DRIVER-DESIGNER AND THE MOTOR COACH.
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• Ideas on Innovations—Pointers for Would-be 'Prize Winners.
WHO has the greater chance of thinking out improvements for the motor coach? The draughtsman with his nose glued to a drawing board, or the coach driver with his hand on the steering wheel of a " real. live " coach ? There is nothing like contact with actual working conditions for inspiring ideas as to how things can be improved. That is why The Commercial Motor has enlisted the assistance of coach drivers to help, with their ideas, towards the evolution of a. " better " type of motor coach. The dreams of to-day become the realities of to-morrow. . Do not drivers, -sometimes, as they pilot their coaches along the roads of England; see visions of a type of vehicle which shall be as far in advance of the motor coach of to-day as the latter is ahead of the old horse-drawn stage coach? Do they not, in the course of the daily round, come across lots of " snags " in the design and -construction of their vehicles, which ought. to be put right? Do not they sometimes think—"How much better it would be ir such-and-such a thing was done! Now, if only they had done that when this coach was made: "— and so on?
It is the bright idea—the flash of inspiration—that The Commercial Motor competition has been instituted to discover. We refuse to believe that all the brains in the coach-designing world are coralled in the cloistered seclusion of (drawing offices and motor factories. . We want to give the men, Who are outon the road all day, a chance of showing what they can do.
Where Are the Drivers with Ideas ?
The competition has already discovered a good. many of them. The list of entrants is swelling daily. But we are :convinced that the best—the prizewinning efforts—have yet to come. We want to know what every driver-designer in -the country thinks about his coach, and we have evolved the simplest possible type of competition, so that he can tell us and, with us, everyone who reads The Commercial Motor. • All that a driver has to do is to. write a short letter giving hisideas under thii heading, "How I Think My Coach Could Be Improved,"_ and then to fill in the coupon printed on this page, and send it, with the letter, to The Editor of The Commercial Motor, Rosebery Avenue, London, E.C. 1, marking the envelope " Coach Competition" (do not. forget that). For, the letter which, in the opinion of the Editor, contains the-best suggestions, a prize of 210 will be awarded. The second and third , best letters will secure prizes of £5 and £3 respectively, whilst we shall give ten consolation prizes of 21 each to the writers of the best letters who do not receive prizes. No one need hesitate to enter because he " is not Try of a hand at letter Writing." We have a )onary in the office, and we Will Put in the commas :d semicolons where, they are 'wanted. It is the i*ts and suggestions that will count—not the literary quality of the composition. Weshall still keep the competition open for .a few weeks longer.
The decision of the Editor on all matters relating to the competition will be final.
These " essays " oh improvements will be read with great interest by coach designers, manufacturers, and owners. The winning letters will be= published, in The Commercial Motor,. and the Editor also reserves the right to publish any of those letters which do not win prizes:, and to pay for -those published'. The writer's name will appear, unless the :competitor wishes to hide his shining light under the bushel of a nom de plume.
Entrants will thus get full credit for their suggestions and their enterprise. We do not want. to "steal your thunder." We. want to unearth the bright idea, the novel notion, and the smart suggestion. We recognize that the development of the motor coaching movement—which we regard as of great importance to the motor industry and to the country—will depend largely on the development of the motor coach itself. The present-day coach is, in. many respects, an excellent production, and reflects great credit on its producers. But it would be idle to pretend that .any motor coach is yet perfect. That is why we feel that. no stone should be left unturned in the endeavour to effect ,improvements which will keep the British coach in the premier position, because other countries and foreign. coach designers are forging steadily 'ahead.
This competition has not heenstarted just as art amusement. We want it to be of real utility. That is why you can be as critical as you like, because we shall not divulge. the make of the vehicle you drive—only its specification. We do not want remarks that are merely complimentary, and we do not want just " grouses." We want constructive criticism—suggestions that will help either towards better chassis or improved coachwork.
Do not say to yourself : "I expect somebody has already thought of that idea! " Perhaps they have, but, very likely, they have not put it into effect or written about it! You never know. So send in your letter and tell us all about it. Moreover, do it Now !