POINTERS FROM THE CAR SHOW.
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ALTHOUGH no commercial vehicles could be exhibited at Olympia during the car Show,the latter was by no means devoid of interest to the commercial-vehicle designer and manufacturer. Many.of the vehicles presented features which might well be incorporated in mator,vehicles intended for industrial purposes. We certainly do not advocate the blending Of the two types of vehicles ; too much of this was done at the beginning of the commercial vehicle industry,when the lorry was -merely an adaptation of -the private ear. The paths, however' soon diverged, . until the separation is now almost too prono.urited. We believe -that, except in a few .instances, the commercial vehicle has not progressed so rapidly along its path as hasethe private car along the other. Perhaps this is because,to a certain point, the more simple a lorry is the cheaper it is to run and to repair. A private car, however, depends for its' attractiveness to the customer to a great extent on the number of " gadgets " and interesting features embodied in it. Except for such utility devices as the power starter, we decry the fitting of numerous pretty but non-essential devices to commercial vehicles. At the same time, certain point-s in design, which have become „ almost standardised on the private car, have only recently been adopted for commercial vehicles, and that on_ a few only. For instance,, practically all those cars at the Show not fitted with cantilever springs hadltheir rear springs underslung. Only one commercial-vehicle manufacturer at the present time has adopted cantilever springing, and although underslung springs present many ?advantages in vehicles designed for certain classes of work, such as the transport of milk churns, remarkably few commercial vehicles have their rear springs arranged in'this manner.
Many ears have unit construction of engine, .clutch, and gearbox, although whether this form • eB of -construction could be adapted 'satisfactorily on all heavy lorries is a questionable matter. Where
big fleets are concerned, unit construction would appear to be quite satisfactory,. as when repairs are required a complete unit ,ean be replaced by another in_ a very short space of time. The advan• tages obtained are chiefly in the matter of alignment., in which respect a. three-point s.uspended. unit is almost ideal. ft is somewhat remark. able .to._ note that whereas .
an increasingly large number of cars is' fitted with torque members and radius rods, or "a combination member to perform the two. function's, the tendency in commercial Vehicles is to simplify them by relying on the springs to perform this. work.
It is beginning 'to be realised in both branches. of the trade -that lubrication sheuld be Centralizea so far as possible, and several cars .are particularly
noteworthy in this respect. • •
In the final-drive gearing of ears-increasing. use is being made of spiral bevels; in fact, the majority now utilize this form bf gear. In spite of increased • cast of manufacture, there would appear to be-,considerable scope for this form of gearing on commer• dad yehicles, and, in fact, some people go so far as
to say that it will replace the worm.
The use of overhead valves is also greatly on the increase, as they give an improved combustion
chamber and extra power for the same cylinder capacity, whilst; when the engine is well designed, a,ceessibility is by no means diminished.' The use of overhead valves has already spread to the cam-, mereial vehicle engine, and it is 'probable that we • shall See a considerable development in this Tespeet.
Front wheel brakes were to be seen on 'several cars, and it is quite passible -that these may come
into vogue, whilst more than one fleet 'manager has looked with approval on,a vacuum-operated -brake system.