Ax unusually heavy batch of inquiries this month from Spectator
readers for advice on the choice of a car proves, if proof were still needed, that if there is not yet that indefinite thing called a boom, there are all the makings of it. It is not so much the fact that at least three times as many people are asking about cars costing £700 and well over as there were this time last year, as the number and variety of questions put to me by the readers who have the least money to spend. They are very curious to know all about every kind of car that comes within their price-limit and often inconveniently particular—incone .venicntly because in so many cases I have to tell theta that no car exists yet that fulfils all their requirements at that price.
It is a common thing—mercifully for mei---for a reader to add to his requirements a list of rats from which. I am to make his choice for him, a list that Sometimes runs to half a dozen or more makes or models. • Generally speaking, that kind of letter is not very difficult to answer usefully. It means that the reader's mind. is already .half made up, and that he only hopes for confirmation of his choice. The difficult kind is the One in which I am asked to recommend a car that -has several special qualities, all of which arc, it seems, essential. - Taken separately, not one is an unreasonable one to -expect in- any but the very cheapest type, such features as.a sliding roof, a self-changing gear, proper luggage space, a large engine or--a rapidly growing demand—a deeent-sized body;. but if you want them all in one car, you must pay for it.
There must be something in the theory that if enough people want anything badly enough that thing will come into being. The large majority of my correspondents. 'want a car with some sort of " automatic " gear-change, sonic sort of " all-weather " equipment (usually of the drop-head type, which is expensive) and a good-sized body for less than £400.. Roughly, they can be divided into those who think a '12- to 15-h.p. car the best, . and those who want something nearer 20-h.p. Among the ears I have been tryingIately are two that come very near fulfilling all the general conditions.
They arc the 12-h.p. 4-cylinder Humber - " Vogue " saloon and the new 18-h.p.- Austin-Hayes " York " saloon. The first costs £335 (£285 for the ordinary saloon) and the second £378, or £368 with a 16-h.p. engine, and, apart from the special wants of my correspondents, they are both sound. and interesting cars which will provide the answer, I fancy, to several inquiries waiting fo be dealt with. And -here I should like fo- explain that delay in replying to-readers' requests for advice is owingto my postpiming my answer till I have tried this or that promising car.
The Austin 16-18-h.p. is the only model at present fitted with the Hayes friction-gear, but I- cannot- believe that it can long remain so. There is, in all probability, the question of " price, complete " to be considered, but the advantages of this gear, as far as may own experience goes, in 1932 and the other day, are so great that it is difficult to imagine Austins of the near future without it.
The main features of the Hayes- are these : for the driver, after the initial start, when the gear is put into the forward position, there is no gear-changing - at all,- A thumb-lever on the steering wheel sets the variable gear- ratio (from 3 to 6] to 1) at the desired-point, and the car is driven on the throttle alone. The engine-speed remains constant while the gear adjusts itself progressively and automatically to the load—e.g., to acceleration require- ments, hill-climbing and so on. On the flat the speed of the ear increases but not the speed of the engine. I drove the car up a long hill With two sharp hairpin bends on it, and its -steady climbing and automatic, noiseless gear- change and instant pick-up as the gradient eased off were faultless. The maximum speed .varies with road conditions. At its' " lightest "-that is, highest-geared point—this 18-h.p. Austin will do over 70 miles an hour. It is a really delightful. gear to .use, absolutely noiseless at all times-, and, I should say; as safe as any yet invented. At whatever point you May have set the " ratio "- lever, so. long as you use the throttle-pedal the car will to forward. There. is no gear to miss.. no possibility.of , .
A separate reverse is fitted-, -operated by an 'ordinary gear-lever which also controls neutral and forward drive. It-is all very ingenious and simple, and the principal charm of it all is that there is-very small-pciwer-losS-and that-the par seems to run itself, without effort. It should appeal to the skillecrdriver as much as-to the -unteachtible. The body of the" York " saloon is unusually roomy and- the Seating is really comfortable. It has six windows,.giving good vision, a .sliding-rdof and 'a- sizeable luggage-tray formed by the lid of the. spare-wheel locker in the back panel. The -wheelbase is 10 ft., the track 4 It. 8 ins., and the rubber-snspended, side-valved engine, of familiar Austin design, has a capacity of 2,1 litres, a brake horse- power of 43, and a tax of £13 As might be expected, the main attraction of the 12-h.p. " Vogue " Humber is its body, - It is -a design that was to be seen in Paris a few years -ago, but I believe that Humbers have it exclusively on this side of the Channel. It is a 2-door saloon, the doors very wide, without pillars, the practical result being an unbroken window-length that extends from the windscreen to the back of the body. The two windows slide horizontally and in their closed position are draughtless where they overlap. The rear end of the window is slightly -dropped, following the line of the top edge. This-gives the car the look of a backward slope, but it is an optical illuSion, the contour of the roof being nearly flat. You see out and about in comfort and the interior of the car is much more cheerful than most. You sit at case.
The 4-cylinder side-valved engine is large for a ear rated at 12-h.p. ; the bore and stroke of 69.5 by 110 give it a capacity of 1,669 c.c. and a brake horsepower of 42 at 3,800 r.p.m. It is rubber mounted at three points. A silencer is fitted to the down-draught carburettor. The four-speed gear-box is synchromeshed on all gears ; the brakes are Bendix duo-servo and what is called self- energising. The gear-ratio is on the low side, top being 5.3, third 8, second 13.5, and first 21.3 to 1.
Considering that the car weighs over 26 cwt., I thought its performance good, particularly on hills. It climbed the same long hill with the hairpin bends, as did the Austin, and it made excellent time, using third all the way except for one drop to second at the turn. The engine makes very little noise up to 40 miles an hour and runs fairly smoothly. The pick-Up and acceleration are good, and.the car -is very- pleasant to drive. It will do about 65 miles an hour on top and 45 on third. Brakes and steering are excellent and the suspension comfortable _ [Note.—Readers' requests for advice from our Motoring 'Correspondent on the choice of new ears should be accom- panied byy-a stamped and addressed envelope. The highest price payable must be given, as well as the type of body required. No advice caw be given on the purchase, sale or exchange of used cars.]
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