1935-01-01 — Page 4

AIRLINE BODIES AND

THEIR FUTURE.

Exaggerated Claims Of Speed Benefits

Have streamlined touring bodies

Yes! a future?

WIN they win "favour because of the extra speed attainable? No! That is how I . would answer the two most com- mmon questions put to me.

I

in

В

find chief advantage streamlined body, that is, the more practical one of copious en- closed luggage space. Due to the hve seats on my car being ar- ranged between the axles, there is exceptional luggage" accommoda- tion in the tail-for it is possible to stow four good-sized suitcases, avalise and three coats inside the tall, weatherproof and secure under a Yale lock. That is how toured this summer on the Con- tinent. More could have carried if necessary, as the lid of of the compartment folds down- wards horizontally and can be used as a grid if desired. I was surprised and disappointed that more 1935 designs at Olympia did not adopt this convenient method of luggage carrying.

been

Nearly twelve months ago, under, the heading "The Benefits of Streamlining." I urged in these pages the claims, and special at- tractions of the streamlined body. Illustrated certain possible de- signs, especially one I plotted in 1933 under the term "Airline," which term I registered. That particular body, built by Thrupp and Maberly, Ltd., to my order, bas now covered over 10,000 miles on a 34-litre Bentley chassis, and I am able to speak from practical experience of the car in seven different countries. If I were in-

Much has been written on the vited to enuraerate in order of

marit the chief attractions of subject of the ideal place for the the wheel or wheels. If the Airline type of body, I would spare place luggage accommodation position at the side is not ideal, first,, modern and natural ap it does at any rate permit free use pearance second, cleanliness of the tall for luggage, and my third, and speed and economy present Airline Bentley is the first last

of many vehicles I have owned a fully to provide enough luggage room that It is admitted streamlined form was not at for the number of passengers it tempted in the design to which can accommodate. At the Olym- I refer, because that would have pla and Paris Shows one noticed ap- that many big cars had the wheel entailed too exaggerated an pearance and too long a tail stored in the tail, where it is neat projecting dangerousis behind the and unoffending. until baggage back axle. Neither did I adopt space is needed. cycle-type wings, which in them-

As to point two, appearance: selves are beneficial in certain that, of Curse, is a matter of ways, nor a completely enclosed opinion. Many have put my car trontal aspect. Rather was the on a far higher plane than I ever design an attempt to gain as conceived. Others do not favour much advantage as possible from streamlining, but the fact that a streamline eddy-free form while there were at least six examples using a normal radiator and chas- of Airline bodies-as opposed to

of -complete sis; that is, a modern car

streamlining in the character without being revolu 1935 range at the Show indicates

that many approve the style. tionary.

Cleanliness is a point seldom connection with mentioned in streamlining, but I can say from the natural air experience that flow around the body results in the tall and

sides remarkably clean, and friends follwing me on wet roads have told me of what I cannot see, le, the extraordinary absence of surging spray around the tall. A gain due to unbroken lines, the body is far easier to clean.

As to speed, a standard-type Bentley with any of the various types of standard closed bodies, will exceed 90 m.ph. Mine has achieved 98 m.ph.. but the op portunities for such speed are so few and far between that I lean to the view that speed in itself Is not at all the main constriera. tion: Economy is certainly as- sisted,,, but cot to the exters of 40 per cent, as has been suggest- ed I can quote a run from Lor:- dan to Glasgow at a very good average speed, on which the petrol consumption averaged 20.3 m.p.g. Usually the average is 18 m.p.g. These are exceptional results with a 31 cwt, car of high performance with a two-carburetter engine.

Figures have been advanced during the past twelve months which

а

would indicate that streamlined body requires less than 60 per cent. of the power required in the case of a normal body at about 80 m.p.h. The Elf fel Tower forraula. figures quoted In my last article on this subject lent support to this view, but this is where theory and practice, I tiporously suggest, are not allied. If we were able to adopt perfect streamline forms the oft-quoted calculations of the reduction of drag might be borne out in prac- tice. But a four-wheeled car does not lend itself to perfect stream- lining unless the front and tall are extended beyond practical Imitations; and, more important still until the entire underpart of the chassis is streamlined as perfectly as the body and tall, theoretical calculatieias of drag, I submit. are entirely fallacious.

·

"

"As to comfort, there is every bit as much luxury in an Airline form as in any other if it is schemed aright, and the most use. ful natural shelf hehind the rear Beats as a result of the Airline exterior is a boon.

Streamlined forms of bodies are progressing, the public is becom- ing rapidly, accustomed to the natural and smooth lines adopt- ed, bigger body interiors would be appreciated by all, and already the benefits of the streamline Vogue are discernible in normal- type badies, but in my view too much emphasis has been laid on the claims to extra speed attain- able, and not enough on other in- herent advantage,

FIRE-RESCUE WORK

HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 1935.

MOTOR JOTTINGS

CLEARING MAIN LONDON TRAFFIC AMBER LIGHTS

HIGHWAYS

Ribbon Development

To Be Restricted

$.

As was rather to be expected. the inertia of the highway autho- rities of Great Britain combined with the eagerness of landowners and speculative buliders to seize any opportunity for profit, has led usefulness of several of the new by-pass roads being reduced.

This is due to "the form of activity commonly known as rib- bon development, a term which is unfortunately by now so fami- liar as not to require explanation: The result is that householders roads are exposed to on these unnecessary dangers from fast- moving traffic and road transport time, concerns lose money and

the congestion caused owing to by waiting vehicles.

To say that this position might have been foreseen is easy. but there is this justification for the statement in that as long ago as 1909 the Development and Road Improvement Funds Act gave the highway authorities power to re- strict building development along new roads. The mystery is why this power has not been exercis- ed, except in Surfey, Essex, and Middlesex, where all building within 200 ft. of a main road is prohibited and the number and position of side roads can be re- gulated. Alternatively, any land' for 220 yards on either side of the road can be compulsorily pur- chased.

the position, the. This being British

have Road Federation sent a memorandum to the Minis- ter of Transport asking that similar powers should be given-to- Council and that every County the further extension of ribbon development should, thus be pre- vented.

As regards roads which are al- ̈ ready handicapped from this cause,, it is suggested that a 15- ft, carriageway should be driven through the 35-ft, grasą margins, which usually exist for the ac- commodation of local and stand- ing traffic, and that bays should also be provided for omnibus stops. If this were done, it is thought that most of the inciden- tal traffic would be cleared off the main highway and conditions" greatly improved.

Urgency in the matter is p'ead- ed now that the Road Traffic .Act imposes a speed limit in built-

up areas. This procedure has of" course already been adopted on the Kingston By-pass and might be extended.

fil

THIRD-PARTY INSURANCE

Operative From January 1

The Minister of Transport has decided to bring into operation

SCHEMES

The London Passenger Trans- port Board is to take steps, dur- ing the next session of Parlia ment to secare powers such as will enable them to improve pass- enger transport facilities in both inner and outer London. The advantages of mified control over these services are shown in the proposal to link the Metropolitan and Bakerloo lines by a Tube railway running from Finchley- road on the former, to Baker- street on the latter, system.

This will lovalve the recon- struction of Baker-street station, but will enable a through service to be provided between the Met- ropolitan main line and the West End of London.

It is further proposed to widen the Metropollan system between Harrow and Rickmansworth by providing two additional tracks. This will necessitate the recon- struction of several stations, and will form part of an improvement enabling electric working to be extended from Rickmansworth to Amersham.

Other railway works include the construction of a short line at Uxbridge to a point in the High- street, where a new station will

built, the ré-siting of Aldgate East station, and the carrying of the Inner Circle at Cromwell- road Kensington under the Dis- trict main line by ady-under Junction, and bringing it into the centre platforms at South Ken- sington station. This should do much to reduce the delays, which now occur at this point

It is further proposed to con- tinue the policy of substituting trolley buses for tramways, and a scheme providing for the con- version of 63 miles of route has been prepared. This covers lines in Hendon, Finchley, Wood; Green; Hornsey, Tottenham, Waltham- stow, Chingford, Leyton, Wan- stead, West Ham. East Ham, and North Woolwich.

THE SILENT KNIGHT

Warning In Silence Zones

With the ban on the sounding of horns, in silence zones after 11.30 p.m. many people have come forward with ideas for using á A light in place of the horn. bright beam of light flung on to the surface of the road well ahead of a car will give warning of its approach to a corner before, the car itself is visible to the driver of another, but where there are street lamps a steady beam of light will not show up so well. A light which ficks on and of would be more likely to attract attention than a consant beam. The Silent Knight Is a warming device which automatically fiicks the headlamps, or a special spot- light, on and off when the horn button is used for its operation.

The device is compact and Ats.

Traffic Act, 1934, and to after the under the bonnet on the scuttle. Motor Vehicles

(Third Party A Risks) Regulations, 1933.

ג'

Fire-fighting. nowadays is a very highly organised branch of on January 1st, 1835, the provi- public authorities' work, and sions of Part II of the Road motor vehicles are being em ployed more and more by pro- gressive towns and cities. very useful addition has just been made to Shefeld's feet for instance, in the form of a rescue tender mounted on Dennis Ace chassis.

a

This is atted with a draw-bar at the rear for towing a traller pump and is very fully equipped.

of the body is a hose reel carry-

The Act provides that certain classes of limitations on a policy shall have no effect 80 far as concerns third-party personal irijury claims as required to be. covered by the Road Traffic Acts, 1930 and 1934 The Act also im= poses the liability to pay the 12s.

It possesses four sets of breath-8d emergency treatment fee. ing apparatus, oxygen resuscitat, The authorised insurers desire. ing equipment and oxy-acetylene to make it clear to all policy cutting plant. In the main part holders that there is no need for

them to return their existing cer tificates or communicate with their insurers with regard to the conditions which will be applic able after January-1st. Existing policies and certificates will be held to provide the insurance re- quired by the new provisions. until such policies and certificates expire, except. In cases where in dividual notice is given to the.. policy-holders.

by a pump from a 40 gallon tank. A telescopic ladder is) carried on the roof and there is flood-lighting equipment.

It may not be possible or prac, tical to streamline the underpart of a normal engine-in-front chas- "sis perfectly, because of the heat and fumes which would be shut In and the inaccessibility of parts which would result, but until these problems are, considered and surmounted calculations of the theoretical gain in speed should be modified, or, alterna- tively, proved by performance, ifing 180 ft. of hose, which is fed such a thing is possible,

Oft-repeated maxims do not prove à point: If and when rear- engined chassis become the vogue, the problem of perfectly stream- lining the whole of the chassis, both above and below, will be greatly simplified; and then, and then only, will any appreciable gain in touring speed from a given power be observable. It should further be added that all roads twist and twirl so that a car manifestly cannot be travell- ing head on to the wind at all times, even if the wind is in the most favourable general direction Having thus dealt with exag- gerated claims as to speed to my own satisfaction, I revert to the trians.

COST OF A BEACON

In answer to Mr. Hutchison, the Minister of Transport said in the. House of Commons that the ap- proximate cost of providing and erecting & Dedestrian-crossing beacon was 30%. The globes. were fixed, in the same way as traffic light signals, at about seven feet above the footway, so as to allow sufficient clearance for pedes

Policy-holders are reminded that, if an accident occurs when a motor vehicis is used in con- travention of the terms or con- ditions of the insurance polley some insurers may exercise their right to recover from the policy holder compensation which has been paid in respect of a third party personal injury claim.”

It consists of a change-over -switch for operating, alther the lamps or the horn, and a solenoid When the and magnetic: rotor. horn Is deconnected by the change-over switch, the born out- ton operates the lamps and gives a flickering effect of 60 or 80 "winics" per minute, the reason being that as current passes into the coll the rotor is attracted by the magnetism induced. The movement of the rotor breaks contact and flicks the light. The rotor returns, establishes an elect- ric circuit once more, is attracted to the magnet and breaks con- tact again, this process continuing so long as the horn button is de- pressed.

-HUMBER DIVIDEND

The directors of Humber, Ltd. announce that they are recom- mending at the forthcoming an- nust general meet dividendy of 15 per cent, less tax, on the 15 per cent, non-cumulative prefer ed ordinary shares of 10s. exes, and 10 per cent, leas tax, on the abates of 18. deferred ordinary each for the year ended July 31st, 1034

IN FOG

CAR-PAKING PROBLEM

Vertical Garages Of The Future

use in underground parks and public squares. "Cars could be stored two high in an excavation. about "2014" deep., since o manœuvring space need be allow...... ed for.

Any device which may lead to common belief among the solving of the car-parking motorists is that the use of a problem in large towns must be coloured driving light, usually of seriously considered, and there is amber, is an aid to visibility in London, a working model of a when

Three driving in fog.

garage which can accommodate years ago the International Com- an exceptionally large number of In the case of blocks of flats mission on Illumination passed cars in proportion to its size.

the switches, instead of being a provisional resolution stating This garage is known in England push buttons, could be Yale-type that there was no advantage to as the Simon Patent Vertical locks, each owner having a key be gained by using coloured head "Garage, and it is constructed for his own car cage. The whole light beams in fog. Subsequent-

under 3.

originally idea is full of possibilities for patent ly that resolution was with- taken out in the USA, by the badly congested areas like the drawn, partly because the evi- Westinghouse Electric and Manu- West End of London, where car dence in favour of the statement facturing Co., Pitttsburg. It is accommodation is hard to ind was indirect and of too vague a

manufactured by Henry Simon, and parking in the streets is one. character: Last winter the Na Ltd., in conjunction with Metro of the chief causes of trafe tional Physical Laboratory at

politan Vickers Electrical Co., blockages Teddington carried cui a met-

Ltd. who are the owners of the hodical series of tests during

English patent, heavy fogs, and have recently announced the results of their experiments. The official find- ings are below:-

ад

The distance at which observer could just detect B test-object through the fog was determined, both with the un- screened head lights and em- ploying

due

glass plate

The garage consists of a num- ber of light cradles, or trays, each one holding CBT and being suspended from endless chains. The chains pass over the sprocket wheels at the top and bottom of the bullding, and are driven by electric motors housed in the basement. The garage would only require one man in charge, to work press buttons like a ift man. Each cradle is numbered, and on pressing the button cor- responding to that number the appropriate cradle descends.

9

and the

glass filters of various colours--orange, red, and blue- green. Of course, altering the colour of a head light beam by placing a coloured. over the head light also diminis hes the intensity of the light. The results of the experiments point to the conclusion that the only effect on range of visiblilty In tog to inserting the coloured glasses arises from this mininution of intensity, which is accompanied by a reduction in the penetration of the beam through the fog. The distance at which the test object could be discerned, was the same with coloured glasses as with colourless glasses, provided the Intensity of light, after passing the through the glasses, was same in each case."

Motorists will no doubt, con, tinue to

Chicago use amber glass and

with three such vertical units at- -screens, however, sirice they form

tached to a «theatre. a useful means of reducing the which is de- intensity of light sirable in actual practice on the roads.

The convenience of such garage built into offices, theatres cinemas, or blocks of fats is ob- vious. Cars drive in. one at a time, the door is shut, cage is lifted until the next empty cage comes round. When a car is · required again the cage descends and the car is driven out un- touched by anyone except the "owner. An average of about one minute is necessary to remove a particular car. Each machine oc- cuples a space of about 16ft. by

clear,

24ft or less, and a single garage with a height of about 80ft, could take eighteen cars. There is in existence in

器

garakę

Another adaptation of the idea would be a horizontal garage for

SEE THAT WET, SEE

THAT DRY

Here is a true story, vouched for by a correspondent living in Aldershot, who relates the adven- tures of a brother officer. This gentleman was driving his car near Olympla when a brand-new 1935 Frazer Nash shot out, andy in avoiding it, he hit a lamp- post. The driver apologised and offered to lend him a car 'until his was repaired. He accepted, and sallied forth in a new 1935 four-* seater. This be parked in Earl's Court, where a police car cane -round the corner too fast and ran into the parked vehicle, putting it out of action. The police were

about It" "quite nice

·("vide? Stanley Holloway), and lert him a police Riley.

As he was driving out of town next Sunday, another police car saw the Riley and gave chase, the officers thinking it had been stolen.

Our friend was run'inte the side, and again came to rest at a lamp-post. Came .explana- tions, telephone messages, more apologies, and finally the offer of another car. This offer, however. was not accepted. He went on train, which is unfortunate; for we shall never know how far Fate was wiling to take this little joke.

TRUST A THORNYCROFT WITH YOUR TRANSPORT

DEAL DIRECT

THORNYCROFT

SIX-CYLINDERED

COACHES & OMNIBUSES

MOTOR VEHICLES

DIESEL OR PETROL

Pioneer Manufacturers of Commercial He

Full Range of Spares carried in Hong Kong and Shangha

**

4 or 6 Wheels

4 or 6 Cylinders

80 Cwt. to 10 Ton Loads

20 to 70 Passengers

JOHN L THOBNYCROFT & CO., LIMITED,

Pioneer Building, Nathan Road, Kowloon.

TEL. 56758.

TRUST ATHORNYCROFT WITH YOUR TRANSPORT