MARCH 24TH, 1906,
THE AUTOCAR B Journal publisbe~ in tbe interests of tbe mecbanicall~ propelle~ roa~ carriage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No. 544. VoL. XVI.
SATURDAY, MARCH 24TH, 1906.
[PRICE 3n.
TlfE AUTOCAR.
(Published Weekly.)
Rcgiscered aa a newsp1per for transmission in the United Kingdom.
Entered as second-class matter a t the New York (N.Y.) Post Office.
EDITORIAL OFFICE :
COVENTRY.
PUBLISHING OFFICES :
20, TUDOR STREET, LONDON, E.C., ENGLAND.
CUNTENf~.
N OTES: CORDINGLKY1S SHOW-TOURIST TROPHY CARS-CHEAPER
FUEL
... 353-354
USEFUL HINTS AND TIPS: ON THE UPKEEP OF CARC::.-ENGINE
KNOCKING-ON TESTING IGNITION SPARKR-PUMP WEAR
THE BEESTON HUMB!R S 1X-CYLINDER CAR
A TASTE OF A 60 H.P DE DIETRICH GENERALITIES. By Rutulan ... AUTOCARS OF 19~6 .. ENGLISH BOATS AT THE MONACO REGATTA . . . A UTOMOBILISTS IN PARLIAMENT
355
356
356 357 . .. 358-364
365 366
C ONTINENTAL NOT1!S AND NEWS: THE GRAND PRIX-THE OFFICIAL
CONTROL OF T RIALS-THE EUROPEAN CIRCUIT-THE CANNES AUTOMOBILE MEETING-AN AMBIT I OUS PROGRAMME ... 367-369 C ORRESPONDENCE: MONEY WANTED-AUSTRALlAN RELIABILITY
TRuLs-,c OFF THF. ROAD" -CYLIND ,..R OFFSET (il1ustrated)MoTORISTS1 CLOTHING-COMPETENT EXPt!RTS-THE ENGLISH MOTOR INDUSTRY-AERIAL NAVIGATION-A POINT IN INSURANC&-SHORTAGE IN PETROL CASKS-A MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE Fo1tEtGN ACCESSORIES-ROAD SrGNALS FOR MOTORISTS-MALLEABLE CASTINGS IN CAR CONSTRUCTION-GLARING HEADLJ<;HTS ... A S tX-CYLtNDER ROTARY PETROL MoToR (illustrated) ENTRIES FOR THE TOURIST TROPHY RACE FLASHES UNSOLVED PROBLEMS IN MoTOR ENGINEERING • • •
" ' 370-373 .. . 374-378
378 ... 379-380
381
SOME QUERIES AND REPLIES ...
382
A DKPbCT rN THE MOTOR AND A REMl!DY. By A. Gordon Ede 383 CLUB D- >INGS 384 THE RATING OF MOTOR CAR ENGINES (illustrated). By Professor
Hopkinson
... 385-386
"THE AUTOCAR" SUBSCRIPTION RATES. l:!ritish Isles, I6s. Abroad (thin paper edition), 22s. Sd. per annum.
f Notes. Cordingley's Show. To-day, March 24th, Messrs. Cordingley's Motor Show at the Agricultural Hall will open. We und erstand that over three hundred exhibitors are taking part. So far as we can gather before the opening of the show, it wi ll at least be as successful as last year's exhibition. Admittedly, in private cars it will not be so overwhelmingly strong as Olympia, but there will be some very fine cars on exhibition, several of which have not been previously shown. This applies both to British and foreign cars. Industrial vehicles 11·ill be very strongly represented, and machines of the lorry type will be much more numerous than at Olympia. There will also be a good show of accessories and fittings . We have never made any secret of our be1ief that one motor show a year is sufficient. but while more than one exhibition· is held, we shall deal with each upon its merits, and next week we shall report the Agricultural Hall Show, describing all new or interesting exhibits which have not be,en previously dealt with. As will be seen from uur fixture list, the annual meeting of the Motor Union 11·ill be held on Wednesday, the 28th inst., at the Agricultural Hall, while meetings of other clubs and associations will also take place in one of the halls belonging to the show building during the week. We may say that as the Motor Union has no stand in the exhibition, we have arranged with Mr. Rees Jeffreys to accept at our stand (No. 157) subscriptions of visitors to y1e sho11· who may not yet have joined the Union.
Tourist Trophy Cars. On page 3 78 we publish a list of the twent)-six entries recei"ed. up to the time of writing, for the Tourist Trophy Race next September. The entries as they stand are more than enough to secure a magnificent contest, but there will no doubt be others. From now up to the time of the race interest in it will gradually increa e, and it may not be out of place to endeavour to remoYe one very common misapprehension which exists in regard to the Tourist Trophy Race. We refer to the objection which is so often urged against it, that although the fuel allowance prevents the entry of really big and powerful touring cars, the conditions nevertheless tend to produce a type which, if not a big and powerful car. is more powerful and faster than a light touring car should be; consequently it is urged the competition is only interesting as a sporting event, as it tends to the production of a type 9f car which is useless. and does not aid in the improvement of the breed of motor cars generally.
\\"e have heard these objections urged so often and with such force that it is desirable to .point out that they are almost entirely wrong. . It is perfectly · true that the Tourist Trophy rules are designed to make 1t impossible for the really large and powerful touring car to take part. This is admitted. On the other hand, having ruled out the big car, and turned our attention to the medium powered machine, for which the race is organised, we find that its tendency is most distinctly to improve a type of car which is coming more and more into general use, namely, the car which is not a small machine by any means, but which is, nel'ertheless, moderate in size, weight, power, and cost of upkeep. While it is • insisted by users and prospective purchasers of this type that the car shall not be on the heavy side, it is also made very clear that it .shall have plenty of power, so that it can be driven with the en_gine throttled 'down on the level, and yet have a good reserve for hill -climbing when required.
~ 011·, practically every machine which performed prominently in the Tourist Trophy Race last year fulfi lied these conditions. It was true that the cars showed a higher maximum speed than is usually required by owners of this type of machine, but th~e speeds were on ly obtained by forcing the engine to its utmost. In the ordinary way the engine would be
