Motoring
TOMORROW'S CARS
THOSE who are still convinced that they can forecast the design of that evanescent machine known as the Car of the Future may find food for thought in the two cars I have for report this week. The Car of the Future, as it has been introduced to me since, let us say, the War, still remains nebulous to my poorly instructed but rather practical mind. I am not sure, after reading about a hundred specifications (but it may be a thousand), whether it is to be sprung with air, steel, rubber or oil ; whether it is to have one, none or six gears, epicyclic, straight, automatic or infinitely variable ; a radial, turbine or two-stroke engine ; whether it is to be driven from in front or behind—nobody has thought of suggesting that it should have its motive power in the middle, like that brilliant success the first 4-wheeled Lanchester, circa 1902-3—or whether it is to suck its propelling force out of the unknown in the atmosphere, on some wireless principle.
To the best of my recollection all these have been put forward as practical possibilities—and by now we should know enough to know how limitless is the extent of our ignorance and refrain from scoffing—but the trouble for the ardent " Modern " is that design continues to waver between the very new and probably good and the fairly old and known-to-be-good. Both sorts are called- progress and, insomuch as improvement is often mistaken for it, nobody can quarrel with the description. The only thing of which those of us want to make sure, who really like cars in the comprehensive sense of liking dogs, for example, is that the car of our new choice should go better and last longer than the old. The methods of the pioneers or the Tories are of no more than academic interest—or at least so it seems to me whose job it is to judge each new design on performance.
The foregoing remarks do not introduce or suggest com- parison between the two cars I have just tried for The Spectator, the 21-litre Opel and the 13-h.p. Lancia, known as the " Aprilia." There is no comparison between them from any practical aspect, save that both do their job of swift transport very well. One, to my mind, is a very good example of the policy of improving proved methods ; the other of bold and practical adoption of new ideas. Either may embody some underlying principle of that car of tomorrow. If so I have no idea which.
The Opel is the latest model produced by one of the oldest factories in Germany and Europe. It is now built under the direction of General Motors, but it remains essentially a German-designed car. It is what is known to the fancy as a plain motor-car, from one end to the other, and, except that it has a singularly efficient type of independent front-axle suspension, there is little outwardly to distinguish its design in the eyes of the casual buyer from that of half a dozen cars that have not been radically altered for as many years. There are differences, of course, but they are not, in the main, of the sort that have " catalogue value." For instance, the six-cylinder engine has nearly square dimensions, 8o by 82 millimetres. Even in these days of shortening strokes these proportions are unusual. The maximum power of 6o, from a rated 24, taxed at £18, is developed at only 3,600 r.p.m. The pistons are tin-plated ; the rear springs are, as they say, synchronised with the front ones ; the radiator is mounted on rubber ; and the weight of the car complete is 23 cwt.
For the rest there is nothing to remark as extraordinary. The valves are rod-operated overhead, the brakes are hydraulic (the hand-set working on the rear drums, not a separate outfit), and the crankshaft runs in four bearings, A plain car, and apparently an orthodox one except in its gear-box, which has only three speeds, geared 4.3, 7.1 and 12.6, the highest ratio I have heard of for a touring car of this type. Generally speaking I detest 3-speed gear-. boxes, enduring them only where the weight is really low, the engine powerful enough to ensure real flexibility and when second speed is reasonably high. The Opel box is what is wanted in this chassis. You get about seventy miles an hour on top, about forty-eight on second. Second will take you up a i-in-6 hill from a standstill accelerating all the way, and I imagine that first will cope with any gradient on a made road.
Add to this very unusual flexibility on top, a degree of noiselessness I have never known excelled, complete smooth- ness of action, an almost perfect gear-change, quite first-class brakes and springing and you have most Of the qualities aimed at in the most advanced design. The steering is too low- geared for my taste, but I got used to it and forgot it. That is what one might be allowed to call the orthodox type of design, improved. The price of the saloon is £225 and of the foursome drophead coupe £265. I liked it very much, and I regard it as very good value for money.
The new Lancia is closely related in design to its lamented predecessor, the 12-h.p. " Augusta," which I thought one of the most successful cars ever made, and represents the other sort of modernity. It has all four wheels independently sprung ; a V-set four-cylinder engine, with a number of novel features ; chassis and body put together as one ; a very high gear ; a comparatively small engine and, as you may have guessed, a very low total weight. The car weighs just under 16 cwt., and from that salient fact springs most of its magnificent performance.
It is extremely fast, not only for the size of its engine but in comparison with most cars on the road. The 72 by 83 millimetre motor, rated at 12.9 h.p. and taxed at £9 15s., delivers 46 h.p. at 4,000 r.p.m. and is capable of 8o miles an hour on top and well over 5o on third in suitable circum- stances. Its acceleration is astonishing and in general it may quite truthfully be said to have the performance of a car of nearly three times the power. That is the sort of thing we sometimes dream of when we design our own cars, but, although all this brilliant performance may not mean much to owners whose motoring is confined, for the most part, to the suffocated roads of England, the immediate reasons for it are of the greatest practical interest to everybody who drives any sort of car anywhere. The remarkably low total weight should mean real economy, not only in fuel and oil but in the saving of wear and tear on springs, transmission, chassis, steering and, because the engine runs fairly slowly, on all moving parts. It is a very inspiriting thing to drive, particularly beyond 5o m.p.h. when it settles down on to the road as all fast cars should. The rear springing needs adjustment, in my view, being rough at low speeds, but otherwise the car rides very well. I liked the gear-change, the steering and the brakes, in that order, more than most. The pillarless saloon gives you fair room and is easy to enter and leave. It costs £330. At their respective prices very few cars have interested me more from the sheerly practical point [Note.—Readers' requests for advice from our Motoring Correspondent on the choice of new cars should be accompanied by a stamped and addressed envelope. The highest price payable must be given, as well as the type of body required. No advice can be given on the purchase, sale or exchange of used cars.]
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