A NEW ALL-WEATHER BODY.
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A Simple Device which Enables a Saloon. Coach to be Used as an Open or Enclosed Vehicle.
THIS is the time of the year when the outstanding advantages of the all-weather motor coach become apparent, for travellers are not disposed to make use of a vehicle which does not afford them the maximum of protection in wet and doubtful weather. Many a vehicle which is, in the main, a touring coach is enabled to be regularly employed during the winter months by reason of the fact that it is fitted with a suitable type of all-weather body.
It is for thie reason that a new allweather hood, which has recently seen produced by Spicers Motors, Ltd., 141, Shakespeare Street, Southport, will, we are sure, be of interest. The new hood is very simple in conception. It consists of a super-structure comprising a skeleton framework stretching from the dashboard to the fixed domed back. Affixed to the top of the structure are several easily detachable brass tubes or channels, which are held by means of wing nuts along the top to form a support. When locked in position, there is no possibility of rattle being set up at the points where the tubes are held, and this is a factor of much importance in a lengthy structure having a number of hoops.
When the hood covering is drawn forward it is held taut by special fittings above the windscreen. The side members of the framework are so built that drop windows of the Rawlings type can be employed, and with these windows raised and the covering drawn across the top, a completely enclosed saloon, giving absolute protection from the elements, is provided. An accompanying illustration shows the manner in which the hood is folded back at the rear of the vehicle. This particuar body, which is a 20seater, was built by Spicers Motors. Ltd., on a 30-cwt. Dennis chassis, and the vehicle is in the service of Messrs. Worthington and Raynor, of Fun
worth. The seats are of the semibucket type, and provide ample leg room ; the upholstering is carried out in real leather.
A feature of this new type of allweather body is that it enables a vehicle to be converted from an open touring coach to an enclosed model, or, vice versa, in the space of two minutes, and, in so far as the windows can be worked independently of one another, the individual requirements of passengers can, to a great extent, be met.
In the particular vehicle which we illustrate, two doors are provided on the near side for the use of passengers, one being at the front and the other behind the rear wheel arch. The price of the complete 20-seater body is £250.