It Takes All Kinds to Make a SHOW
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says Ashley F. Taylor
Who Tells of Comments by a Typical Cross-section of Overseas Visitors
SOME people will go to the ends of the earth to hear good music, and some will travel far and wide to enjoy their favourite sport. Some, quite apart from business considerations, will cross the seas to gaze on the excellence of new vehicles. Many of our overseas visitors to Earls Court had come to Britain for no other reason and, on the whole, I think, they went away happy.
When one came to gather typical impressions, there was almost a monotony in their admiration for it all. "Your vehicles and your finishes are marvellous," was so .unanimous that it served to recall all those American film stars of days gone by who insisted on thinking—and telling us—that our policemen were wonderful.
In general, prospective buyers thought that the whole organization was good and felt that the industry had made a magnificent recovery in the three years that had elapsed since the end of the war. They liked our vehicles, but many of them found the cost too high; "they would be cheap at half the price," was what their comments meant. The cost of shipping the superb British bodywork to distant places is a problem that troubles many an interested operator. From South America, and from other countries, the insistent question was, "Hew does the price compare with the U.S. product? " , WTI-1EN they arrived at the Show, VW Senhor F. Mendes Almeida and Senhor Barreiros, of C. Santos, Ltd., Lisbon, were pleased to see an E.R.F. due for delivery to them on the manufacturer's stand. Both were impressed by the progress made by the oil engine during the past 10 years and by British electric vehicles. • They thought that battery-electrics could be an attractive proposition when a link-up in the local electricity-supply arrangements, expected to take place in two or three years' time, reduced operating costs.
Further appreciation of battery vehicles came from South American buyers, who spoke of the appeal they have in cities, because of their quietness.
In general, South American visitors seem to have been immensely struck with the quality of the heavier vehicles and with developments in luxury bodywork. They have their own particular requirements in that ,part of the world, features which appear to be specially appreciated being rear engines, entrances right at the rear, properly planned ventilation and visors .for the drivers. The trend towards the use of air brakes is also applauded.
The long war period, during which it was difficult for users in distant markets to obtain renewals, brought out the British vehicle's capacity • for longsustained hard work, and surprise was expressed that only in a few cases do British machines display any kind of mark which makes the country of origin obvious.
Mr. F. Pruden, of A. G. Pruden and Co., agent for Leyland and Dyson in the Argentine, told me that it was the first time he had been able to visit a British commercial motor show and he was surprised at its extent.
n12 His outstanding impression was of the extremely high quality of the finish of the exhibits. British vehicle payload ratings were becoming more realistic, he thought, and that was a matter of some interest, as, although Argentina had regulations in existence on the subject of vehicle weights, many operators in loading worked largely on what the chassis would bear. The British 6-7-tonner of to-day was a machine that might be expected to carry 6-7 tons, and not one that was really a 10-12-tonner for all practical purposes.
nN behalf of the Middle East, Mr.
Mamoulian wanted to know who was carried in some of the excellently equipped ambulances which he could see. And who paid the bill? He was more attracted by the Fordson Utilecon ambulance for meeting a wide variety of requirements at reasonable expense.
1NTIL the end of the war, passenger
vehicles in the provinces of India were, I learned from one visitor, largely based on American 2-3-ton chassis, which carried locally built bodies. However, transport authorities have now come to appreciate that the British oil-engined chassis is entirely suitable for their purposes, and that the greater first cost of machines such as those seen at Earls Court, means economy in the long run.
Indian provincial road transport organizations are ordering British oilers and they would undoubtedly like to have British bodies, but for the high cost represented by their initial purchase plus freight charges: "THE world's best commercial vehicle show" was the forthright verdict of Mr. G. Van Twist, M.S.A.E., technical director of N. V. Remper and Van Twist, of Dordrecht, who had come fully armed with photographs showing how in Holland a Seddon Diesel and trailer, both three-way tippers, were used in the intensive sugar-beet traffic to carry a 10-ton payload.
Special praise for the overall improvement in British accessories came from M. Wilheim Guerillot, of Helsinki, assistant manager to the Commer distri
butors in Finland. Icelandic visitors showed a keen interest in Wilson Electrics, although a number of overseas visitors criticized battery machines in general on the score of limited ground clearance.
A SCANDINAVIAN visitor, Mr. 0. rt Anderson, saw much that was advantageous in the new " pick-up " trucks, such as the Ford Pilot, which provide car comfort for the driver and his passenger at the front, with ample additional passenger or goods accommodation in attractive form at the rear. From the same part of the world came • approval for the mobile shops—the Karrier Bantam in particular—whilst the mobile fish-and-chip saloon mounted on a Dyson trailer was thought to offer interesting scope for enterprise.
The London Transport canteen, with its Spurling body on a BedfordScammell articulated chassis, evoked the admiration of Mr. Tons O'Connor, of Eire, who regarded it as a fine encopragement for the staff, although "maybe if you hadn't so much money to spare you could get much the same result in the way of food from an old converted bus."
Comment by M. Danielle, of France, on the Show, when I asked him for his impressions, was that it was a wellbalanced exposition of our industry, tastefully organized without harsh lighting or blaring music constantly to distract the mind.
Examples of British craftsmanship being exhibited were, in his opinion, a pattern to the world, for he came expecting to see vehicles which typified utility and austerity, but the British had abandoned the " take-it-or-leave-it " attitude which had for so long been characteristic of their policy in overseas trade. Now they had really set out to show that, whatever the conditions, Britain made or could make the machines to meet them. The new Foden two-stroke oil engine was, for him, a star attraction.
I T takes all sorts to make a show, and often it is not the vehicles, which visitors have in many cases already seen reviewed, but smaller items and new applications which appeal most to friends from overseas. To some, the Land-Rover as a fire-protection outfit was the most important thing they had seen in London. To others, tailboard lifts spelt economy and saving of labour; the Neville hinged cab solved somebody else's potential difficulties. But perhaps the most important impression of all—and this confirms some of the observations of the French visitor already quoted—was that brought out in the comment of a South African who said:— " We are pleased that some executives of manufacturing organizations are now finding time to visit their users overseas, to take note of their troubles at first hand, and to rectify them. When an industry makes what a market requires, that is export; when it contemptuously sends along the surplus of its home production, that is dumping— and we can tell the difference!"