Motors an Motoring
The Modem Motor Car- IV.—Some Special Features A NUMBER of special features of the modern motor car which will be found to be included in many up-to-date specifications have been alluded to with simple explanations in three previous articles under the above heading. To-day it is intended to deal with one or two connected more with the body than with the chassis. First, as to upholstery. Seating in general has been improved during the last year or two, but in the main it has not made as much progress as other parts of the coach- work, and more especially of the chassis. That this is a fact is easily proved by anyone who sits in an ordinary up-to-date car and then in one of the old-stagers. Some advance has been made, however, in the upholstery in the saloon type of body, and especially in that pattern so much favoured in Europe and known as the Weymann. One or two firms who market the more expensive kind of car provide loose down cushions, and these are extremely comfortable, but in my opinion there is no form of upholstery which is comparable in individual comfort with the pneumatic type. Correspondents who have inquired about it are at first apt to view it with suspicion, because they imagine that it may prove unreliable and be uncomfortable through instability. I have had considerable experience of it not only on my own cars but in various forms on a number of different makes which I have tested from time to time. I have never had any trouble from leakage of air—in fact, I have used pneumatic cushions without the necessity for a moment's attention for periods of two years at a time. If this upholstery gives a rolling feel to a driver or passenger it means that it is not properly designed or correctly inflated, and this applies both to squabs and to seats. The outstanding advantage is that it automatically fits individual shapes and the pressure is naturally where it is most wanted. The seats can, moreover, be pumped to the requirements of the individual. With the price of rubber very much reduced compared to what it was a year or two ago, it is to be hoped that this form of upholstery will be more widely used. One or two firms like Singer and Lagonda have standardized it now for some considerable time. Where a car is not so fitted it is well worth the extra initial expense to have pneumatic
upholstery. * * * Interior heating of cars is a matter which has been badly neglected, for there is no reason why one should travel in a cold and uncomfortable state in a car any more than in a railway carriage. Real luxury in a room is to have a large fire and the windows open, and in a car, whether open or closed, it is most pleasant to be well wrapped up and warm and yet have the fullest amount of fresh air. The hot-water bottle—a relic of carriage days—has so many obvious drawbacks and is so local in its effect that it is not worthy to-day of serious consideration. Three or four years ago the Americans started fitting interior heaters to closed cars, and although they were not always well designed the idea was progressive. The heat of the exhaust gases was used for the purpose. Even to-day
I cannot call to mind one British motor-ear firm which supplies as standard any form of interior heater, and this is the more surprising with the rapid growth in popularity of the closed car in England Many of the American heaters worked poorly, and for this reason, no doubt, motorists were put off in their demand for interior heating. I know that on several trans- atlantic cars so fitted which I tried it was not possible to modulate the temperature properly ; fumes would occasionally be present, while often the heat could not be completely turned off. Again, a point which might frighten the more technical motorist is back pressure, for if this is set up the engine will lose power. It is possible now, however, to get heaters here which are reliable in every way. They fit flush with the floorboard, exhaust smell cannot arise from them, they cannot overheat or burn the soles of one's boots or rug, they can be regulated, they can be completely shut off, they do not set up back pressure in the engine—in fact, they form an additional expansion box or silencer. They are easily controllable from the instrument board or, from the side of a
sent, and they cost nothing to run. I have had one on a car for over two years, and while -it has never been touched it has always performed its duties well.
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The finish of coachwork can now be put under three heads-- namely, varnish, fabric, and cellulose or " hard " finish. The last has come from America and there are many advantages with it. In order to produce in big quantities American body designers evolved the all-metal pattern of coachwork, and this form is particularly suitable to take cellulose paint. The fabric-covered body originated in its flexible form on the Continent, but with the great improvement which has been made in the lines and appearance of the flexible saloon body it has gained popularity in England. The varnish finish is a relic of the days of horse-drawn vehicles, and for general motoring has served its turn but is not now really practical. To-day, with the great majority of ears owner-driven and more or less owner-looked-after, such finish involves too much labour and care. For what one may call the luxury car, by which I mean the large and initially expensive machine, especially of the closed type, varnish finish is still supreme in England and not without reason. The progress made in cellulose finish has been rapid during the last year or so, but for smartness and for the best exhibition of the highest art of the coachbuilder there is in my mind no finish like the varnish one. For owners of the more humble classes of car, however, where fabric is not used as a covering, cellulose finish is entirely suitable. The paint requires to be sprayed on with knowledge and skill, and its durability is largely de- pendent upon the design of the coachwork, because beading and places where relative movement can take place naturally tend to cause cracking. Given, however, the proper condi- tions, this finish will actually improve with use. Many people were originally put off cellulose-painted bodies, because those who were interested exaggerated the claims and went so far as to say that a car so finished was unscratchable. I never found this to be the case, and if it was it would mean that the paint work was too hard. Cellulose will not, however, spot if water is left on it as will a varnished paint, and it can be washed and rubbed with comparative carelessness. It is both labour-saving and economical in maintenance, and these two advantages are in conformity with modern motoring require- ments. Motoring is rapidly becoming measurable in terms of comfort, and comfort is the sum of many small conveniences. The appeal of the car becomes wider and wider, and the simpler machines are made to drive and to look after the bigger will become the movement. When the American found that he was approaching saturation point in his own country he founded the two-car-per-family policy. It has worked well, and to-day more than 2,700,000 American families possess more than one car. It is a noticeable fact that here the idea is spreading, and in many families the woman has her own machine. Thus the interest expands. It is because of this increase in owner-drivership that in these articles on the modern motor car I have touched upon one or two points which perhaps concern the motorist more than the man who always employs a professional driver.
YOUR MOTORING CORRESPONDENT.
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