MOTORING
Touring Abroad Despite the tension in international affairs and the daily reports of impending trouble between this State and that, the popularity of motor-touring abroad grows steadily greater. Last spring and summer more cars were carried across the Channel than ever before, the number so high at the opening of the holiday season that it was necessary to book space on the steamers a long time in advance. So long as war is not actually being waged, it seems, the happy-go- lucky British motorist embarks himself, his family and his car, for the Alps, the Danube and the Mediterranean, without a single thought of Dictators and their sinister activities.
Smooth Paths He is perfectly right, of, course. The last thing that any Continental country wants is to take the gilt off the tourist gingerbread, the comestible upon which the well-being of the hotel and shop industries depends so largely. With very few exceptions motorists are welcomed everywhere they are likely to go, their paths made smooth and agreeable. The abuse of England in the papers does not seem to extend to the English on tour, or perhaps it is not read by those with something to sell to us, or, what is possibly more likely, it is read and disregarded by people who have now had some experience of a controlled Press, and can gauge its value. However that may be, the fact remains that the officially rude things said about his country do not apply to the British tourist, his car or his money. He can wander about most parts of Europe as pleasantly as he could before 1914.
Duty-free in France It is a very simple matter to take your car abroad now. If you are going to France you need carry no papers except a car-specification, your English driving licence and road- book. There is no deposit to pay on the car-duty, as before, no banker's guarantee or insurance policy demanded. You land in France as freely as you do in the Isle of Wight or in Ulster. On arrival you buy a laissez-passer for to, 20, 3o or 90 days, at a cost of between 20 and too francs, and drive off into the blessed blue. There is some minor impost, one of the inevitable taxes, but it amounts to a few shillings only. For other countries, except Germany, you take out the familiar carnet de passage en douane (from the R.A.C. or A.A.), pay about kr for the insurance of the duty payable on the car, collect your international driving licence and " fiscal permit " (all handed over on application) and start.
New Easy Entry to Germany Within the last few weeks Germany has made a new motor tourist-attracting arrangement. You can take your car into the country with nothing more than your driving licence and road-book, plus a German translation of both. On entering Germany you pay RM. 2.5o (about 2S. 6d. in tourist marks) for a month's stay. In all cases, of course, you must carry a G-B plaque. The cost of transporting the car abroad varies between £2 5s. and £8, at owner's risk, single journey.
The 25 Morris The new 25 Morris, a big £320 6-cylinder of 31 litres cubic capacity, is an interesting addition to the small list of British cars designed to compete on equal terms with the less expen- sive American types. It is a great improvement on the preceding series, notably in performance and general liveli- ness. Much of this is due to the new overhead valved engine, but other modifications contribute to the really impressive results.
The Morris has a three-speed gear-box instead of the original four-speed and it is plain that much care has been taken to get the ratios right for the engine-speed and weight of the car. As a rule I dislike a three-speed box in a car of normal, which unfortunately usually means excessive, weight, but in this case, as in that of the new i8-cwt. Vauxhall to there is nothing to complain of. In fact special congratulation, are owed to the designers, because although the weight of the Morris, 31", cwt., is hardly greater than that of its closer rivals, the wheelbase, to ft. i I in., is about nine inches longer than is the general rule in the Americans of about this calibre. while the bodywork is larger. The ratios are top 4.4 to i second, 7.4 to I ; and first, a5 to 1. I found the comfortable maximum speeds on the first two to be about 75 and 5o, though I believe more than 8o can be got on top under persuasion.
A Well-found Car On hills, mild and very steep alike, it put up a showing at least equal to that of its competitors costing up to within £50 more, exceeding it in one or two instances. Its accele- ration is, in the worn but useful phrase, vivid, the engine runs smoothly and quietly, the gear-change is quick and smooth, the steering and brakes of a high order. It is a very lively and comfortable car to drive, holding the road well, free from sway. The saloon is a really big one, with plenty of room for five full-sized people and accommodation for a lot of luggage. The equipment includes built-in hydraulic jacks, on which the car can be raised off all four wheels at once, draughtless ventilation windows, telescope steering column and a very wide screen which affords an adequate view of the road ahead and on each side.
The Ghost Mountains I have been told once already that there is no sort of foun- dation for the legend that the heights of Mynydd Prescelly, in Pembrokeshire, are the abode of ghosts, chiefly Elementals, with a leavening of Ancient Britons, and I suppose I shall be told so again. I have no idea whether the story is true cr not and as I gather from my original informant, the only way to disprove it is to camp out alone in those windy solitudes and see whether the embedded rocks do move stealthily towards you until the adventure ends in panic-stricken flight and a shower of stones no hand has thrown. I hope never to know the rights of it. Legend or no legend, Mynydd Pres- celly is a very pleasant place for an hour's halt on a sunny spring day.
The Peace of Solitude You would not call the scenery grand or even striking, for although from some points you can see a good expanse o`: country what your eye finds in those rolling hills gets its attraction from its monotony rather than from any special feature of form or colour. As in all open, high places the shifting light and shade plays agreeable tricks with your eyesight, bringing that moorhead to within ten minutes' walk, stretching that line of rocky humps to ten miles, a fleet of clouds sailing across the dim blue painting an occasional fold in the hills a dark purple, but in general you are content with the sense of great spaces, the sight of a distant horizon and the companionship of solitude.
A convenient road to it runs from very ancient Cenarth Bridge on the Teifi by Boncath and Eglwyswrw (very diffi- dently I offer, at second hand, a connexion between this memorable word and eglise, which also means church—but accepting no responsibility) and another, from Carmarthen way, by St. Clears and Maenclochog. Incidentally, I should have said that, according to my dubious information, the Elementals only object to your spending the night among them. By day they ignore you. Or they ignored me.
jOHN 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 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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