THE AUTOCAR a 3ournal publtabeb tn tbe interests of tbe mecbanicanr propelleb roab carrtage.
EDITED BY H. WALTER STANER.
No . 605. Vor.. XVIII . SATURDAY, MAY 25n1, r907.
[PRICE 3D.
THE AUTOCAR.
(P ublished W eekly.)
Registered as a newspaper for transmission in the United Kingdom.
E ntered as second -class matter in the New York (N.Y.) Post Office.
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CONTENTS.
PAGF.
NOTE USEFUL HI~T~ ASO TIP', THE FUEL Lnrl1' RACES ([LLUSTRATF.O) • •
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ONE OF THE E 1ca1T-CYL I NDER 'vVEi GEL GRAKD PRix RA cEno:; (lLLUS-
TRATEo)
A CONTRAST
CONTINENTAL XOTf:3 AN.) New.; (ILLU;TRATELI)..
ON THE ROAD. Bv OWEN JOHN • •
THE DEATH OF :\L BERT (LE)I CN'T ( ILLUSTRATED)
, . 762
• • 763
• • 764
• • 765
766
CoRRESPONDENCE l\lQTOR AS A RIVAL TO THE RAILWAY CRYSTAL PAL.\CE AUTO'.\IOBILE CLUB ( [LLU.STRATED) • • THROUGH S0\1ALILANO, ;\BY3:iINA, AND EGYPT , • THE" GRAPHI C .. TROPHY R.\CE ARMY MOTOR RESERVE TAR SPREADING TESTS AN UN3U CCEHFUL HILL (LD-18 (LLLU5TRATED) . • 2,00:) hLES RELI.\BILITY TR IA L ( ILLUSTRATED) , • THE BREECH BLOC K PLUG ( ILLU3TRATED) • • THE R.A.C. ANO UNOFFIC IAL RUNS .. TnE MOTOR UN!O', MEETING AT LIX COL:-J (ILLU5TRATED) FLASHES • • LONDO:S TO £D11"'BURGH (fLDU5TR"-TED) . • A REM~RKABLF. SPARKING PLUG RECORD • • CLUB DOINGS • . REVIEWS . . SO~E QUERIES AND REPLIES .•
767-770 . · 77I 772· 77.! · · 7i4 · · 774 - · 774 · · 774 · · 775 776-777 · · 777 · · 777 778- 779 780-78 r 782-7 3 . • 783 784-785 . . 785 . . 786
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/ Notes. The Tourist Trophy Race. Before our next issue is published the Tourist Trophy Race will have been held for the third time, and the recent ly instituted H eavy Touring Car Race will have taken place for the fir t time. On another page ,re summarise th conditions go,·erning the t1ro races. To refer brieAy to the Tourist Trophy R ace, ire note with regret that there is a tendency to belittle the importance of thi e1·ent . Becau e it is franh'.ly not re tricted to standard pattern ca rs it is a. sumed that it is only open to what a re known as "freak " cars. This is entirely a mistake, as many of the ca rs taking part are, to a ll intents and purposes, stand::trd. E1·en if th e manufacturer builds a special car for th e race, it is . till a pattern whir.h might well be standardi sed .
and 11·h ich, under the conditions of the race, he 1s bound to sell in reasonable numbers to any ll"h o may choose to order them ll"ithin six months from the date · of the race. Thi stioulation to al I intents and purposes lifts th compet-ing ca rs out of the atego ry of freaks.
We ha1·e no hesitation ll"hate1·er in saying that the Tourist Trophy Races ha1·e done a great ~ea! for the de,·elopment of the type of car they a re rnt nde~ to encourage-that is, the medium_ power a_nd medium sized motor car. It may be said approximately that the fuel limit and other condition . mak it out of the question to empl oy an engine more than 4¾in. in bore and 5in. in stroke . In fact, the large t engrne whi h has won up to th present time 1ras roo mm. bore and 127 mm. troke, i.e., 4in. by 43iin . "Xo engin larger than this has played a prominent part in the race, but a number very considerably smaller have done magnificently, and in one instan e at least ha,·e come within an ace of winning the cm·eted trophy.
In th e fir . t two races it is true that very small bodies were p rmitted, but thi year the bodies are spec ifi d large, 11·ith backs at lea t as high a. those ordinarily prm·ided upon the a1·erage touring carhigh er , in fa t , th an th ose to be seen on ma ny ca rs. The ondition as to body dimensions ar still open to re, ·i ion, but mainly on the score of comfort. The dimensions might be modified in one or two re pects, but it is rea lly an immateria l point, be ause th ese mod ifications would not greatly a ffect th e work to be clone. Tiio 1rho do 1,ot believe in the Touri t Trophy Race object 1·ery strong ly to th e drilling of the frame and other parts of th e car which is indu lged in by some of th e competitors. We rea ll y cannot see a ny objection to this. ] t is not unscientific; in fa t , it mu t be ca rried out with con id rable care, or it would result in undue 11·eakening , a nd we cannot see that a ny gain 1rnuld be made by setting a limit on an\' refinement of this so rt.
in al I these matters the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and we say without he itation that eve ry firm which has seriously t aken part in the Tourist T rophy has learned a great deal. The competitions ha1·e resulted in real imprm·ements in design and manufacture in medium po 1rered car. ; nay, they hal'e done more. The imprm·ements which ha1·e been introduced by competitors in th e Tourist Trophy Race. to their cars ha,·e made it nece. ary for other makers who hal'e not taken part in the ra es to similarly imprm·e their designs, and there is no question 1rhate1·er that the moderate powered car to-day i. altogether a better mach in e in every respect than it ll"Ould ha1·e been Ind the Tourist Trophy Race never been instituted. Last, but not least , the Tourist Truphy cars t hemselves are most delightful 1·ehicl e. to dri1·e. We have owned two · and driven severa l, and with the exception of the bodies, whi ch have not in every case been n.11 we could wish, we ll" Ou ld not ask for better cars.
