Saturday Frolic
Page 42
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JOHN MOON, technical editor of The Commercial Motor, will be performing tomorrow in a curtainraiser to a fortnight's pageant of music and drama in which the history of the ancient Borough of Finsbury will be portrayed. But his part will be neither musical nor dramatic. He will drive a 1914 Albion A14 10-cwt. vehicle, in the livery of Temple Press" Ltd., in a procession through the borough. It comes from Lord Montagu's museum at Beaulieu. Albion's didn't turn a hair when Moon asked them for a driver's handbook for the model, a coachbuilder's drawing and a valve-timing diagram. The material arrived by return of post. Even with this to hand, however. much thought and sweat were expended by Moon and several hapless colleagues when trying to find the easiest way to start the machine. What fine things are electric starters!
Brake Testing—Capone Style
STARTLED Americans, reminded of the days of prohibition, are likely to run for cover if the method of brake testing being promoted by the American Automobile Association catches on.
The equipment offered for sale consists of a mechanical detonator, which, by means of a .22 blank cartridge, fires coloured powder on to the road. The idea is that an assistant sitting alongside the driver should pull a string, which fires a shot and marks the road, also signalling the driver to make an emergency stop. Pressure on the brake pedal actuates a second string, which fires another cartridge and again marks
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the road. Thus, reaction time and stopping distances are measured.
—And Cotton Style
IN fact, a system along these lines has been used in road tests by The Commercial Motor for many years. It was introduced by Laurence I. Cotton—now technical manager (cars and commercial vehicles) of Unilever. Ltd.—when he was technical editor. He recalls how, in a moment of mental aberration, he tried out his new toy outside a barber's shop. Out rushed an alarmed customer, face lathered, followed by an angry barber brandishing a razor. Cotton hurriedly left the district.. It should be obvious, however, that such a device could not accurately be called a brake tester, and therefore be used to measure a vehicle's efficiency in this respect. Mechanism for this purpose should eliminate the driver's reaction time.
Chance For Beauty
IF any woman haulier aspires to become a beauty queen, -I-here is her chance. The London Centre of the Motor and Cycle Trades Benevolent Fund are again organizing a Miss Motor Show beauty contest in connection with the Motor Show dance (not to be confused with the Motor Ball) to be held at the Empire Rooms, Tottenham Court Road, London, W.1, on October 25. Miss Motor Show will win the "Dabs Henly " trophy and a Vespa. The scooter should be particularly useful, as it is well known that no transport operator can afford to run a car.