• THE SEVENTEENTH LONDON PARADE.
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First Illustrated Report ot a Competition, Remarkable for the Fact that the Winners in 1922 Repeat Their Victory.
, THE FIRST Parade of the season of commercial motors is always that promoted by the London and Home Counties Division of the Commercial Motor Users Association, held in London. This may be termed the "mother " parade, for it serves as a pattern for similar events which are now being promoted in different parts of the country. Saturday's event in. Lincoln's Inn Fields was the 17th of the
series: . The chief guer don of the competition from the year 1010 onwards has been The Commercial Motor challenge cup, presented by the proprietors of this journal, acting as a fitting award for the consideree tion paid to the wellbeing of a fleet.: Although many competitors of past years were •not competing on Saturday, there were in place thereof quite a number of newcomers. .
One of the points which must be considered in con-. nection with the granting of awards to the parading vehicles is that the standard of excellence has become, in the iast two or three years, very high. The wonderful appearance of the vehicles of such fleets as those of Thomas Wethered and Sons, Ltd., Shell--Mex, Ltd., and so on, has undoubtedly been responsible for this. It is in appreciation of this fact that the Association has increased the number of awards to no fewer than 30, which means that about 00 vehicles out of the 150 an parade received some recognition.
'The vehicles on parade comprised 126 petrol-driven -vehieles, 21 steam vehicles and 3 electric vehicles.
At.the head of the line were six of the velaicles of the Anglo-American Oil Co., Ltd., three A.E.C.s one Albion and two Thoriayerofts, two of the machines'having tank-wagon bodies fitted. The A.E.C. tank-wagon was equipped with the Westinghouse hydraulic brake (the first, we believeewe are right in saying, to be put into commercial Use). The 'driver of this vehicle says that he would not wish for a more efficient brake. He uses it constantly in traffic and is unremitting in his praise of it. The Thernyeroft lorry,. which was included in the second competingteam, has covered 85,000 miles to date. The condition of each was excellent.
Beck and Pollitzer had:six of their Garford lollies on parade. They were in. their working guise; with not very much, spit-and-polish " about. them, but were clean throughout. The three Leyland vehicles _exhibited by Brandon's Putney Brewery, Ltd., had averaged 25,000 miles apiece, and appeared on parade looking quite smart.
The unusually well-kept appearance of any vehicle which is employed in the distribution of petrol must serve as an incentive ter other road users. This remark applies to all the vehicles of the British Petroleum Co., Ltd., of which there were on parade three Guy lorries, three Daimler lorries, two ,Halley lorries, three Dennis tank-wagons, and three Karrier tank-wagons.
Bryant and May's fine display consisted of nine of their fleet, two Leylands, two Thornycrofts, two Albions, and three Burfords, the radiator cap in every case being Surmounted by a mascot of a gilded swan. The oldest vehicie amongst the nine was the Albion lorry which has covered just over 100,000.miles. Of Carter, PatersOe's hard wovked fleet of delivery vans the three vehicles on parade, each of them a Leyland, were in excellent condition. The doyen of the fleet has covered_ over 112,000 miles, and it certainly looked none the worse for wear.
Chivers and eons, Ltd., showed three Leylands eqiiipPed with Van bodies. They were execedingIY smart m aeipeara.nce, the deeply domed canopy bearing the word " Chivers " in very largeletters.
No fewer than 18 of the great fleet of commercial vehicles operated by the Gas Light and Cake Co. were shown' including that old warrior, the Napiei van, which has covered another 8,000 miles this year and now totals a-mileage of 142,900 in the course of its career. As with. many vehicles that were on parade, the whole of the fleet was working up till late on Friday night. M. and W. Mack, who are engaged in haulage in the fruit trade, had two A.E.C. and one Thornycroft vehicles on show_, one of the A.E.C.s having covered 80,000 miles. These vehicles were paraded with a load of oranges. The North MiddleSex Gas Co. had
single team on parade, consisting of a Daimler, a Thornyeroft, and a two-cylinder Swift.
There is not the slightest question but that the Shell-Mex fleet made an extremely fine show. It consisted almost entirely of tank-wagons, the 15 vehicles on parade having, in many cases, a. mileage to their credit approaching 100,000 each. There wen two teams of Thornycrofts, one of Leylands, one of Alhions, and one of Scan-linens lorries. Every vehicle was a distinct credit, not only to its (trivet but to Mr. Ambler, who is responsible for the spirit that pervades the whole of Shell-Mex transport staff.
Last year's winners of the challenge cup (and agOn victorious this year), Thomas. Wethered and Sons, Ltd., placed the same six vehicles on parade, their condition being extraordinarily fine, and there is a great point about these vehicles (although, of course, the same applies to many of the vehicles on parade) that, if the vehicles be stopped on the road at any time, and the driver be asked to lift the bonnet, the condition will be found to be always the same. One of the results of this effort at cleanliness which has been proved by Mr. Butt, who manages Messrs.. Wethored's fleet of vehicles, is that it tends to economy in oil Undoubtedly the grouping up of the steam vehieles separate from the petrol and electric vehicles was a great improvement, and we sincerely commend the Association upon it, and trust that it will. be continned: in future Parades.
Beck and. Pollitzer ha.d six Mann steam wagons on parade, the British Petroleum Co. three Yorkshire tank-wagons, Charrington, Gardner, Lockett..•and Co., Ltd., had three Robey vehicles, lIovis, Ltd.,
three Fodens and throe Sentinels, and Mark Mayhew, Ltd:, three Fodens (two of these vehicles having covered 100,000 miles each). . London Wholesale Dairies, Ltd., showed two of their Edison wagons and one Ranson% wagon, each of which had covered 100,000 miles. The tyre mileage of these vehicles is extremely satisfactory, .one set of tyres in use having covered 35,000 miles, and still having a good deal of wear left.
Leyland Motors, Ltd., had been good enough to lend a bus for the accommodation of the judges whilst working out their-figures, and had taken the trouble to equip the interior with tables, having removed some ofthe crass seats for the purpose.
In awarding the marks for this year's parade, the judges reduced the importance of age and mileage so that appearance on parade counted for two-thirds of the total. The awards, were :—F irst : Thos. Wethered and Sons, Ltd. ; team. of three Tho:rnycrofts (The Commercial Motor Cup' Silver Medal ; ShraApnell-Smith Cup to drivers, and 22 and Medal to each ; Engineer's prize to Mr. C. V. Butt, fleet manager). Second : Thos. Wethered and Sons, Ltd. ; team of three Thornyerofts (21 10s. and medal to each driver). Third: Shell-Mex, Ltd., ; team of three ThornycroftS (21 to each driver). Fourth fifth, tenth and fourteenth:Gas Light and Coke Co., Ltd. ;. 'sixth, seventh and thirteenth : Shell-Mex, Ltd. ; eighth : British Petroleum Co., Ltd. ; ninth : Carter, Paterson and Cod, Ltd. ; eleventh: Chivers and -,Sons e .Ltd. ; twelfth and sixteenth : AngloAmerican Oil Co.,.Ltd. ; fifteenth : M. and W. Mack; highly commended': British. Petroleum. Co., Ltd. (four teams), ; Brandon Putney Brewery, Ltd. ; Bryant and May, Ltd. ; Gas Light and Coke Co., Ltd. ; John Lenanton and Son, Ltd. ; Jas. Robertson and Sons, Ltd. ; John Walker and Sons, Ltd. (three teams); Beek and Pollitzer ; Charrington, Gardaer; "LecIteLt and Co., Ltd.