A Spectator reader, commenting on the article I wrote a
month ago about the pleasures of designing one's own common-sense car, remarks that, if the designer is influenced by modern exterior tendencies, he should begin his work by ruthlessly blacklisting most of the features that are supposed to be selling points-in the 1935 models, and by insisting upon " the artistic simplicity that distinguished the best cars a quarter of a century ago." I do not agree with him on every point, but I believe that most people who like driving understand and sympathize with his attitude.- There is too much of the modern car that is useless and, within reasonable price-limits, not enough of what every sensible car should have in its make-up. Whatever your plausible salesman may say about this or that' indispensable gadget; whether in coachwork or driving gear, the fact remains that a motor- car is still a piece of machinery and, like every other, is best when it is simplest. The aim of every mechanical designer is the reduction of parts, and although there are a depressing number, both moving and stationary, in practically every normal car, hope still flames in the heart of every engineer that one day they will grow beautifully less and leave the way clear for progress.' Here are some practical questions that my correspon- dent's letter suggests. Why does nearly every modern car of moderate price have a built-in stoneguard for its radiator ? It reduces the effective cooling surface by as much as 50 per cent. in certain notorious cases, and by quite 25 per cent. in the majority. This means that a larger radiator is used than would otherwise be necessary, and that means more weight and more expense. - What, exactly, is the object of the thing ? It is a useful, even an indispensable fitting in a road-racing car, to protect a vital part from flying stones thrown up by the wheels of the car in front., How long is it since the radiator of a touring car, particularly on 'our own roads, has been hit by a stone ? For that matter, how many radiators were hit by- stones in the days when these were lying about loose on the roads ? As a protection against other forms of impact they are useless as well as superfluous. Why are front bumpers fitted . if_ not to safeguard the fragile radiator as well as the wings ? Is a stoneguard supposed to be inherently more beautiful than a plain radiator ? If so it is, as my reader suggests, just a piece of tin tied on for effect. The price that 'is paid 'for a sham front is dead weight.
• Why do so many makers design a beautifully, shaped rear panel for their saloons, incorporating a locker which is completely occupied by the spare wheel.? That is a little trick for the eye which many_ innocent buyers have cursed in the past year or two. It is Tel the highest importance that there should be proper accommodation for luggage in small and moderate-sized cars ; it does not matter in the least where the spare wheel is put provided it does not get in the way and that it is easily accessible. To build a locker for it as if it were something indecent is an instinct comparable with that which produced the stoneguard. It is on a par with the fashion, still mercifully " new," of hiding the driving wheels with more pieces of tin and calling the result advanced streamlining. And why, in the name of all that's mechanical is -the starting-handle regarded as something to be ashamed of ? We- are supposed to be able to start our engines on Our batteries every time and, to be fair, if they are properly looked after, we generally do it for a year or two, but I cannot see that this is any reason for that worst of all modern innovations, the detached starting handle. It is used every time the valves are ground in and, if we are wise, every time before the engine is started on a frosty morning. Its proper place is where it works, not hidden under the mat or buried at the bottom of a tool-locker or somewhere thoroUghly- inconvenient. When it is wanted, which, at this time of year, should be every time the car is started from cold, it has to be dug out and with difficulty .put into position- through or past more tin such as aprons intended; I suppose, to keep the bottom of the sump warm, or perhaps the front axle or the sides of the dumb-irons. It is not always pleasant or even possible to turn a modern engine over with its detached handle. I cannot remember Seeing more than half a dozen ears in as many years on which you could -swing the engine. You can peek at it, sometimes.
' These aberrations from the hard way of common sense are to be found in most of the newest cars and my= ideal car will be guiltless of them. On the other hand it will have several modern innovations of which, presumably, my correspondent does not approve. All shackles will be of the oil-less type. A fair number of cars of all prices are so fitted and I can never understand why this excellent system is' not -universal. Are dry shackles so costly ? I would have detachable steel cylinder liners, as in the Sunbeams, and hope to escape most of the troubles Of 'cylinder wear, including the worst of all, the eventually inevitable re-bore. My ideal gear-box would certainly have its third speed. synchromeshed (another modern feature with which our friend will have nothing to do, preferring a " straight " box, " calling for a little intelligence ") but not its second. If the latter, proved to be noisy, as is sometimes the case with the plain gears in a synchromeshed box, I would try the effect of wrapping the box with strips of rubber.
I would copy the new Triumph Twelve and have what I have waited many years to see, an adjustable steering column. • You can, in a few seconds and with a penny, lengthen the Triumph's by about four inches and, with not much trouble, alter the angle. This is an improve- ment one could hardly expect to find in cheap machines but its cost cannot be so high that the great major ity of cars costing less than £250 could not be fitted with it. All those corners of the car that are now dark would he properly illuminated, such as the interior of the bonnet and the -rear side of the dash. Mercedes and one or two others (I think the Invicta, and one of the earlier 6-cylin- der Lagondas) had bonnet-lighting, and I remember the relief it was in a dark garage or at night not having to make shift with the single beam of an electric torch. That is not an expensive gadget. Nor should be the proviE ion of means whereby the back, or, rather, the front of the instrument-board can be properly inspected. I think Rovers were the first to have a hinged facia, one of those luxuries which are really necessities, as anybody will agree who has had the job of tracing a loose terminal amid the jungle of leads that grows in the darkness behind the switchboard. Apart from throwing essential light on terminals a hinged facia or good-sized " sky- lights," let into the scuttle above, would make the work of keeping the speed-indicator and revolution-counter cables properly greased easy.
In my ideal car you would be able to take up wear in both sets of brakes while the car was in motion. There would be a large- hand placed conveniently on the floor to control the foot-brake, and the side-brake would be adjustable by means of a " star " at the end of the. lever. Incidentally it occurs to me that here is a means of check- ing the car-thief. Has the notion of locking the brakes in this way been tried yet ? It could not, of course, be used in car-parks or garages, but it might be a handy way of preventing the car from being stolen when standing in a street or other free place. The side-brake lever would be long and sturdy, with a good deal more travel than that found in the average modern car. It would be a brake for general use and not merely for parking. Every driver whose experience goes back to the days before the general adoption of central gear-control will remember how very useful that long brake-lever was and how quickly he learnt to use it, except in emergencies, as least as often as the foot-brake. With a dodge for releasing the ratchet so that it flies back to the "off-' position it gives you an extra degree of confidence in difficult country. I have no use at all for the average modern 'side-brake, 'or for its toy-like lever or, generally speaking, for its position. Your side-brake should be as handy as your foot-brake. These.are some of the " Whys and Why Nots ? •" of the new cars' mechanism. Another time I will try to deal with the far more controversial question of coachwork. JOHN PR1OLEAU.
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