MOTOR COACHING ON A COFFEE-STALL
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A Novel Body With Many Interesting Features, Which Enables a Vehicle to be Used for Two Distinct but Interdependent Purposes.
THERE ARE two distinct types of coffee-stall keepers. There is the man who plies his trade wherever he
• thinks there is money to be made, and the man who trades from a permanent stance, principally at •night.
ploy. This .type of man, who caters chiefly for "ships tbat pass'in the night," usually stables his horse after it has drawn him to his rendezvous late in the evening, andupturns the Sli a ft s, fetching the anima!
draw him home early the following morning.
Mechanically propelled coffee-stalls have, to the best of our knowledge, been used upoto now -for one set purpose only, but that other uses can be found for them is indicated by the exclusive illustrations which we publish herewith, showing a coffee-stall which is convertible to a motor coach or vice versa, Coffee-stall and motor coach ! The terms are hardly synonymous, although, when we have indicated the uses to which such a convertible unit can be put, we think our readers will agree that quite a wide field of employment, exists for a vehicle of this type.
One of the best uses to which a com vertible vehicle of this type can be pot, is in connection with race-meetings. The caterer can convey a party to the course, and can, after removal of the interior fittings, proceed to cater for their wants in the matter of meals during the day, in addition to which he can seenre a. definite pile and minister t o t h e requirements of other turf followers. After the completion of the day's sport, ho can then reconvert the vehicle to a passenger-carrying unit and bring the party back to their starting. paint.
The vehicle which we recently examined was one of two similar vehicles being built in the works of the Hudson Coach Building Co., 27a, Bangalore Street, Putne y, London, SANT.,
one machine 'being to the order of :tt, Brighton client and the other to that of the Speedy Transport Cu., Bayswater G a r ag e, Prince's Place, Prince's Road, London, W.11.
We will first of all describe the vehicle in its passenger guise, B21 and then proceed to deal with the matter of converting it to a mobile coffee-stall. The body, which is mounted on a Ford ton chassis, is built to carry 15 people (plus the driver), and is constructed of ash framework throughout., the Side panels up to the waist rail being of sheet-steel, lined with ply wood. There is a space between the inner and outer panels for the reception of the mahogany-framed windows, when these are lowered in the same way as with the ordinary taxicab or lanclaulet light to provide a semi-open type of coach.
The interior is fitted with three transverse seats, which rest on longitudinal members at the body sides and fit between blocks to prevent fore and aft movement. The back squabs, which, like the seats, are detachable, fit into slotted pieces fixed to the side pillars. The cushions and squabs are not sprung, but. the springiness of the good quality horsehair used for stuffing provides a happy mean between a hard seat and one built up on a. coil-spring frame.
Each of the seats is supported abont its centre by an angle bracket, which can be fixed to the floorboards, and, when the vehicle is in use as a coffeestall, the three brackets are fitted on the near side of the body, for which purpose they are provided with tapered slots, which slide over stud-plates on the body side panel. In this position the brackets are used for supporting a mahogany counter, which, although not fixed in position, is prevented from moving by battens on its underside.
When the vehicle is in use as a coffeestall, the passengers' seats can be upturned and slid along the side-members to the driver's end, two of them being used in this position to accommodate loaves of bread, etc., whilst provision is made for mounting the third upturned seat on rods located between the front pillars, in which position it serves as a rest on which to slice the loaves. In order to enable the upturned seats to slide freely, and also to afford a firm sapport. the upholstery trimming is not taken right to the ends of the seats.
-When the vehicle is in use as a coach, the urns, counter and back squabs are carried on the roof top, which is well
'braced up to support their weight and is provided with a luggage rail; access to the roof top can :be had by means of two foot-plates bolted on to the near side at the back of the body. As protection from the weather, a tarpaulin cover forms part of the equipment.
There is a well built below the hod, behind the end of the chassis frame, for the accommodation of crockery ware and certain provisions, its dimensions being 1 ft. 4 ins. deep, 3 ft. 6 ins, wide, and 3 ft. 6 ins. long. This well is lined with sheet-steel as a protection against contamination of foodstuffs by pungent gases from the exhaust. Other crockery. ware and utensils can be accommodated at each side of the petrol tank, which, in the case of the Ford tanner, does not extend across the full width of the body.
Most coffee-stalls are licensed to sell tobacco and cigarettes, and, in order to enable a usefnl display of My Lady Nicotine to be made, two glass panels are provided in the rear of the body. Another glass panel at the rear is painted with the registration number of the vehicle, and when the interior is illuminated at night its reflection is very clear.
The body interior is extremely rooniy, its dimensions being 8 ft. long, 5 ft. 9 ios, wide, and 5 ft. 6 ins. high, and two men could easily serve.custorners from it. The retail price of the body is .g110, which represents good value for money, especially as two bodies are virtually embodied in one.
As most of the fittings used are loosely mounted, the change-over from one guise to the other can be executed in the minimum of time, and as a matter of fact, four minutes will usually suffice for the conversion to he made.
When in use as a coach there is no obstruction to the passengers' view either at the front or at the sides, with, of course, the exception of the side pillars. The vehicle can do duty as a passenger-carrying unit all the year round, it being possible to use it as a completely enclosed, or as a semi-open, type coach.