1932-03-31 — Page 11

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 1932.

THE CHINA MAIL.

11.

ANTHE MOTORISTS' PAGE AR

Henry Ford Takes A Big Risk

Ventures Millions On New Motor Car

Eight Cylinder Product

Detroit, February 27.

When Henry Ford gives the word for mass production on his new V-eight and improved model-A-four cars throughout the vast organisation of the Ford Motor company, as he will do probably next week, there will be revealed, well under way, one of the great- est epics of modern world industry.

movement at 236,000 inbound and "We don't!

But we're going to

28,000 outbound cars. with a make a try and find out." freight bill, paid directly by Mr. Ford to the ruilroads and shipping companies of the United States, of

Mr. Ford's Long Experience Applied on Model. Mr. Ford hus given intensive per- the building of more than $86,000,000, Suppliers sonal attention to shipping to Mr. Ford will pay the his new and Improved products. railroads upward of $10,000,000 Those close to him say that to a Handling the railroad cars degree equalled only by the original Ford V-eight will require larger railroad working model Ts, the new forces.

will be a visible, tangible, expres-

moro.

A PNEUMATIC-TYRED RAIL COACH.

Successful Test On L.M.S. Railway.

ECONOMICAL WORKING.

Demonstration tests were carried In his own mills Mr. Ford wision of Henry Ford'a akill and per- make $16,500,000 worth of steel. sonality. There is scarcely a part out recently on the London Midland From outside makers he will pur in it, they say, that at some stage and Scottish Railway branch line A has not had the, personal attention between Bletchley and Oxford of an chase more than $47,000,000. good part of this will be spent in or borne the thumb-mark of Henry The Detroit Industrial district.

Ford.

experimental rail coach, designed During the development of the and built by the Michelin Tyre! Ford production will mean the

engine he was around it, watch-Company to illustrate the feasibility purchase of $4,680,000 in gray iron,)

jing, suggesting, supervising, work- und $5,044,000 in malleable castings.

of running on railway lines with -most of which will come from theing day by day and sometimes at

particular pro- pneumatic tyres. Detroit district. The Ford tyre bill night, when some

blem was being worked out. His The coach is a self-contained unit, will exceed $20,000,000, and $4,800,- lieutenants say that frequently after to carry twenty-four passengers.

will be spent for erude rubber some design or part had been ac Jon top of that.

septed by his engineere, Mr. Ford It may be visualised as an elongat- Into production will go approxi- ordered changes that involved divered motor-coach with flanged wheels, mately $3,500,000 in copper, $1,500,- sion to other uses of carloads of the flat periphery of 1000 in lead, $1,354,000 in paint special materials which had alresting on top of the rail being, to

For ready arrived. He has been un Mr. Ford will start an industrial Mich. for raw materials, manu- and $10,100,000 in glass.

outward appearances, an ordinary Ford will spend remitting in his work and study to

is revival which will be feit the world, factured supplies, freight and labour bodies alone Mr.

giant pneumatic tyre such na

vehicles. In fitted to road

the round. And to do that he is liter the remainder of 1932. In the De- $200,000,000. Of these, bodies to agliminate parts.

"The fewer the parts the less ally risking a great fortune, writes trait district alone he will employ value of $60,000,000 will be built in James Sweinhart to the "Oregon more than 100,000 men at the stand. Ford plants; $140,000,000 will be hazard el trouble," he told his front of the vehicle is the engine, a

jard minimum wage of $6 a day pent with outside makers, mostly engineers. Mr. Ford realises that his own und upward. The average monthly in the Detroit district. industries alone will not end the payroll in the Detroit district will And, looking over the world,

jan.

the wheels

depression. But he believes that if run to more than $18,000,000 a Ford's plants will draw materials KEEPING ENGINE FIT the bogie is directly driven through he can operate to capacity or nearly month. Now it approximates $10, and Anished parts from England, | so, thousands of other industries 000,000,

materials

Germany, France, Russia, Canada,

will take heart and resume produe-¦ To feed the Ford plants with raw india, Brazil, China, Mexico, Japan, tion, and the depression will slowly and manufactured

and the Federated Malay States and the than 5,500 direct and Straits Settlement. goods. more disappear.

indirect supplies, scattered over "Are you going into big produc- the United States, will employ ap-tion right away?" Mr. Ford was proximately 300,000 men. Of these asked.

Simple Precautions to The

Be Observed.

shock absorbers.

THE LUXURY CAR in the low-price class-beautiful hitorior appoint- mants, and upholstery --- rocný, Full-size Safety-Steel Bodles-ex- clusive Floating Power and 4- Wheel Weatherproof Hydraulic Brakes and many other features not offered in cars of its prion,

CRLYNGUIR

CARS NOW ON DISPLAY AT

THE NATIONAL MOTOR CAR CO.`

71, 78 & 75 Hennessy Road, Wanchai.

Telephone 27914.

four-cylinder petrol engine rated at 27 horse-power, and driver's cab. This part is suspended over a six- wheeled bogie. The middle axle of

four-speed gearbox, and the front axle is driven. by chains and sprockets from the middle axle. rear axle is merely a

axle. At carrying

the rear

viously to the remarkable accelera- suitable for immediate use in ser Based on an anticipated produe

end of the

com- passenger tion of 1,500,000 cars a year, gross

partment is a fourwheeled carry-tion and deceleration powers of the vice. Its purpose is to demonstrate in running tests the merits of purchases of raw materials and sup-

ing bogie, fitted like the front vehicle. It is fairly common knowledge

Smooth-Running and Silent. pneumatic-tyred rail coaches and to plles will average more than $62,- suppliers, approximately 1,200 are "Well," he answered, "we expect

The return journey Was made suggest to the railways that the 000,000 a month. During peak pro- in Detroit and 300 in Michigan out to be making from 5,000 to 6,000 that all accumulates road dust bogie with spring suspension and

and dirt, and is diluted by un-

non-stop in forty-two minutes, an pneumatic tyre may render a service duction in previous years purchases

ears a day before very long."

Light-Weight Construction.

average speed of about forty-four to rail traction as great aa that have exceeded $80,000,000 a month.

"That's a lot of cars and these vaporised petrol during the period

The extent to Light-weight construction is a miles an hour. On several stretches rendered to road transport, which On this basis Mr. Ford will spend To keep the plants going it is are hard times. How do you know of service in a car.

which outside contaminations im- feature of both chassis and body-a speed of fifty-eight miles an hour has developed to its present level of" more than $300,000,000 in Detroit, estimated there will be a freight you can sell them all?"

pair the lubricating value of the work, so that the complete vehicle was maintained. The extraordinary efficiency and economy consequent oil is not, however, fully realised, weighs unladen only five tons. All feature of the journey from the on the introduction of the giant

This is perhaps due to the fact ten wheels are fitted with hydraulic point of view of the passengers was pneumatic tyre. that cars will continue to operate brakes. The preumatic tyres are a complete absence of a sense of Special Tyre for the Tropies. for long periods in spite of this con- fitted with pressure gauges and a speed, and notable smoothness and Representatives of all the British tamination. The damage being device to give the driver automatic silence. Even when passing through railways and of some foreign lines done is not evident until the exten-warning of loss of air pressure. In tunnel there was scarcely any are to be given opportunities of sive wear that has been going on the event of a puncture the tyre de-nuisc.

Beeing demonstrations, and officials an inch, an is revealed in the necessity for afects less than half

test, to illustrate an of the Ministry of Transport and complete rebore and overhaul or internal device allowed it to run emergency stop, the vehicle was Board of Trade will inspect the other costly repairs.

without damage or loss of stability brought to a standstill from ten vehicle in the next few days. Other

Buick

an

of

side Detroit.

Industrial Facts and Statistics.

THE

MAJOR AUTOMOTIVE DEVELOPMENT FOR

The Outstanding Feature of

new

the Industry for 1932 Is

entirely

system

car operation and con.

trol Wizard Control. The

1932 Buicks not only have

Conventional Drive ---- They not

only have new and advanced

Free Wheeling ---- They not only

have new Silent Second Syn-

cro-Mesh Transmission-They

have still another vitally im-

portant engineering develop-

1932

men-The Automatic Clutch-

making possible smooth shift-

ing of all gears without the

use of the clutch pedal- and

the instantaneous change from

Free Wheeling to Conventional

Drive

vice-versa at the

Driver's will.

These are only part of the advancements so soundly and

skilfully built into the sturdy

Buick for 1932 which add still

further to Bulek's traditional

staunchness and reliability.

THE WIZARD CONTROL,

THE DRAGON MOTOR CAR CO., LTD.

Telephone: 80228.

WONG NEI CHUNG ROAD, HAPPY VALLEY,

In a brake

JUST ARRIVED LATEST STYLES

A safe practice is to drain the to the vehicle. A spare wheel ia miles an hour in a distance of 4 ft. Michellu coaches are being tested on crankcase every 1,000 miles, and re-carried and can be shipped in place 6 in. without jar or vibration. the Continent and in Egypt, and a fill with fresh high-quality oil. Al of a punctured wheel in five minutes The makers do not put forward special tyre has been evolved for most any up-to-date garage or ser-at the first convenient stop.

this particular vehicle as a typelservice in tropical climates. Ivice station will drain the used oil The maximum speed of the and refill with fresh motor oil for Micheline, as the vehicle is called, is the cost of oil only.

sixty miles an hour, and the normal In fact, many garages and ser- cruising speed is fifty-five miles an vice stations have introduced re- hour. Owing to its light weight, cording systems which enable them the conch can reach a speed of fifty to offer a permanent draining ser-miles an hour in 1,000 yards from vice to their customers. By this rest, and from this speed can system the motorist is given a re- brought to a standstill in 110 yards. minder either personally or by post Petrol consumption, with full load, when his car is due once again for averages about twelve miles a draining.

gallon, although on a clear run ap preciably better results are obtain- ed. Trial cars have been run ati over eighty miles an hour, and a run from Paris to Deauville (137 miles) was made with seventeen passengers at an average speed of sixty-six miles an hour.

ON RACING THE ENGINE.

Tremendous Activity Of Parts.

be

For Use on Secondary Lines. The immediate object of the There are many car owners who Micheline is to render possible do not realise the detrimental economical working of secondary effects often caused by excessively railway lines in fare of road com- racing the engine, particularly if petition. It is claimed that a line the car is standing still. Many entirely operated by Michelines, owners, and some mechanics, at would not need railway signalling, times race the engine while the car as the vehicles can stop in a very is stationary, to warm it up suff-short distance, and that they could ciently for driving. Sometimes albe run at short intervals as fre- mechanic will race the engine at ex-quently as the demand warranted. cessive speeds to discover whether or Lightness and smooth running re- not a carburettor adjustment has sult in low maintenance costs for been properly made. It is import-both vehicle and track. The service ant to realise that when a car is mileage of the pneumatic tyres is travelling at 60 mph. In top gear about 20,000 miles. Test runs the engine may turn over at 800 were made over thirty-one r.p.m., yet the same engine, with the miles between Bletchley and Oxford. throttle wide open, and operating On the outward journey to Oxford under no load, will almost instantly the rail coach was run to schedule as go up to 4000 r.p.m., and sometimes a stopping train, with seven Inter- higher. The tremendous activity of mediate hults. Compared with the engine parts when thus operated normal steam train eleven minutes without load, the enormous heat were saved on the nineteen miles energy created this rapid and un- from Bletchley to Bleester, and the used acceleration, and the possible final twelve miles were covered non- lity of the cooling system not being stop, except for able, to cope with these burate of halt. The total journey showed a unloaded engine speeds, may result saving of twenty-five minutes over in serious damage. Sobred pistons the schedule of the steam train. and cylinders may often be traced Although several of the stops to such treatment, and whenever were less than three miles apart, the possible, moborists should not raos speedometer was kept fairly con the engine any more than in ab- stant around fifty miles an hour, solutely necessary.

the saving in time being due ob

・

OF

DODGE

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CAR CO.

MOTOR level-crossing SOUTH CHINA

33, Des Voeux Road Central,

Tel. 25664.

Tel. 25664,