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LUXURY IN A TOURING COACH.
Page 96
Page 97
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An Example of What is Being Done. to Cater for Tours. of Several Days' Duration.
IN our issue for June 21st we were. able to give the first" details of the latest Lancia passenger chassis, .which is the third series of the Pentaiota Model, and it is of particular interest that we are now able to describe the very first vehicle incorporating this chassis and a body which deserves especial mention. The LanMa chassis is, of course, supplied by the Curtis Automobile Co., Ltd., Curtis Buildings, Park Royal, NAVA% whilst the body is a product of Hall Lewis and Co., Ltd., also of Park Royal, and built to the order of The Carlux Service, the head office of which is 11-17, Nicholas Street, Chester,and the London office 180, Fleet Street, London, E.C.4. At the moment of writing the coach, is at Chester,, where it will be employed on Carlux tours, which actually cover an area stretching from Carnarvon to London, and including Chester, Coventry, Oxford and Shrewsbury, amongst many other places.
The vehicle is a 20-seater, and provides most comfortable seating. Twelve people can be accommodated in crossseata arranged in pairs at the sides of a central gangway, whilst the remaining eight are disposed around a table at the rear, thus forming a kind of social compartment.
Before dealing with the vehicle we will refer to some of the ususual features of Carlux service. Each traveller is provided with a suitcase large enough to carry all necessities for a six days' tour. These cases measure 30 ins. by 16 ins. by 7 ins., are accommodated in ten lockers at the sides of the vehicle, and arc presented as mementoes to the passenger when the tour is completed. Any mails addressed to the London office are expressed to reach the addressee the following morning wherever the
D42
vehicle may be. Every morning a copy of The Morning Post is supplied to each person. Smoking is permissible, and supplies of cigarettes are carried on the coach, and can he purchased from the courier. Any films exposed may be handed to the courier at Chester, and they will be developed, printed. and delivered within 48 hours.
Now we come to the actual details cf the coach itself. Considerable attention has.been paid to ensuring the safety
of the passengers from fire. The petrol filler is right at the rear and external. There is a door leading from the driver's department into the main part of the body, and a large door at the back, where them is a folding step, which, when, up, conceals the spare wheel.
Ample ventilation is afforded by large, frameless glass windows with wind-up handles, and two roof ventilators which are retained open or. dosed by springball catches. The courier is accommodated On a folding seat at the side of the driver, and ample protection is afforded this portion of the vehicle by full doors with drop windows, and a windscreen. The method . of communication between the courierand the passengers is particularly interesting, as it is effected by .a microphone ::and• separate plug-in Sterling telephones for each seat; this portion, of the equipment, including a two-valve Marconi amplifier, being accommodated in. a cabinet at the off .side of the driver. The telephones have single earpieces, and are arranged eonveniendy for the passengers, Glass-topped folding tables are provided for each occupant, 'except in' the case of those' passengers seated at the rear. Some of the tables fold into the backs of the seats. One ia, however, carried in the division between the driVer's compartment and the rest of the body, and one • in the near-side panelling close to the front entrance. At the front there is also a clock in full view of—the occupants. Four parcel
racks are fitted along each side of the roof, and the lighting is effectively carried out with opal bulbs in Opal globes suspended from brackets arranged along the sides. All the fittings, including ash-trays behind the seats, and the lamp brackets, are ,finished in oxidized silver. Three press-buttons with mother-of-pearl plungers are mounted in the roof, and are connected to an electric bell by the driver's side.
The upholstery is carried out in cornflower blue leather, and the inner panels are faced with material of • the same colour. The roof . and window frames are, however, finished in polished wood, whilq the exterior of the body is panelled in sheet steel. Each window has a blind with a single fingerand-thumb press lock. The floor is carpeted in a colour to match the tiOholstery., and the appearance of the vehicle is improved by dash ventilators.