1935-03-26 — Page 2

Page

MOTOR NOTES FROM GREAT BRITAIN

A Loss To The Industry

The British motor industry lost one of its pioneers in the death of Mr. R. W. Maudslay, founder and chairman of the standard Motor Co., at the age of 83 Although trained originally as

employed a civil engineer and chief assistant to Sir John Wolfe Barry the engineer in charge of. the construction of Barry Dock it was as early as 1902 that he went. to Coventry and a year later, with a few helpers, built the first Standard car'

་ EI

One feature of this car, marked it as being ahead of the times, for ít was fitted with stde entrance to the rear seats, where- as this did not become general practice until some years later. By the following year the engine was housed under a bonnet, in- stead of under the bodywork, as in the original production. But It was 1905 that saw a big deve- lopment for in that year Mr. Maudslay produced a 6-cylinder engine, although such a power unit was not generally adopted for medium-powered cars until h years later.

A MILESTONE OF PROGRESS.

Two years before the War there began to develop a demand for small and inexpensive cars and this eminent engineer pro- duced a 9 h.p. car with a water- cooled engine to "sell at the low price of £200. So successful was this that for the next two years. practically the whole of the fac tory was occupted in building these pioneer "Nine".

War requirements caused a break in the normal activities. such materia] as shells, aaro engines. lorry components, trench -mortars—and aeroplanes taking the place of the usual peaceful products.

100 CARS IN A DAY

It was a 1927 that the founda- tion of the present success of the Standard Co. was begun with the production of the popular "Nine". With the introduction of Captain J.P. Black to a responsible execu- tive post that later developed into

IL

the position of managing direc tor. Mr. Maudslay initiated the rise in the fortunes of the com- pany and lived to see his crea- tion, an immense success turning out over 100 cars a day..

:

AN INTERESTING DEVELOP- MENT

It has just been announced that the control of Clement Talbot Ltd., has been taken

Rootes Securities Ltd, and with this ries and progressive direc- tion, the future of this well known -make promises to surpass even

past records.

HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 1935.

MOTOR JOTTINGS

SQUEALING BREAKS

One Way To Cure Them

MOTORS AND MOTORING

4

The Rover A Very

English Car

standard

It is not often that I am so One of the many curable noises

Impressed with the performance which adds to the din of traffic

and convenience of a new car is the squealing of brakes. The

as I was with those of the 1935 Rover, edition of the 10-h.p. squealing may be due to rough

One Is writes a correspondent. brake drums or imperfect brake

to engines accustomed to-day over by shoes, but sometimes even when.

these have been attended to the with a capacity of anything over squeal remains. There is a fur-

litre doing a mile a minute without much effort or the signs ther method to try in elusive cases. Fit an outsize metal clip "of it; in fact, sixty miles an hour

is almost the lowest round the outside, of the brake

maximum speed for drum. The drum is like a bell,

rated above 8 hp-a since it is attached, especially in

stance we should have found it the case of cars with knock-off wheels to a small hub, yet itselfdiacuit, to accept only five years

ago. Yet I found in the Rover. may be a foot in diameter. The

that very

rare combination of metal clip, under which is laid a

high miximum speed, comfort. washer of cork (or lamp wick

able travel, exceptional quietness may be used), helps to deaden

of operation, and most impor- any sound and suppresses vibra-

tant of all, proper passenger ac- tion..

commodation).

During a period of over 30 years the Talbot car has built up an enviable reputation, not only at. home,

countries but in many Overseas. In 1907, for instance, completed the first crossing of the Australian continent, whist 1913 saw the first car, a Talbot. complete more than 100 miles in the Nour.

tlines, the recent In more achievements of"this" make in the leading sporting events on road and track, including the Inter- national Alpine Trials and the Monte Carlo Rally. are too well known to need emphasis. It is satisfactory to know that with the present programme for future development the Talbot enters upon a new era of promise.

1935 RAILTONS

Clips to cure squealing are the gant Jubilee metal clips, obtain- any make or size "of able for drum. They are made on exactly the same principle as the well- known Jubilee clips for radiator hoses, and cost from 2s to 2s. 6d. each. Jubilee brake drum clips were fitted, for a member of "The Autocar staff, to a car the brakes of which invariably squealed when the car was brought to a stand still After fitting, the squealing only occurred on very rare occa- sions. These brake drum clips are s standard fitting on some 1935 cars.

Incidentally, free samples of Jubilee "hose" clips are available from the manufacturers, L. Robin- son and Co.. 3; London Chambers. Gillingham, Kent.

Only minor alterations have been made in the 'Railton chassis for 1935, the chassis, in fact, is very little different from its prede. cessor of 1934. The high-compres- sion head giving a ratio of T to 1' which was used for some of the cars last year has now been adopted as standard. There is a variation in the length of the

The doctor's little daughter front springs, and the only radical watched her father testing the change is that the single piece heart and lungs of her youngest front axle beam used in 1833 Is brother. At last she asked:

"Getting standard, the articulated front axle of 1934 being dropped. Daddy?"

now

YOU can BUY YOUR LUBRICANTS.

FROM A 100% BRITISH FIRM...

the makers of the famous

WAKEFIELD

Castrol

MOTOR OIL:

Radio-Minded

any new

For many years we have been supplying leading factories with lubricants. Our research departments have given careful attention to the types of oil required, and these special lubricante are as outstandingly eficient for their own particular purposes the world-famous ÇASTROL, is in the motor world.

G. WAKEFIELD & CO., LTD.

Agenta in Bouth China

ROBERTSON WILSON & CO., LTD.

David House, Hong Kong.

I'

its work unobtrusively. No mat- ter how I drove it 'I was never made aware of any effort. The engine runs with quite excep- tional quietness, even at high speeds, and it puils, evenly to the end of its limit. In point of fact you do not seem to discover a limit at all. There is one, of course, but there always seems to be "more to come"-e very restful sensation: The springing is ex- cellent; any car

and the car holds the circum-

road well in all circumstances. should have preferred the steer- ing to be higher-geared, particu- larly in view of the swiftly reach- ed maximum speed, but I found It safe and steady enough.

without Gear-changing.

the freewheel, is very quick and easy. third and second both being practically noiseless. I liked the brakes. The -foot-brake, on the four wheels, is the Girling, and extremely powerful. I am not suze that

"of it is not one the two best trials 1 have ever known in these triala "The side-brake is a brake and not, a parking device. It stops the car properly.

It would be absurd to say that the six-windowed saloon I was sent for trial is as big as anybody Within resSON→ would want it. able limits you cannot really have too big a body, but the Rover body sits four people not without only comfortably and cramping, but does so with the rear passengers forward of the back axle and not over or behind not under- it. I confess I did stand how this was done, on a wheelbase of 8 ft. 9 in.. particu larly as the engine has not been set forward in the new fashion.

is still well behind · the front axle.

It

BODY COMFORT

The width has been increased for 1935 by two inches with good results. There is no elbow-foul- ing necessary in the two front seats.

been The floor has brought low so as to provide the twin comforts of easy entrance The car and good headroom. gains in appearance from its low build, but it is not low inside. It very well finished and the is equipment includes a sliding roof with central stations,

control, interior lighting, a parcel-net, and neat ashtrays. The build of the body is excellent, silence being insured by the spraying of all panels, on the inside, with a thick coating of asbestos compound. This is said not only to prevent drum- ming (there is none; whatever the reason), but to maintain an event temperature in the car #winter and summer. Another very good point is the one-piece construction of the steel pressing scuttle, which keeps out heat and fumes from the engine and des- dens noise. Tool-boxes are SP- ranged in this pressing.

Another point I like is the ac- cessibility of the business end of al instruments on the dash. which are reached through a sort of manhole-in-the-scuttle under. the bonnet. A wise provision. "LUPPARE "IS" cared off I luting grid combined with the rear bumper. The only criticism I have to make on this coachwork is in the depth of the front seats." Comfort would be much improv- ed if the edges of these were brought forward another three inches, so as to give some cup- port to one's knees.

CAREFUL ENGINE DESIGN

In general design the rubber- suspended engine of the Ten re- mains the same as last year's': The bore and stroke are 66.5 by

100, which means "a capacity of 1,389 cc. and a tax of £8 5. Valves are overhead push-rod operated, cooling is by pump, the temperature being controlled by a thermostat, ignition by battery and coll. Petzol is fed from the rear: 91-gallon tank by pump. Yet another evidence of careful work is provision of flexible per- rol an oil pipes, things I should like to see on all engines, whether rubber-suspended or not. Char sis dubrication is entirely automa- tic, every bearing being supplied from, a single reservoir. The gear-ratios are comfortably high/ top being 44.88; third 7.45, second 11, and bottom an emergency. 19.8. On these I was able to reach sixty-four, forty-five, and thirty-two miles an hour without fogging. The car weighs twenty-four cwt It is far too much, of course, but such a load. Indicates the eficiency of the engine.7

STEERING AND BRAKES

That

a very English Bay that 16 does

Other features are the "har- monic stabiilser." which keeps The radiator and wings steady on rough roads the automatic engine re-starter, and the auto- "matically controlled battery-

charging.

THE SNOBBERY OF LOCOMOTION

A Similarity Of Thought In All Countries

Already the hatlers sportsman, lolling behind the wheel of a shining cigarshaped affair - with an exhaust gobbling like a turkey. cock is smiling gleefully as he shows the "tail" of his new 1935" "bus" to some poor fellow driving only a 1934 model, writes a cor- respondent No doubt in a few months' time a superior sports- man will in his turn be showing him the "all" of a 1336 model. What a pity cars do not be- would come like furniture! It

hold be .. so much cheaper to forth about our genuine "rear entrance Edwardian" than to pay the instalments on a new model "every year to put our neighbours'

noses out of joint,

Unfortunately, however.

there

is no hope of this higher tone ever entering the motor trade, for, in matters of locomotion, man re- maids, as he has always been, an Inveterate speed and novelty shob

NO STEERING WHEEL I shall never forget my first ride in a car. It was in 1902.

There was no steering wheel be-

hind which to lounge; there were no deep cushions on which to recline. For all the world it look- ́ed like a four-wheeled cogcart minus the horse, and with a tiller instead of reins. We sat back to back and bolt upright, and, as we chugged magnificently along, we scorned our fellow men who travelled behind miserable quad- rupeds.

the

An uncle, who never ceases ex- tolling the glories ΟΙ "the 'eightles," confesses that LIFE AND HILL-CLIMBING This is a very lively car with greatest moment of his life was the veliness of a machine of at Oxford when he appeared for half its power again. On top

the first time in the "High" tool- turnout newly acquired and third the acceleration is most ing a satisfying and nowhere could drawn by a couple of frisky bays. discover a flat spot. I liked the in tandem. way it took its hills. Burgh Heath, was begun at 40 miles an hour and the speed rose to 45, dropping back to 40, and only to 38 as the end, where it is steepest.

IN THE EAST In the East even the humble inoke can be a "atest model," Let an Arab boy acquire a new, donkey and he will don his most

and,

gaily coloured waistcoat with red slippers dangling pre- "cariously from his toes, he will

through ride haughtily

the bazaar casting contempt op all around.

་

"The chmel, most supercilious of beasts. is a greater snob than his master.

Nothing could exceed the ytter contempt with which the trotting camel from Nublar with sheik or tribesman on his back, curls his lip as he passes his brother, bearing only a load of firewood..

Life must have been a very dull business before primaeval man learnt to travel on anything but his own feet. Perhaps run-

53

ning was in fashion! But apred provides only half the snobbery of locomotion, the other half being dependent on the posession of the "latest model,”. I can only imagine that our

forefathers early

must have spent their time almiring new- pairs of sandals

VINTAGE SHAKESPEARE”

¡Special Air Mall. Servict)

London, March 6. There was no sack at the stage party at His Majesty's Theatre in the early hours of yesterday

A Falstaan touch... morning. however, WAS given by the Rehoboams of Champagne,

These contain eight times the amount of an ordinary bottle. Uncorking them is a formidable business, and caused the eyebrows even of veteran waiters to assume a Robeyish arch,

"

The hero of the evening was not seen drinking any himself. He was too busy explaining to his ad- mirera that what they thought vintage were Robeyisme Shakespeare.

were

One of the biggest laughs of the evening was caused" by Falstaff's remark "There's no equity stir- ring." Many went home convinced that this was an interpolation by Mr. George Robey...

TRUST A THORNYCROFT WITH YOUR TRANSPORT

DEAL DIRECT

THORNYCROFT

SIX-CYLINDERED

COACHES & OMNIBUSES

MOTOR VEHICLES

DIESEL OR PETROL

Manufacturers of Commercial

Full Range of Spares carried in Hong Kong and Shanghai

4 or 6 Wheels

4 or 6 Cylinders

80 Cwt. to 10 Ton Loads

20 to 70 Passengers

JOHN L THORNYGROIT & CO., LIMITED,

Pioneer Building, Nathan Road, Kowloon,

TEL. 66759.

TRUST ATHOPNYCROFT-With Your TRANSPORT]