MOTORING
The H.P. Tax The refusal of Sir John Simon to reconsider the new taxes cannot have been unexpected even by the most sanguine of optimists. When all is said and done the extra tax itself is not after all so grievous a burden on the user. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer pointed out the difference for the 8-h.p. owner between 1939 and 194o is the price of a gallon of petrol—say 35 miles' driving—every week. I must admit I think he might have made some concession to the owner of the old car. It is a fact that quite a number of 15 or 20 h.p. old cars now being driven about the roads are, although sound enough for the daily round, valued at so little that their price in the open market is probably not much higher than the tax they will have to pay. It may strike some people as inequitable that a to-year-old car should be taxed at the same rate as a new one of much higher capabilities and perhaps twenty times the value. The refusal of Sir John Simon to reconsider the new taxes cannot have been unexpected even by the most sanguine of optimists. When all is said and done the extra tax itself is not after all so grievous a burden on the user. As the Chancellor of the Exchequer pointed out the difference for the 8-h.p. owner between 1939 and 194o is the price of a gallon of petrol—say 35 miles' driving—every week. I must admit I think he might have made some concession to the owner of the old car. It is a fact that quite a number of 15 or 20 h.p. old cars now being driven about the roads are, although sound enough for the daily round, valued at so little that their price in the open market is probably not much higher than the tax they will have to pay. It may strike some people as inequitable that a to-year-old car should be taxed at the same rate as a new one of much higher capabilities and perhaps twenty times the value.
New Methods Wanted It will be interesting to see whether the S.M.M.T. or anyone else will take the Chancellor's guarded hint and try to evolve some new method of taxing cars which while producing the required money will be distributed more equally over owners and manufacturers. The horse-power tax, as a computation of power, is dead ; it might almost be said to have been still-born so little connexion is there between engine-bore and the force delivered at the road- wheels. Its effect on design has of course been fatal from everybody's point of view except that of the enthusiastic engineer who threw himself with zest into the task of getting a quart of power out of a pint-sized cylinder. His success is world-famous, the small British car being far ahead of its rivals in efficiency, but it is not on those lines that a car can be built to invade foreign markets or even, in certain price-classes, to defend our own. What is wanted is a tax that is neither a handicap on design nor a restriction on use. It should be possible to devise it.
The 1939 Minx Theto-h.p. Hillman is now so established a member of motors in this country that it has reached the eminence of being generally known by its nickname without the parental addition of Hillman. This is very rare and those which have done as much, whether through great familiarity or excellence or any sort of fame, can be counted on five fingers. At the moment I cannot think of more than the " 30-98," by which sum the most famous of all Vauxhalls and the first of all teal " speed models " was known ; the Cowley, the cheaper of the two cars made by Morris for some years after the war ; and the Lambda, the most famous Lancia, all now dead. The t o-h.p. Hillman Minx has been on the market something like seven years or more and for quite five of them has been known as the Minx and nothing more. There is no question but that it is a distinction.
A Great Distinction To my mind, from the practical angle, a far greater dis- tinction is the fact that the original design has hever been modified. The engine and chassis have been improved out of all knowledge, strengthened and modernised, but in essen- tials they are the same as they were when it was one of the first to be known as the small car with that big-car feeling. There is nothing in motor cars I have a greater respect for than this quality of consistency. It is a guaran- tee of excellence such as nothing save the oldest and most famous name can give. It is definite proof that the car is a success. I suppose it would offend all the canons of taste in modern advertising, but if I had the sale of a car that had stayed as it was for a number of years I would not waste money in saying anything else in my advertisements.
Its Improvements The new Minx has a stouter gear-box (the same as the 4-h.p. Hillman's " all-silent " synchromesh), an improved back axle and a better designed saloon body. The 4-cylinder engine-size remains the same as before, 1,184 c.c., £7 los. tax. The weight is a little under 19 cwt. and the price for the de luxe model £175, the " Safety " costing £163, the " Touring !' £166, and the drophead coupe £210. It was a blowy day when I tried it but it showed an average maxi- mum speed of just under 6o miles an hour, 63 with the wind and 56 against it. It did 41 on third, climbed a very steep hill in very good style and generally maintained its old reputation for having that big car feeling. I liked the steering and road-holding and the springing, and I thought the brakes quite out of the ordinary. It makes very little noise and the engine runs smoothly. I call it very good value.
Upper Bell It is, of course, a tavern that marks the spot, as so often happens in England. I read the other day that when Queen Victoria received Napoleon HI with so much affection and admiration the railway station of the moment was the Brick- layers' Arms, not, as one might have supposed, South-East Station or Kent or even Albert. That was not really a great occasion nor is the neighbourhood a beauty-spot, but it is to be remarked as a national habit that we choose pubs as godfathers to places, particularly hills. Or it may be that the innkeepers were farseeing fellows and opened their places of business just where they would do most good to all concerned. That, too, would be a shrewd national trait. We laugh sympathetically with and at the Germans for their comfortable provision of food and drink wherever there is a view; with every Hick a stein, to fortify apprecia- tion. We must have invented the system long before, but of course without the German thoroughness and simplicity.
The Sea Gate The place marked Upper Bell on the map is really called Bluebell Hill, the northernmost spur of the North Downs. It is a high place like another, a wind-swept hump between two valleys, but it has its special characteristics. It can only be reached from two sides, from Rochester and Chatham on the north and from Maidstone on the south: No road runs along the top of that ridge which stretches for twenty- two miles between Wye and the Medway, though many cross it. It rises to a good height, nearly 70o feet above the sea, and from it you get on a clear day a very heartening view of the sprawling Medway with its islands and shallows and channels, of the navy town, of ancient Rochester and, if you are lucky, of the Thames' mouth and the dim Kentish coast to the east. You may not think very much of any of these as sheer scenery. England can show you a hundred better views if you want colour and contrast, the appeal of the austere ; but Bluebell is a climax. Take your car and make the crossing of the river ; that is, drive to Til- bury, take the ferry to Gravesend and then go on up front Rochester to Upper Bell. From that bare height you will realise what you have seen and see it again in proportion: [Note.—Readers' requests for advice from our Motorin; Correspondent on the choice of new cars should be accom- panied by a stamped and addressed envelope. The highet price payable must be given, as well as the type of body required. No advice can be given on the purchase, sale rr exchange of used cars.]
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