The Olympia Show.
Page 16
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Introduction to Forecast of Commercial Exhibits ; By the Editor.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has a record of satisfactory progress in the provision it has been able to make for commercial motors. This section of the motor industry was of small account at the time of the society's first show in January, 1903, but it had assumed more importance a year later. A combination of unfavour able circumstances resulted in a practical burial of the heavy vehicles at the Crystal Palace in February, Igoe, and we had occasion, in that connection, to comment most severely —in the course of an article which appeared in the pages of " The Automobile Club Journal "—upon the mismanagement that consigned a certain number of makers to a dungeon-like cellar ! Mr. Sidney Straker, who is now president for the second time, took up the cudgels on behalf of the slighted exhibitors, and it was almost entirely due to his pertinacity in the matter that the claims of what is daily proving an increasingly large branch of the industry were not ignored. The change from Sydenham to Olympia, which will ever be looked back to as a move of supreme import to the British motor trade generally, was not unconnected with the question of greater prominence for the utility vehicle, The risk of unequal treatment for—as it was then regarded—the unattractive side of automobilism was considerably reduced, and the unequivocal measure of success that auentled the first show at Olympia deserves to be unstintingly acknowledgexl. It is little more than eight months ago that the society's third exhibition was the envy of many, and the interval has been turned to such good account that there is no gauging the future. The structural alterations have certainly conduced to the relief of a pressure that threatened to become acute, and the recent brilliant success of the Electrical Trades Exhibition, which closed on October 21st, can but add to the effect of the original recovery for the building. Olympia has been raised from a position of ignominy and inglorious failure : the change has been sudden and complete, but there are all the evidences of stability. It will be our individual privilege, during the next three weeks, to place
A DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE COMMERCIAL EXHIBITS
before our supporters and a number of fresh readers. How great a pleasure this will be to us may be gathered from the relative slowness of development that has characterised the branches in question. We have been confident for the great future of commercial motors, from the days of our early services to the movement, which ante-date the passing of the 1896 Act. Present successes are, in consequence, all the more welcome. Intermediate experiences have been varied and bitter, as much for us as for any who have been devoted to the cause of self-propelled traffic from the inception of its modern phases. The consistent failures of the so-called motor delivery vans, when the chassis of pleasure cars were foisted on the unsuspecting buyer, have now given place to convincing testimonials trom satisfied users. Parallels exist, do we look at the wagon, the tractor, the agricultural motor, the omnibus, or the public service vehicle. We cannot spare room to repeat the various arguments and statistics adduced in our seven special issues that have been published since March last : they will be within the recollection of our regular supporters, and we must ask new ones to accept our assurances as to iheir contents. It is no exaggeration to say that we have been able to collect a mass of irrefutable testimony to the earning powers and regular service of upto-date commercial motors. To deny that these machines merit adontion at the present date, after no less than nine years of strenuous experiment coupled with extensive practical use, is to
SHUT ONE'S EYES TO FACTS.
'We are addressing, more especially, the potential buyer who is in doubt, because this introductory page will have the scope provided for it to determine many such readers in one direction or the other : it will either induce them to give immediate attention to a revisal of their existing transport methods, which must find expression in a visit to the Olympia Exhibition, or will fail to move them in a direction where the monee they are now spending on antiquated and wasteful systems may be saved. Let it be admitted, at
once, that a motor will not prove cheaper than horse haulage under all conditions of delivery and use. To advance a claim of that nature would be to court effective denial ; yet we have seen it done by irresponsible journalists who know no better. More harm than good is done to a sound cause by specious argument or special pleading, and we do not make preposterous assertions in our pages. We have published accounts, verbatim et literatint, which prove how hard it is to realise an economy where a motor is pitted against a one-horse van and is not given enough work to enable its owner to use it to advantage. This is one example of inappropriate application : if the greater speeds and loadcarrying capacities of motor vans cannot be availed of, by all means keep a horse and man for idling purposes ! Reports have also appeared in our pages to the effect that a single motor wagon has replaced nine Shire horses, whilst another owner—with little work to do and even less energy to seek its increase—has bemoaned the expenses. Where work is plentiful and hills abound, mechanical power is enormously superior to animal power : where loads are scarce and delays form a high percentage of the day, the margin is less apparent, or may even disappear.
Brewers, millers, contractors, market gardeners, and numerous other traders, require no conversion, for large numbers of them are extensive users : they will visit the show to keep in touch with developments. But it is the plain
DUI V OF ALL WHO ARE IN DOUBT
to go. The convenience of seeing the latest productions of engineering genius, as applied to the problem of road locomotion, under one roof, is not to be resisted. The principals of each manufacturing concern, be it added, will be found at the stands, and it is invariably more satisfactory to spend a morning or afternoon in meeting and conversing with men of their experience than to come to a decision on the best-drawn specification yet prepared. It is due to himself, and no more than fair to the motor industry, that anybody who questions the arrival of commercial vehicles at a stage of workmanlike development should visit the show. To abstain means self-condemnation : a competent critic must make himself acquainted with his opponent's case I The collection of utility vehicles at Olympia, from the tricyclecarrier to the six-ton wagon, and from the traveller's brougham to the double-deck omnibus, will stand both examination and criticism. They have been constructed in response to a demand that has survived the miserable productions of ieee-ieot, and it may truthfully be written that these threatened to kill the industry in all its branches. This very survival is enough to demonstrate a vitality derived from intrinsic worth alone.
Thirty-five names appear in the official list of exhibitors of " Commercial vehicles." We regret to observe that there are several notable absentees from that list, and to learn that four of those included must be placed in that category. The exhibition is, none the less, representative of both British and Continental manufacturers, and all who go to it may rest assured that, provided motors are to suit their work in any direction, no valid excuse can deter them from placing business. They will find variety ; and choice in any particular class will not be wanting. It is our intention to provide a useful guide to the commercial exhibits, as well as a complete description of them, in our next three numbers, and we believe these will prove serviceable to visitors who intend to treat the occasion in the serious spirit that it undoubtedly demands at their hands. Shows are admittedly exacting, and without a plan of inspection much valuable time may be wasted. Our aim will he to save our readers trouble by indicating what they should examine.