The Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co., Ltd.
Page 35
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Exhibit :-8-10h.p. “General Cab and Chassis; Four-seated Jobmasters' Landaulet; Travellers' Box Van; 18h.p., 30-cwt. Chassis, and 18h.p. Single deck "MidlandBus.
A motor exhibition of any description, whether in London or Paris, would hardly seem complete without -a well-displayed exhibit of the Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Co., Ltd.'s, productions. The facilities pos, sessed by this company at its extensive Birmingham and Crayford Works, backed, as it is, by the many-sided organisation of Vickers, Sons and Maxim, Ltd., together with its wellearned reputation for the production of machines of proved reliability, always entitles its new models to the thoughtful consideration of that large section of the public which has an interest in automobile matters. The company's position as contractor to HM, War Office and India Office, to say nothing of its relations with the Colonial authorities, the London County Council, and many other public bodies, is a sufficient guarantee of the quality of the material, and the excellence of the workmanship employed. We were disappointed to find no example of the 3-ton chassis, with all its latest improvements. These distinctive-looking machines are much in evidence on the Cricklewood-Victoria and Hammersmith Canning Town routes of the " General."
The Wolseley exhibits, therefore, consist of two types of light chassis, and the 181-1.p. light machine. Of the lighter type, choice is offered between the two-cylinder, 8-toh.p. and the twocylinder, to-12h.p. chassis. The former machine is fitted with an engine having a bore of 3 9-16 inches, and 4i, inches in the stroke, and the more powerful vehicle has two four-inch bore cylinders, and a stroke of 41 inches. The 8-1oh.p. type has three representatives : a two-seated cab for
the General Motor Cab Co., Ltd. ; a well-fitted landaulet, suitable for jobmasters' hire work ; and a box van with very ingeniously-fitted removable shelves. There is only one to-I2h.p. type exhibit, and that is a cab for the London United Motorcab Co., Ltd., for whom the Wolseley Company has a very large number of machines on order. The other two machines are of the 18h.p. type one, a chassis painted impartially in boat-race colours ; the other, an 18h.p. single-deck omnibus for the Midland Railway Company. The cab type of chassis is a welldesigned and compact machine. The dimensions of the engines have already been given. This type of engine has two cylinders cast in one piece, and is fitted with high-tension, fixed-point magneto ignition. The arrangement for the control of the engine is quite suitable for public-service work. The engine is set to run at a pre-determined minimum speed, by means of a small lever carried on the dashboard,
any acceleration beyond this being secured by pressure on a small foot pedal. The control of the vehicle, by this means, is extremely sensitive. The company has, in common with many other cab manufacturers, adopted thermo-syphon cooling, as a simple and reliable feature. A very sensible fitting on the engine is the large filler for pouring oil into the crank case, which is a distinct advance on the usually inadequate opening, which is often provided for this purpose. The lubrication is essentially contrived on the splash system, but a small pump continuously circulates the oil, by sucking it from the sump and keeping it on a level with the overflow pipe in the crank chamber. The lock on the front wheels, owing to the large incurve of the front of the frame, appears to be even greater than that on other cabs at the exhibition. We were told by Mr. Wilfred P. Wood, of the Wolseley staff, that the three-quarter elliptic springs on the rear of the vehicle were fitted in deference to the opinion of the Seotland Yard authorities. This detail adds to the cost of the chassis, but it will materially increase the comfort of passengers, as will the low side-door step, which is made possible by the drop in the side member of the pressed-steel frame. One of the cabs is shoWn with the latest arrangement of foot-board, to carry passengers' luggage, at the side of the driver's seat.
The iSh.p. machine was fully described in "THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR " twelve months ago. The disposition of its engine, under the driver's seat, secures a short wheel base, and renders the hind part of the chassis simple in construction. The double reduction in the bevel-driven live axle avoids the necessity for the employment of a large bevel wheel and a small pinion, which is liable to be a noisy combination. The radiator on this machine is of the type now used exclusively on the Wolseley omnibuses. Its removable top and bottom headers enable it to he very easily cleaned, and, above all, repaired in case of damage.
There are many objections to the employment of the cellular type of radiator, unless it is exceptionally well made, on machines which are exposed to such excessive vibration as that to which the modern commercial vehicle is subject. A radiator is always liable to serious damage in ease of collision, and however well able to stand vibration must be easily able to be dismounted and repaired. The repair of a cellular radiator is generally an expensive matter, always a troublesome and seldom a satisfactory one. The latest Wolseley standard fitting is a great advance in construction, and should ensure almost complete immunity from radiatcr worries, the trouble from which can soots become prohibitive.