The Forthcoming Olympia Exhibition.
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Forecast of the Vans, Lorries, IATagons, Tractors, Public-Service Vehicles, and of the Sundry Exhibits.
The coming Olympia Show will be an enormous advance on that of taw. Business was expected a year ago, but it did not come. This time, we believe, business will be above the average of expectation. The display will certainly be such as to merit an accession of orders, and salesmen are clearly better equipped for their duties than they were in March, r9o7. There are distinct indications of a settling down in commercial motoring, a condition of affairs which has been brought about by several contributory factors : casual and undetermined makers have already gone to the wall—they have not found this branch less exacting than the pleasure-car branch; the abuse of the free demonstrafion trial has been checked; repeat orders provide an irrefutable answer to those who would pretend that success is not possible; no large users have reversed or suspended their programme of substitution in respect of horses; an ever-growing volume of working data is available; references to satisfied owners have been multiplied; the price of rubber tires has fallen largely; purchasers are ready to buy spare wheels in the majority of cases, so that they may avoid loss of service from a vehicle; and any numerous records of successful use are no longer limited to the steam wagon.
The arrangements for the holding of this show are rapidly approaching completion. A flood of large posters are in place, throughout London and in a number of provincial centres, whilst the representative character of the exhibits can be gathered from our to-day's forecast. Members of the Royal Automobile Club and of the Commercial Motor Users' Association will be admitted free of charge. As to the meetings and functions which are to take place, the pride of place goes, of course, to the opening ceremony and inaugural luncheon, on the 27th instant, at Olympia, when the Lord Mayor of London will take the leading part. Next in importance we must rank the conference of makers and others with the Town Clerks Committee.on the subject of provincial regulations for motorcabs : this is announced for 2.30 p.m., on Thursday, the 2nd April, at Olympia.
Mention of certain new models is made in the forecast which follows. We may, however, direct special attention in advance to : the Critehley-Norris steam omnibus chassis; the Straker-Squire new traction-type steam wagon; the Austin cab and light-van chassis; the new Thornycroft chassis for useful loads of 30 cwt. ; the Daimler Company's " Automixte " omnibus; and the Frayer-Miller chassis with aircooled engine, which will be on the Darwen stand (No. 4I). Transmission novelties will include : the Mero, changespeed-gear device; the enclosed, external, straight, spur-gear final drive on the Daimler omnibus; the petrol-electric combination on one of the " Hallford chassis; the changesreed gear of Milnes-Daimler's new, five-ton model; and the Straker-Squire new gear box for omnibuses, in which box no bolts are employed.
It is almost impossible for us to name the many valuable features, which are to be found in most of the systems which will be represented, without trenching upon our report proper. So far as typical steam wagons and tractors go, these machines are practically standardised, and few new or important detail improvements are probable : the copper-sleeved steel tubes in the Leyland boilers, and the sloping back wall of the Straker-Squire fire box, are the most noteworthy. Of internal-combustion vehicles we iii ust, perforce, treat hereafter.