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E PARIS SHOW. LAST WEDNESDAY marked the opening by M. Dios, the French Minister of Commerce and Industry, of the 17th "Exposition Internationale de l'Autornobile, du Cycle, et des Sports," in other words the French Motor Show, which is _being held, as usual, at the Grand Palais in the Champs Elysees and its overflow buildings at the other side of the Alexandre III bridge, until next Sunday., October 15th.
On this occasion owing to the large in ' crease in the number of exhibitors, two buildings in front of Les Invalides are employed, but these have not benefited the commercial vehicle section to any great extent, as much of the additional space has been taken by light cars, cycles and motorcycles, with the result that many of the heavier vehicles are standing in unroofed compounds attached to the overflow buildings, access to these being gained by numerous small doors.
So far as entrance to the buildings is concerned, important changes have been made ; for the commercial vehicle section the charge is 2 franca each day, the opening hours being from 9.30 a.m. to 0.30 p.m., although next Friday this may be extended to 10.30 p.m. if the experiment of later closing carried out last Friday has proved successful. The private car section of the Grand Palais has the same hours of opening, but the entrance fees are 5 francs on ordinary days and Sundays' with the exception of next Friday, when it will be 15 francs. It is important to remember that these tickets will not admit visitors to the overflow buildings. The first impression given by the commercial vehicle section was that it is considerably more extensive than last year.; in fact, there are close on 50 separate exhibitors, and some have up to a dozen vehicles of various types. The second impression was one of.slight disappointment, for new models and types of vehicles are almost conspicuous 1311y their absence, whereas at the last Salon they appeared by the dozen. Certainly , there are a few new arrivals, and there is a considerable amount of alteration in details ; but on the whole the exhibits reflect the condition of the French commercial vehicle trade' which is almost stagnant, except in a few branches such as coaches and municipal vehicles, of which latter, by the way, there appear to be dozens. The result of the small trade in commercial vehicles is that most of the designers are paying more attention to the development of the private car side, where there appears to be a fair demand. '
In ,view of the situation, it is only to be expected that the makers should concentrate on the lighter classes of vehicles, and that this is the case is shown by the large number of " camionettes," usually taking the form of what we may term the farmer's utility car, which is practically an ordinary touring car, so far as the chassis and front seats are concerned, provided with a polished or painted wood body, protected either by an ordinary type of hood or provided with a tilt cover. In every case a hinged tailboard is provided, and sometimes this has a folding step for the convenience of human freight.
In spite of the fact that few really new exhibits are staged, there are certain tendencies which may prove of far-reaching importance.. Perhaps the most striking of these are the development of the electric starter—even for the engines of vehicles designed to carry seven tons—and the increasing use of front-wheel brakes—not only on heavy vehicles, but even, in one case, on a taxicabthe Unic.
Until now we in Britain have been apt to consider, that the effort required to start a large engine—particularly in cold weather—is, too much for the electric type machine, but it is apparently having little or no trouble, even with fire pump power units of 100 h.p.
One of the most successful starters is that made by the Bleriot Co.', examples of which we noticed on several vehicles, including. the 5-ton Saurer. What has assisted the matter to a great extent is the French' War Office stipulation that all vehicles entered for their trials must be so fitted; for a similar reason an increasing number of vehicles is being fitted with differential locks, which are a great assistance on vehicles operating on bad roads, but would prove an almost unnecessary refinement in this country, although, if we are to maintain and increase the scope of our overseas trade, we must make provision for the fitting of such devices.
We consider—andthe opinions of many eminent French designers would appear to corroborate us— that front-wheel braking has now proved its merits, and ought to be adopted by us to a far greater • extent than is the case. To the best of our knowledge no commercial vehicle recently built in Britain is so equipped, although it has been used with great success on certain .fire-engines for a considerable number of years. Possibly our-designers consider that the problem of developing satisfactory front-wheel brakes is an extremely difficult one, but the ways in which the difficulties have been overcome -in some of the French machines show that these brakes may be made both reliable and of good appearance ; in fact, some are so inconspicuous that it is only upon a close examination thatthey can be seen.
It is interesting to note that the front-wheel brakes are, in many eases, additional to the ordinary brakes, thus providing a very satisfactory measure of safety, as three, brakes are hardly likely to fail simultaneously, although two may, because,. where only two brakes are fitted, if one fails the whole of the work then falls on the other.
The Salon of 1921 showed a great increase in the number of dual axles, in which there is a powerful member doing nothing else but supporting the load. In these axes the right-angle drive is by bevel gears without any great disparity in size, as the necessary gear reduction is obtained by 'using a spur pinion on each axle shaft, meshing with a large internal gear or ordinary spur gear ; this type of axle was more or less a copy of the bulk of the rear axles used on American machines, but its increased use on the vehicles shown this year appea-ts to prove that the use of this design was justified, particularly as it gives a very light but strong axle with a big clearance.
A few machines are provided with double-reduction back axles, but these are more the exception than the rule. In one case the first reduction is by'
bevel gears, and the second by spur gearing ; in another the first reduction is by .spur gearing, and the second by bevels, but either type, unless very well designed., is apt to make the complete axle somewhat inaccessible, some examples shown are guilty in this respect, and do not compare with those turned out by British makers. .• The majority of the passenger vehicles and quite a large number of the lorries are fitted with pneuinatic tyresahnost invariably of Michelin make. In -fact, we did net observe more than one or two Llliant tyres, and these were on American chassis. if the vehicles at the Salon were to be taken as a criterion, then almost every commercial vehicle should be equipped with pneumatics, but observation on the road shows that this is not the case, although probably considerably more, pneumatics are used in France, in proportion to the number of vehicles, than here, and we noticed that a number of the Paris omnibuses are so equipped.
_Pneumatic tyre equipment has one big drawback, which appliesin,ore particularly in the Case of coaches than in lorries ; this is the need for carrying a spare wheel or tyre—usually the former—and on the coaches exhibited the spare wheel is disposed in various places, at the side of the driver's seat, hung from a bracket projecting from the back of the body or hidden in the boot. The last-named position is more usual, but it encroaches on the space available for carrying luggage.
Engines and gearboxes appear to be much the same as previously, but we noted particularly that not so much care is taken regarding three-point suspension, either of engine or sub-frame, and a favourite practice with the lighter vehicles is to support the en
gine on steel plates bolted to the lower web of each side-member. In a fair number of chassis unit construction of engine and gearbox is embodied, but this development is not marked, and there are no novelties in the way of epicyclic or friction gears.
Much use is being made of helical bevel gearing for the final drive, where the. axles are not of the dual type already referred to, but there are several overhead warm arives, although this form does not appeal to the French designer as it does to his English confrere.
No attention appears to have been paid to the development of machines with more than four wheels, but there are several very interesting types of tractor-lorries, of which the Renault. has been shown previously ; but the Latil is a new type, and is shown
in two ferms. .resembles'theRenaultin having a ramp for the front of the trailer. The latter is provided with a balhended pin, and, as the tractor is backed, this pinslides up the ramp until it drops into a socket, where it is locked by a cross-pin. 'Tue trailer portion has a small front wheel supported in a hinged bracket, which lifts it clear of the ground' when the tractor is in position.
The second Latil model is of especial interest, showing as it does still another development of the tractor-lorry, for in this case a Wood hydraulic rain is carried on the tractor, and the lifting cables are attached to the ball pin socket, which is separate from the ramp and free to rise on a slide. The rear wheels act as the fulcrum, and thus a very simple tipping wagon is obtained.
While on this subject we will refer to the progress made with trailers. These range from very light types on one pair of pneumatic-tyred wheels to those
built for the conveyance of steel girders or timber. There are also a _few novel trailers, one of which—. he KA.Pf—has one trailing wheel in bicycle-type forks. A 12-paSsenger De dion trailer on pneumatic tyres, designed for use in conjunction with small buses, -is shown in one of the compounds, together with s, fine Selection 'of De -Dion buses of the types used in different parts of France. • Chenard et Waicker show a special tractor provided with -a height-adjusting screw for the trailer turntable drawbar. Some of the trailer's for use with this are provided with Wood hydraulic tipping gear, the pump for which is fitted on the trailer, but driven through a cardan shaft from the tractor.•
A heavy trailer with a curious type of handoperated hydraulic tipping gear is shown by H. Labourdette. Another unusual, feature in this is the use of underslung springs: Lagache Glaszmann et Cie show two F.A.R. trailers, one for carrying timber and adjustable for length, and the other an ordinary type, but fitted with a curious spring rebound snubber in the Shape of a leather collar.
There isquite a number of fine, well-appointed coaches, both of the open and the saloon typo; also a few with only the rear portion enclosed. One of the largest is the Seernia 40-seater, on .Michelin tyres ; this is rather higher than any of our types, and consequently the wheel arches are only 3 Ins.
above floor level. There are long running boards, anda separate step is provided for each row of seats; access to the seats above the wheel a,rehes is very difficult.
Coffin et Desgouttes. show an open coach with a liniouSine rear, seating 11 at the front and seven inside, the open poetion, being protected by a cover, which rolls back to the roof of the back portion.
One of the new chassis is the 2-cwt. Latil. This is a fine model, designed-on private ear lines, with nicely shaped radiator, central 'change, and four speeds. Engine and gearbox are built as a unit with the foot brake behind it, a-nd the final drive follows. Latil ',standard practice, the weight being carried by the frame, and short cardati shafts eons-eying the drive to spur gearing in each rear wheel. Two vehicles With this' chassis are on view, one a tilt van and the other a very fine 12-seater saloon coach with facing seats, drop windows; and satinwood-panelled rear door.
On one front-wheel-driven Latil is mounted a 25seater bus. body with the seats arranged in facing pairs. The cranked rear axle permits a low plat form. .
A most handsome saloon coach is shown on a
Panhard-Levassor. This licitly has doors at each side of each end, and hinged gang-Way seats leading to the centre seats, One Renault has a completely enclosed pertitin for goods or luggage at the rear of the open part, which seats 12 persons. Another fine coach on pneuma,tics. is the Rochet-Schneider.This seats '23, and has a gangway through the last thee -rows ; convenient lockers are provided at the back of each row of seats. Scernia also show a Schneider-built coach closely resembling the Lacily-Schneider shown at Olympia last year—possibly it is the saine vehicle. One of the Saurer coaches built-by E. di. Ros et Pastre Freres is a magnificent job With a limousine rear portion, the top of which can be removed to form a completely open coach.
Ai exhibit of great interest is the rail-less electric bus made by Henry Crochat. This seats 20 persons on garden-type seats in lacing pairs lt is not quite finished, as the motors are not installed, but the design includes two, driving independently to each rear wheel through a bevel gear housed in a double vertical-banjo axle ; the axle, when dismantled, resembles a,' pair of goggles with side extensions; the actual final drive to each rear wheel is by internal spur gearing.
The same maker has a 5-ton battery electric with a single motor driving a differential countershaft through a reducinggear, the final drive being by chains. The accumulators are contained in two cases under the chassis. which has underslung springs and tramway-type controller.
Only one petrol-electric chassis is made in France, and this also by Crochak Two examples are shown, both being fitted with platform bodies carrying 1-ton rotating jib cranes, operated electrically ; the differ ence maeween Wein is that one has a straight jib, whilst the other jib is angled, and can reach over the front of the vehicle without reaching to too great a height.
While on electric matters we must mention the new battery vehicle produced by Laporte et Fils et Cie., of Toulouse. This vehicle has many points of merit, including the unusual feature of a two-speed gear between each of thetwo driving motors and the internal-gear final drive in each rear wheel. The motors are pivoted on the rear axle, and supported by laminated quarter-elliptic springs, as is done in the Scheele German. electric. Light girderbuilt radius rods are anchored to the frame sidemembers. The controller is of the drum type, .arid gives five running positions and two strengths of electric brake, a separate switch giving reverse. Internal and external brakes act on the rear wheels. Another feature is the auxiliary springing by encased coil springs.
Amongst the unusual types of vehicles is a remarkable Scemia designed for carrying, loading and unloading beer or wine barrels. The chassis is the usual Schneider type. with driver's seat over engine, Solex radiator and dual back axle. The loarrel platform is provided with rollers running in two shaped channel girders, so that it can be run either way by a winding chain operated by hand through a reducing gear ; the shape of the channel guides causes the rear of the platform to touch the ground. Two hand-operated winches, each with a. wire rope, enable the barras to be hauled up or released from the platform, and also serve to tighten the ropes on to the barrels while the vehicle is running.
The needs of the commercial traveller have by no means been forgotten, and several . nicely ahaped and handy vehicles are to be found. Several new and very interesting types of tipping wagons and gears deserve recognition. The giant of them all is a huge 10-ton Renault overtype with three tyres to each rear wheel and an inclined twin ram hydraulic end-tipping gear.The chassis has a massive vertical banjo axle and a reduction gear of the epicyclie type in each rear-wheel hub.
Delahaye havea 5-ton tipper with a new gear by E. Bernard. In this a pair of fixed vertical rams is fitted at each end under the body, and each pair is pivoted to a cross-piece, fulerumed on the. body. Another hydraulic tipping gear, the Tiniyerselle, is of the three-way type, and bears a resemblance to the Bromilow and Edwards gear ; it has two hydraulic cylinders, which arepivoted so that they can rock to the rear for end tipping ; the two rams are joined at their tops by a convex cross-piece, which fits into a
curved channel bolted to the,body, thus, when side tipping is required, the rams lift vertically and the curved channel rolls on the ram cross-piece. A positive automatic cutoff is employed, and the body rests on four fulcruming ball and. socket joints, fastened and .released by hand. An oil reservoir, with the operating lever above it, is secured to the side of the cab, whilst the three-cylinder pump is driven from any convenient part. It can be fitted to any lorry for 8,000 francs, which compares favourably with other three-way tippers, some of which cost up to. 40,000 francs.
The only all-round .tipper is the S.C.A.M.A. This has a lifting ecrew in the centre of the turntable, with a roller at its top running on a curved track bracket on the body-; the screw is driven from the gearbox via a candan shaft and worm gearing.
One Dewald chassis-, which is a chain-driven model with wood wheels, has a steel tipping body operated by a single ram in frontof the rear axle, whilst a De Dion has a body fitted With rollers which run in shaped channels, the operation being by a central chain worked by hand. There is also a ',aril 5-tonner with a roll-aver tipping body of the H.A.L.P. type.
Of municipal vehicles there are dozens. Perhaps the most interesting is the huge S.O.M.V.A. (Schneider) fire pump, which is said to be the most powerful made ; it delivers 300,000 litres per hour at a pressure of 6 kilogs. or 150,000 litres at 12 kilogs., using smaller nozzles. The engine is of 110.h.p., and the six-piston pump: with its parallel cylinders, is very unusual, for it has a breech block similar to that of a cannon, and this can be swung out -to expose the pistons. There are three hose connections at. each side and two large suction connections. A second engine, with a similar type, but smaller, pump arid a tank for chemical fluid, is show-n lw the same maker. The radiators are particularly neat, being built up with removable sections, each of which is a miniature radiator with top and bottom tanks:
The Delahaye is represented by two pumps—one a large type with knifeboard seating, turbine pump, chain drive, combined gearbox and countershaft, hose reels at the sides and back, and a small escape: The smaller pump is a miniature of the large type, but hasa rear hasd reel only.
Fire pumps are ale° shown by other makers, including Renault. One of those made by this concern carries a ton of water, and this can be used in ernergencies, either when there is no available source or before the connecting up with the main supply. It is a powerful machine, and can supply four large or eight small jets, the connections being at the rear. As usual, it carries a first-aid ladder. To cool the engine, arrangements are made to by-pass water through the radiator from the main pump.
French makers appear to he .turning their attention to fire-engine trailer pumps, and of these the best examples are the DeIahaye, on solid tyres, and the De Dion, on pneumatics. The Delahaye carries a small hook ladder. A very elaborate turntable fireescape on a chain-driven petrol chassis is staFed by the same, maker. The lifting of the ladder is performed hydraulically by a power-driven pump, ;lid the outfit certainly deserves close inspection.
A useful type of combined watering wagon and mud collector is shown on a Latil chassis. A cross-section of the body forms a W, of which the inner portion contains the. water and the outer V.s the mud. The water is under a pressure of 2.5 kilogs., and, when required, the machine can be used as an emergency fireengine. A larger watering tank wagon, which also can be used as a fire-engine, is shown by the same maker.
There is also a Renault cesspool empt+er with an exhausting -pump between the tank and the body. This vehicle, like most of the heavy Renault machines, is fitted with a V sprag.
,A similar, but larger, machine is shown by Scemia.. There is also a combined De Dion sweeper and watering wagon, a De Dion watering wagon with a pressure pump which can be used as a fire pump, a large Laffly of similar type, a Latii dust-eoliecting wagon with Wood hydraulic gear; and a Renault dust-cart with hygienic sliding covers.
Ambulance bodies are shown on Delahaye and Renault chassis. The former is a small type with a metal stretcher on a laminated spring frame. Two tip-up seats are provided at one side, and-ventilation is given by sliding windows. The Renault ambulance also carries a single stretcher, but has seating accommodation for five persons, who all face the stretcher.
One of the largest exhibits es a Renault petrol 1°0motive standing on rails. This has an engine and tubular radiator at one end, whilst at the other end is a dummy radiator, so that it presentsa good appearance when travelling in either direction. It drives on all four wheels, which are coupled to a large flywheel at each side. There is also a Renault rail coach with a four-wheel bogey at the front a single driving axle with underslung springs, double reduction bevel-and-spur gear, and a very powerful torque member.
We observed only, two taxicabs in the Show—one a 10 ,h.p. Unic, whieh closely resembles a private car and has a folding seat beside the driver. The rear springing is novel, comprising a cantilever upper spring and a quarter-elliptic _lower, attached to the top and bottom of the axle respectively. A notable feature is the front-wheel braking, which is interconnected with the brake on the propeller shaft. The other taxicab is the Citroen.'
Attention is now being paid to the development of platform or utility trucks. One of these, made by the Ste. Frainaise des Purripes et Machines Worthington, has a neat air-cooled engine, with roller chain drive to a differential countershaft, Neat three-wheeled electric battery trucks are shown by the Ste. cl'Application Electro-Meeaniques.