TEST CARS NEAR CHRYSLER ENGINEERING CAMP.

At the Chrysler engineering field camp near Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A. more was learned about

the ravaged and devastating effect of dust and dirt upon an automobile engine than at any other place in the world. Here the dust in like powder and the wind like a hurricane so that any engine not equipped with air cleaners, oil and gas ülters which meal it perfectly against all dirt and grit Is-doomed to soon be scored, and worn to destruction?

PRODUCT

OF GENERAL MOTORS

DEMAND THESE FEATURES IN THE CAR YOU BUY

MONO-PIECE.

STEEL BODY

HYDRAULIC BRAKES

LOW CENTER OF GRAVITY

Money cannot buy three, finer safety factors than Dodge Mono-Piece Steel Bodies, Low Center of Gravity and Hydraulic Brakes. The security you get when you drive the new Dodge Six and Eight is due to these three factors. Low center of gravity is achieved by a double-drop frame with a new- type box center which makes the chassis extremely strong and rigid. Further low- ness is contributed by the fact that the squeakless, jointless Mono-Piece Steel Body is mounted directly to the chassis without body sills... sharing the strength and steadi- ness of the heavy frame. 9 Dodge Hydraulic Brakes are always equalized. They are fully enclosed, completely weatherproof, easy to operate, sure, safe always ... the most. positively equalized brakes known. These features mean protection to you, extra value- for you, every minute you spend in your car.

DODGE BROTHERS

SIX AND EIGHT

SOUTH CHINA MOTOR CAR CO.

33, Des Voeux Road Central

Tel. 25644.

Tel. 25644.