Passing Comments
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THE incorporation of an automatic or synchronizing gearbox, the elimination of the clutch and the use of the engine starter for moving the vehicle from rest, are possible future developments suggested to us by no less eminent an authority than Mr. Constantinesco, of
mechanical-torque-converter fame. He agreed to allow the neutral position to be used for warming up, but discounted our suggestion that starter motors and batteries would hardly be up to the considerable extra work demanded of them.
Starter-battery Manufacturers Should Take Warning
Will Dual Ignition T HE maker of Lodge plugs
Come on Commercial I is strongly in favour of Vehicles .? . . . dual ignition systems for motor vehicles, which, incidentally, are compulsory on all British aero engines, mainly to ensure reliability, but it is said also to . provide increased power, the position of the plugs having an important bearing on efficiency. If two were employed side by side, they would give no more power than a single plug, but if diametrically opposed, they will ignite the mixture from opposite sides simultaneously, thus permitting more rapid combustion.
Proved Longevity of WE frequently hear of BritishBritish-built Corn" made goods vehicles that rnercial Vehicles . . continue to give excellent re
sults after many years of hard service, and recently we mentioned certain Leyland lorries of 1908 vintage that are still being operated by Carter Paterson and Co., Ltd. Mac Fisheries, Ltd., is also using, for market work, 20 Daimler vehicles of 1910, and these veterans saw extensive lArar service in France between 1914 and 1918, when they were used for carrying ammunition. Such examples of longevity speak well for British design and workmanship.
One of London's Most rEW people realize the con; Popular Entertain1 venience and enjoyment of menu a trip to the Dagenham works of the Ford Motor Co., Ltd. They are made on the "New Dagenham," a motor cruiser specially chartered by the company, and available to the general public every Monday and Tuesday. Visitors embark at Westminster Pier at 11.30 a.m., are entertained by a loudspeaker commentary on the river and its scenes, and spend two hours touring the factory, returning to Westminster at about 5.30 p.m., the inclusive charge being 3s'. Gd. Interesting Model nNE of the features of the Vehicles at the Empire N-"Empire Exhibition at Exhibition . . . Johannesburg will be a series of models showing the evolution of the modern vehicle from 1827 to 1036. These are on a scale of 1 in. to the ft., and deal chiefly with the private car, but there are two fine examples of the commercial vehicle, a Dennis 1-ton van and a London Transport A.E.C. bus. The vehicles will be shown on a road nearly 60 ft. long, on which are traffic signs, old and new, the total exhibit costing about £1,000.
Detail Improvement THE hydraulic jack unques in Important Equiptionably lessens the labour ment Item . . . . of lifting a heavy vehicle, whilst the usual method of releasing the fluid to allow the ram to fall is simplicity itself. We suggest, however, that here there is room for an improvement which could be easily effected and which would probably increase considerably the popularity of the type. To lower the jack gradually or to check the motion at a selected point needs more skill and quickness of action than in the case of the mechanical device. Some less delicate control, or possibly a valve giving a step-by-step action, seems desirable.
Police Who Miss A N acquaintance was re Criminals to Catch cently followed for some Motorists . . . . distance by mobile police, whose favourite coign of vantage is a side road off a main road in North London. The police gave up the chase when he turned into his road, and retired to their usual position a few hundred yards away. When he entered his home he found that it had been ransacked from top to bottom. He has now joined the many who believe that the police might be better employed protecting the interests of the public than in harassing individuals.