18 OCTOBER 1935, Page 43

Family Cars for Moderate Incomes

THE new ears for the' very large family or family owners are certainly attractive. Taking a useful Maximum price of £800 with a mini- mum of say £200, there are the three 'lovers, the Ten, the Twelve and the Vourteen, at £248, £278, £298. Since this design was put on the market about three years ago (and the fact that it has been scarcely altered in any detail is a very encouraging one) the body work Produced by the Rover Company has In one of its principal attractions. in these cars you get quite a remarkable amount of room, legways, elbow-ways and above your head, and these essen- tials have been produced in a decidedly clever manner without the adoption of the ultra-fashionable overhang either fore or aft. Everybody sits forward of the back axle. All three arc decidedly lively, as the reports of their behaviour in The Spectator have shown, and they can certainly be regarded as that rather mysterious product, an " all-purpose " ear. They are fast and comfortable and their appearance is certainly among the best in the Show. The Standard Company is showing three cars of the same category, the 12 h.p. four-cylinder at £229 and the 16 h.p. and light 20 h.p. six-cylinders at £269 and £275. Here again bodily comfort has been properly studied. The coachwork of all three is remarkably roomy, and all three are outstanding examples of a good deal for very little money. Perhaps the light Twenty would not have been regarded a§ a genuine family car a few Years ago on account of its lively per- formance, but as power tends more and more to be used for acceleration rather than speed, this attractive car must certainly be allowed to pass as a car for the man of moderate means. '

Within these price limits Vauxhall have produced four specially attractive cars. The 12 h.p. saloon at £205 is the cheapest and the 14 h.p. Tickford Four light coupe-cabriolet at £298 is the dearest, the other two being the ordinary de luxe saloon at £225 and the coupe at £245, both with 14 h.p. chassis. I was much attracted by the Tickford .body, which has always seemed to me to come very near the design of the ideal body for the British climate. It is really a closed car when the hood is up and a really neat open car or a semi- open one when the hood is furled or half-furled. High up in the power scale, again in these price limits, comes the 25 h.p. Morris, which has been produced in competition with a certain type of American. The 25 h.p., which is an attractive looking sliding head saloon finished in black, costs £280. In the special coachwork line, the 12 h.p. coupe costs £220 and is well worth inspection. It is a type of body work one does not find easy at this price. The B.S.A. Light Six is shown as a saloon de luxe, pleasantly finished in green and black at £275, as a coupe at the same price, and as a particularly successful Sports saloon at £285. This is a comparatively new car, the engine being of the overhead valve type. with the head cast integrally with the block as in the Lariehester. It has the Dahnler transmission, the fluid flywheel and self-changing gear box, and it certainly has one of the best specifica- tions at the price in the Show.

"` There are interesting American cars in the £200- £300 class, the new 26 h.p. Chevrolet, which is sold• with a good-sized saloon body for £265, the Terraplane at £285, and the Stildebaker at £298. Those with an eye for good lines will be attracted by the Citroen display, where there are four cars between £200 and £300, the Twelve saloon roadster and coupe and Sports saloon. This front-wheel drive chassis with its torsion bar suspension and its dashboard gear lever is one of the most interesting mechanically in the Show, and those responsible for the body work have done their job admirably well. The general effect is streamlined, but it is not in the least obtrusive and the whole car in each type is " balanced." The two-seater is perhaps the most successful of them all. It must be one of the easiest cars to get in and out of that has been made for some time. The saloon costs £265, the two-seater £270, the coupe £275 and the saloon £285. At £269 and £295, Riley are showing a Merlin four-light saloon and a special Kestrel four-light saloon on the famous 9 h.p. chassis. Theme first of these is the cheapest Riley Nine yet produced. . There are- of course quantities of other cars within these. very wide limits, but those I have mentioned strike me as being representative of the very considerable advance made in the moderate priced car within the past twelve months.