FOR BUSINESS OR PLEASURE PURPOSES.
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A New American Dual-purpose Vehicle, offered to British Users at an Attractive Price, which can be Used for Carrying 10-cwt. Loads or as a Touring Car.
WE RECENTLY visited the Slough works of Durant Motors, Ltd., in order to examine several examples of their new 10-cwt. van and dual-purpose vehicles, all on the 15.6 h.p. chassis.
In America the Durant is known as the Star, but this name, of course, cannot be used here.
Dealing firstly. with the standard van,
the chassis has a capacity of 10.ewt. and is provided with a British-built body.
is sold at the reasdeable price of £l75 in the grey, or £185 finish painted. The body is built of seasoned ash, with steel panels, and provides an unusual measure of comfort for the driver, who has a -roomy comfortable cab with high side doors and a divided windscreen, the Upper half of which is adjustable. A loading space of 102 cubic ft. is provided behind the driver's seat, and there is
room for further material beside the driver, who can, if necessary, enter and leave the vehicle by a second door provided on the off side. This is facilitated by the fact that the control levers are centrally positioned.
The chassis is of the ordinary -channel section construction, but provided with what is known as the Durant backbone.
This is a heavy tubular member joining the cross-member from which the gearbox is suspended, to another cross member close to the rear axle. This member is fitted with the idea of stiffening the .whole frame and preventing the twist which sometimes occurs in light chassis and which causes trouble due to bad alignment and racking of the bodies.
The power unit is a four-cylinder L. headed type, with the cylinders cast. en bloc with the upper half of the crank
ease, the bore and stroke being 3& ins. and 4i ins. respectively ; actually, it is the well-known Continental Red Seal. The cylinder heads are removable and the cooling water is circulated by a pump through a honeycomb radiator.
The drive is taken through a single dry-plate clutch to a separate threespeed-and-reverse gearbox of the selective sliding type, and thence through a propeller shaft with Spicefjoints to a Timken rear axle fitted with spiral bevel gears.
Both brakes act direct on the rear wheels through internal-expanding shoes and external-contracting bands respectively. Semi-elliptic springs are fitted all round, those at the back being underslung and 48 ins. long.
The equipment includes dynamo electric lighting set and self-starter. The instrument, case projects into the cab in an unusual manner, and above it are fitted the ignition and throttle controls, whilst a spare wheel and rim are carried on the inner left wall of the body.' Reference to our illustrations of the various vehicles will show the special detachable rims which are provided on all the wheels, and which greatly facilitate the changing of tyres.
s As regards the other types of coinmereial vehicles, these are well shown in oneeof our illustrations. The chief types are, first, a shooting brake to hold six people inside, apart from two beside the driver, and convertible to a 10-cwt. van ; secondly, a 10-cwt. van; convertible to a five-seater touring car.
The bodies are made by Duple Bodies and Motors, Ltd., Pembroke Works, Hornsey, London, N.8. The detachable portiiins are held in position by two strainer bolts with left and right-hand threaded tauteners similar to those used for aeroplaae wires. Each body looks complete in itself and is a very great improvement upon the early types of two-purpose bodies which were designed an impracticable lines. The price of the touring ear and van eombination is £280.