A Travelling Office cm an Ambulance Chassis.
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T" idea of employing a motor chassis carrying a special type of body in which business transactions can be discussed between buyer and seller in complete privacy is not new. Most of these vehicles, however, are really showrooms on wheels, whatever space is available for accommodating chairs or seats being a secondary consideration to that of effectively, displaying a ra age of the goods offered for sale.
In the case of an interesting vehicle -which we have recently inspected, however, the interior is equipped purely as an office, the sample products which are carried occupying very little space. The Purchaser of the vehicle is Mr. Hijikenia, a manufacturers' -agent for general textiles, who has conceived the idea of using an office on wheels instead of renting a City establishment which he seldom used, , except for telephonic purposes/
The chassis chosen as the basis of the vehicle is that normally used in the
Austin ambulance and if one feels disposed to question the reason for this, it must not be forgotten that appearance plays a big part in attracting the potential buyer, who might feel disinclined to step into a vehicle which has every suggestion of being a commercial model, whereas a vehicle having a private-ear appearance might strike an entirely different note in his mind. The Austin chassis, with its nickel-plated radiator shell, meets this requirement, and as the body—built by Messrs. Crips Bros., of Sidcup—which it parries is constructed on shapely lines, the result is a vehicle combining business uses and a distinctive private appearance.
The interior of the body is very roomy. The driver's position is within the body and is totally enclosed in a half-width compartment with a hinged window on the left-hand side; celluloid lights are used for the inside sections of the cab. Some idea of the space
which is available can be gathered from the fact that the body is 5 ft. 10 ins. wide, 8 ft. 9 ius, long behind the cab, 11 ft. 9 ins, long from the dashboard, and gives a headroom of 5 ft. 10 ins. below the roof ribs. The body framework is, of course, of ash, but the interior panelling is of mahogany -threeply, whilst the exterior panels are of aluminium, which is also used for the top .side-members. • The equipment carried is similar to that to be found in an office and includes a filing cabinet in the deep recess alongside the driver's cab, and a fixed nest of drawers, with doors, over the off-side rear-wheel arch. The latter is mainly intended for stationery and is 2 ft. 8 ins: wide, 1 ft. 0 ins. high, and 1. ft. -deep. Above it is a long and wide shelf, at tho forward end of -which the typewriter of the owner's secretary is carried. Thus it will be noted that business correspondence is actually dictated an.I typed in the vehicle, the typist accompanying the owner on his round of calls, which are made within an area of about 30 miles from London. At the other end of this shelf writing utensils are carried and they can be reached from the full-width settee at the rear, this being well sprung and upholstered in antique grained leather, Which is also used for covering a wide seat fixed on the 'near side.
The window space is considerable. thus giving a light and bright appearance to the interior, and, to ensure complete privacy, casement curtains are used to cover the lights. Four of the windows have half-sections which slide open, thus providing ventilation for the interior, the lighting of which is effected by four ornamental lamps having independent switches.
The only door giving access to the interior is on the near side at the rear, but there is, of course, a separate door to the driving compartment. We noted that a Pyrene fire-extinguisher is carried in brackets below the settee at the back.
The exterior is finished in two shades of brown cellulose, the light panel at the -waist level giving an attractive relief to the main colour Scheme.
Apart from its use as an office on wheels, the owner has considered the possibility of employing the vehicle as a caravan for holiday-making in the summer months. In viewing its main employment, it must not be forgotten that, by housing the vehicle in the garage attached to his residence, the owner avoids the need for travelling to town on every occasion before setting out on his round of calls, the irksome delays thus avoided in traffic enabling more business to be undertaken, thus creating the. possibility of extending the area of working.