Motoring TWO FAMILY CARS AFTER a good many years' experience
of catalogue language I am still in doubt about the precise, meaning of the word family as applied to a motor-car. I know, or rather,- I believe, that in general terms it implies a :ow price-and a high degree of reliability, but that it does not always denote a car suitable for the transport of families; for I have heard and read it applied to baby cars. which. could by no stretch of imagination be called suitable for the conveyance of any faMilies but those of midgets or monkeys. • Yet a family, I take it, can number anything from two to .a dozen or more members, so perhaps you could describe a two-seater as a family. car—though I very much doubt its • acceptance at the Motor Show or in an advertisement. Low price is alWays a good thing in any class of car, and there can hardly exist a car today which_ is not claimed to be absolutely relkable. .If _ you consider the matter practically you must infallibly come to -the conclusion that any car is a family car, a car, hat is to say, in. which families may properly be aceommodated. I can't see that price has anything to dO with ie._ Are fa—.lies the exclusive 'pr;vilege Of the poor ? Must the owners of the 56 h.p. MerVeille 7-seated pullman limousine be alone in the world ? Nonethe less I know, as well as you, that the word conjures :up some Sort of picture of a car, without reference to meaning, reason or anything else. If I don't stop to think abolit it, it suggests to me a good-sized car, to hold at least four full- grOWn people in reasonable comfort, designed on simple lines, with its more delicate parts conveniently accessible. It need not go fast, but it must do its work willingly. It must be 'prepared to be driven and mishandled by several people of •.widely different degrees of experience and mechanical ,brutality. Such a car might be justified in costing quite a lot : it must be distinctly moderate in price.. For, in my 'picture of the whole buiiness, the family man who wants the kind of car that will put up with ill treatment for years on end and cost nothing in repairs is the very man who prices this rare and expensive quality lower than anything else. He thinks a first-class beast of burden must be cheap.
Tile extraordinary thing is that although he is absolutely wrong he so often gets what he wants at the price he is prepared to pay. If he demanded very special qualities in a very special sort of carL--terrific speed, ghostly silence, superb springing, anythirig yam like—the chances are that whatever he was ready to pay would not be enough. Just this or that shining per- fection would always bey found in the nexl-above-priee class.
veil_ write have known this more than once. It is one of the eternal mysteries of the motor-car that, from certain angles, the less you pay the more you get—or the other way about, if you prefer it. Two new cars that seem to me eligible for membership in this vague -company are the 12 Standard and'the 14 Hillman. They do =not really resemble each other at all closely, being built on entirely different lines, but they both possess certain definite fainily. qualities. They have, to begin with, four- cylinder engines of plain design. I would not say that the accessibility of 'either could not be materially improved, but that is the fault- of fashion. No small engine can call itself really accessible with, for instance, the air-cleaning, carburettor- silencing gadgets that are now in the mode. Apart from.. that sort of thing,these two engines are what My:fancied fainily man wants. . Both have four-speed gear-boxes with the sort of gear-change that the fools of the families should be aVle to tackle without damage to the box. Both hold' the road'Well and feel as if they would be steady on a slippery surface. "(On the occasion of my trials the day was fine and dry.) Both have good brakes, both have good luggage accommodation, and both are, in the ordinary acceptance of the term, cheap.
The Hillman is an entirely new model and, to me, interesting in being one of the latest examples'of the extremely welcome return to four-cylinder design. Rated at 14 h.p., its cubic content is just under two litres, a capacity usually rated at 16 h.p. or more in a Six. In general design it resembles the other Hillmans and Humbers, but it is distinguished-by having " Evenkeel " front-wheel independent suspension which is fitted only to its bigger relations. The bore and stroke are 75 by Ito, the tax is to guineas, the weight 26 cwt. and the price £248 or £268, according to the standard or " de luxe " finish and equipment.
The body is really comfortable and roomy. I daresay five people could be fitted in, but it is certainly perfectly suitable for four. The " vision " is good, -and the ventilation. The back seat would be improved by being tilted up a little, but that is the only suggestion I have to make. There is all the elbow- room and head-room I want, and I am difficult to satisfy. The boot holds a fair amount of luggage, and the fall can be used as a tray. Spare wheel and tools are housed in a separate compart- ment below, as is right and proper. The windscreen opens conveniently and there is a sliding roof for those who find a virtue in that dubious gadget. A maximum speed. of abdut 65 miles an hour on top is comfortably reached, arid both third and second are good climbing gears. The springing,' road- holding and steering are very guxi. Any family should be at its ease in this -car.
The 12 Standard, known as the Flying, has a bore and stroke of 69.5 by 106, a cubic capacity of 16o9, and a tax-rating of £9. It weighs only a little over one ton, and costs £205. Owing to that sensibly low, weight, its paces are very good. I found it would do rather more than 68 miles an hour on top and so on third. Its showing on my special steep hill was excellent. It is a lively-Car, with enough speed for any family, and pleasant manners. Both engine and .gear-box are very -quiet- at all speeds, and the drive is very smooth. It steers well, lightly and firmly, and it is well sprung. I liked the feel of the brakes.
The coachwork is roomy and comfortable, and there is a fair amount of luggage:room in the boot. A feature I liked, from the driver's point of view, was what is now called, rather inaccurately, the " eye-jevel " instrument-panel. Speed- indicator, clock and dials that must be watched are set a good deal higher than is usual. What I liked-most about the car was its smoothness of pull, its life and its steadiness. By far the best Standard I have driven yet. . Rum PRIOLEAU.
[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 payab!e must be given, as well as the type of body required. No advic.: can be given on the purchase,..sale. or exch.ange of used cars.]
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