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MOTOR VEHICLES
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MOTOR VEHICLES . The See also:term " motor-See also:car " is one which was primarily employed in See also:America to denote the car or See also:carriage containing the electro-motor used for propelling an electric tramcar or See also:train of carriages on rails, but of See also:late years it has been more usually applied in See also:Great See also:Britain to See also:light automobile or mechanically-propelled carriages See also:running on See also:common roads. On the See also:continent of See also:Europe and in the See also:United States the usual expression for these vehicles is " automobile "; the term " auto-car " has also been employed. We shall See also:deal here first with the See also:history of mechanically propelled carriages, and with the See also:evolution of the lighter type used for conveying See also:people for See also:pleasure and See also:sport; and secondly with the heavier type used for the carriage of goods. Light Vehicles.—The first See also:practical See also:steam carriage was made by See also:Richard Trevethick in 1802 (fig. I), though Cugnot had produced a rudimentary one in See also:France in x 769; but very little was done in this direction until 1824, from which date a number of these vehicles were constructed and used with considerable success, taking the See also:form of See also:stage coaches propelled by steam, and weighing some 3 or 4 tons unloaded. Some of these ran See also:regular passenger services, notably between See also:Cheltenham and See also:Gloucester, attaining See also:average speeds of to to 14 M. per See also:hour; but great MINI u1Q11111111111111111'IC - 1riIu IIftlllllilBann III . IIiINIIIIu'Y1119141I'.. II111®1111111!1: ~e MINE 1'i I IIIII 11 II '1 '~I~IIII1111'.IINIIIIIIIII 1,1 1111 U~IN 111111 ///Illlllllllllrllhl See also:IIII®11UIIIIH~FIG. i.—Trevethick's Steam Carriage of 1802: See also:side view and See also:plan. opposition was met with owing to the narrow See also:prejudice of those whose interests related to See also:horse-haulage, and every obstruction was offered in the shape of prohibitive tolls and legislative enactments. The result was that steam carriages were driven off the roads in favour of See also:railways, although the select See also:committee of the See also:House of See also:Commons appointed in 1831 to inquire into the subject reported completely in favour of their See also:adoption (as did also that of 1873). In 1861 the first Locomotives on Highways See also:Act was passed, but the crushing See also:blow came in 1865, when the legislature prescribed (1) that the number of persons required to drive the See also:locomotive should be increased to three; (2) that a See also:man should precede with a red See also:flag; (3) that the maximum limit of See also:speed should be reduced to 4 M. per hour; and (4) that they should be forbidden ever to blow off steam, &c. These restrictions were confirmed rather than relieved by the 1878 act. Although these acts were created to deal with heavy See also:traction, the famous 1881 See also:appeal in the See also:court of See also:queen's See also:bench placed every type of self-propelled vehicle, from a traction See also:engine down to See also:Bateman's steam See also:tricycle, under their narrow limitations. This resulted in the development of the heavy traction engine, and light motor vehicles were little more heard of in Great Britain. There were a few exceptions, however, notably the steam vehicles of Rickett (1860), Carrett (1861), See also:Tangye (1862), See also:Yarrow (1862), See also:Holt (1866), Todd (1870), See also:Perkins (1870), See also:Mackenzie (1875) and See also:Blackburn (1878), and some See also:electrical carriages made by Elwell (1884), See also: Gottlieb Daimler's engine marked a great advance in the production of a source of See also:motive See also:power, for its efficiency was large as compared with its See also:total See also:weight, whilst the simplicity of its See also:fuel system brought it within the See also:scope of the See also:person of average See also:mechanical instincts and intelligence, for, even in its See also:early days, the internal-combustion motor did not demand that its user should possess an intimate knowledge of See also:engineering. Daimler fitted one of his See also:motors to a See also:bicycle in 1885, and after-wards applied the system to the propulsion of boats, one or more of which were running on the See also:river See also:Seine in connexion with the See also:Paris See also:Exhibition of 1887. It was this fact that brought the invention to the See also:notice of M. Levassor, of the See also:firm of Panhard & Levassor, makers of See also:wood-working machinery, who saw the possibilities of its application to the propulsion of a road carriage. MM. Panhard & Levassor secured the French See also:patents from Daimler, and M. Levassor devised the transmission system which, as far as its See also:general See also:scheme is concerned, is unaltered to-See also:day, despite many efforts on the See also:part of skilful inventors and designers to secure something better. M. Levassor placed the engine in front, the See also:axis of the See also:crank-See also:shaft being parallel with the side members of the See also:frame of the vehicle. The drive was taken through a clutch to a set of reduction gears and thence to a See also:differential See also:gear on a countershaft from which the road wheels were driven by chains. With all the modifications of details, the See also:combination of clutch, gear-See also:box and transmission remains unaltered, so that to France, in the person of M. Levassor, must be given the See also:honour of having led in the development of the motor-car. Progress in the improvement of See also:design was slow until the See also:year 1894, when a great impetus was given to the French See also:industry by the organization, by the See also:Petit See also:Journal, of a trial run of motor vehicles from Paris to See also:Rouen. The measure of success attained. by the cars caused considerable surprise, and in the year 1895 a See also:race was organized from Paris to See also:Bordeaux and back, a distance of 944 m., when the winning vehicle covered the See also:journey at a mean speed of 15 M. per hour. From that date onward, until 1908, racing played an important part in the development of the motor-car; in fact, it is not going too far to say that, up to 1904, it played a vitally important part therein. The effect was a rapid development in speed, efficiency and reliability, and others besides the sportsman and the individual seeking for new sensations were attracted towards the new vehicle. Racing was not indulged in in England or See also:Scotland, the authorities having no power to See also:close the roads for the purpose.See also:radical changes in previously-existing designs. So far as British makers were concerned, the Mercedes See also:fashion was allowed to predominate, but some of the older French makers were less willing to follow the See also:lead of the great See also:German house. This fact assisted the British makers to forge ahead in their competition with the French. But the great See also:factor in the See also:triumph of British motor engineering arose from the fact that, in England, there was a great See also:wealth of knowledge concerning the properties of steels and See also:steel See also:alloys, and that knowledge, which was advancing all the See also:time, was turned to such See also:good use that it is safe to say that, in only the very best of French cars is the same strength and efficiency obtained from the same weight of See also:metal as would be used in the construction of quite a number of British cars. Lightness of moving parts has led to increased engine efficiency and to See also:economy of fuel, whilst the inert parts of the mechanism—the frame and other fixed details—by being lighter, See also:call for a smaller See also:expenditure of power to overcome their inertia. Apart from the employment of See also:special steels for motor-car construction, in which England took a leading part, many improvements In See also:July 1go2, Mr S. F. Edge, See also:driving a 50 h.p. See also:Napier car, won the See also:Gordon-See also:Bennett See also:Cup in the course of the open race from Paris to See also:Vienna. This See also:trophy has played an important part in the history of the motor-car. It was offered for competition among cars, entered by recognized See also:National Automobile Clubs, no more than three cars being permitted to represent a See also:country, and every car had to be built entirely in the country of its origin. The length of the race had to be not less than 500 kilometres (3ro2 m.). The first two races in 1900 and 1901 had been won by French cars and, as these contests had been run concurrently with the big See also:city-to-city races, the importance of the Gordon-Bennett race was overshadowed. But it stood out in bold See also:relief when an See also:English car wrested the See also:international trophy from its French rivals in 1902. The Automobile See also:Club of Great Britain and See also:Ireland (now the Royal Automobile Club) at once secured See also:parliamentary See also:sanction for the use of certain roads in Ireland for a limited See also:period, and proceeded to organize a race worthy of the issue at stake. The race was won by the Mercedes car, the latest production of the famous house of Daimler. The Mercedes car set quite a new fashion, for it showed See also:advancement in a large number of its mechanical details, and many of these details were either copied or used as the basis forin design and method have originated in Great Britain. For instance, the multiple-disk clutch, which permits a car to be started without See also:shock, is an English invention, as are the detachable See also:wheel, the spare wheel and the six-cylindered engine. The latter, introduced by the Napier See also:Company and employed extensively by them, by Rolls-Royce and others, has exerted a great See also:influence upon British tastes, because it created a growing dislike to See also:noise, one of the consequences being the rapid development of the silent car. The representatives of Great Britain in the Gordon-Bennett race of 1903 were selected by means of a See also:series of eliminating trials, and in 1904 and 1905 races were held annually in the Isle of Man for the same purpose. In the years 1906, 1907 and 1908 races were held in that See also:island with such limitations on fuel or on the See also:diameter of the cylinders as were calculated to encourage the development of small but efficient transmissions, and it has been conceded generally that these races served an extremely useful purpose. Concurrently with its development into a reliable, silent, odourless and smokeless power-propelled vehicle, the motor-car gradually came into more general use. It no longer appealed only to a few but gained converts daily, and its final triumph came when it began seriously to displace the horsed vehicle. becoming the private carriage of the wealthier classes to•be used on all occasions. If the motor-car in the See also:guise of a private carriage has See also:developed at an astonishing See also:rate, its See also:adaptation to the needs of the community, as a public service vehicle, has been even more rapid. The first cabs placed on the streets of See also:London in 1903 were by no means a success, but the cabs constructed by the French house of Renault and first introduced in London in 1906 rapidly effected a revolutionary See also:change in the means of individual transport. Apart from the improved speed of the motor-cabs, they gained popularity because of the use, on each one of them, of the taxi-See also:meter, showing at a glance the amount of the fare, thus preventing overcharge on the part of the See also:driver. One effect of the employment of motor-cabs and motor-omnibuses has been to reduce slightly the total number of vehicles, and to quicken a large See also:volume of the See also:traffic; it is now being recognized that to increase the speed of the whole of the traffic of London by about *5 M. an hour is practically See also:equivalent to doubling the width of the whole of the See also:main streets. The new British act of 19031 which was enacted for three years only, was, during the parliamentary session of 1906 and subsequent sessions, continued from year to year because of the difficulty that was experienced in reconciling conflicting views about the See also:control of motor-cars. The 1903 act raised the speed limit to 20 M. per hour and gave the See also:local See also:government See also:board power to close to motor traffic such roads as, on inquiry, might be deemed unsuited therefor, and to impose a speed limit of to m. an hour or less in dangerous places, such as narrow streets in a See also:town or through a See also:village. A few serious accidents in England, and many abroad, have kept alive the fear that the motor-car is a dangerous vehicle that should be restrained or held in check by stringent legislation. Thus from 1go4 onwards, the motorist was under continuous See also:police supervision. Police traps, or measured distances, over which the motor-car is timed by the police, were established in most of the counties of England, and, whilst, without a doubt, many real offenders were caught, it is equally true that many an See also:innocent driver was unfairly accused, whilst motorists guilty merely of technical infringements of the See also:law were summoned. The attitude of the police in showing little or no leniency in the application of the law probably, however, did good in other directions, although these were not contemplated either by the law-givers or the police themselves. It considerably limited the use of excessively powerful cars (for example, a 6o or 90 h.p. car that could easily attain 6o m. an hour), and experience has demonstrated the fact that, intersected as England is with a network of narrow roads carrying considerable traffic, there is little opportunity for the full power of such a car to be used. The result has been that the comparatively See also:low-powered vehicle has been developed in efficiency, bringing with it the advantages of economy in running, simplicity of mechanical details, cheapness of See also:maintenance and ease of control and management. The principle of the internal-combustion engine has not been altered since Daimler's day, but the mechanical details of the engine have undergone See also:constant revision and improvement, until in 1910 it was safe to say that a four-cylindered engine, with a See also:cylinder See also:bore of 4 in., constructed, we will presume, in 1899, might have developed 20 h.p. or less, whereas engines of the same cylinder bore made in 1908 and 1909 actually developed 6o h.p. and more, and the attainment of even greater efficiency was in sight in 1910. Experience showed that the saving of weight meant greater economy in fuel and also in tires, the two See also:principal items in the upkeep of the motor-car. Engine design has undergone unceasing improvement, and constructional methods have been continuously advanced, with the end in view of attaining lightness, not only in the moving parts, but in the inert parts. Lightness in reciprocating parts, such as the pistons, connecting rods and valves, has enormously improved crank-shaft speed. Cylinder castings are now made far lighter, whilst the See also:water jacketing, for dissipating the excess of See also:heat from the cylinder walls, is now-of sufficiently ample proportions and, in consequence, better See also:lubrication of the cylinder walls can be maintained. This again conduced to See also:piston speed. The See also:induction valves of engines of the earlier types were opened under atmospheric pressure, the reduced pressure in the cylinder, caused by the downward See also:movement of the piston, enabling the pressure of the See also:outer See also:atmosphere to open the See also:valve against its light See also:spring, and to carry in a See also:charge of the carburetted See also:air that constituted the explosive mixture. But it was found that the automatic or atmospheric inlet valve opened late on the induction stroke and closed early, so that the engine only received an attenuated charge. One of the earliest improvements in engine design, therefore, was the employment of the mechanically-operated inlet valve operated by a See also:cam exactly as the exhaust valve is operated. This valve could be fully opened as soon as the piston had begun its downward or induction stroke, and could be held open during the momentary period when the piston was at See also:rest at the bottom of the stroke, thus ensuring a full charge of explosive mixture. The method of exploding the charge in the cylinder has under-gone revolutionary changes. The first method, that of See also:heating the exterior of a closed See also:tube connected with the cylinder, quickly gave way to electric ignition because it was found that the charges could not be exploded by the hot tube until the piston had reached the See also:top of its stroke, and, at the comparatively high piston speed of these engines, the piston had moved some distance on its downward stroke before the exploded See also:gas had begun to expand. Electric ignition was an improvement because it enabled a "lead " to be given to the See also:explosion, a low voltage current (from four to six volts of about one See also:ampere being sufficient for the purpose) being automatically switched on to the See also:primary See also:circuit of a coil, the induced current in the secondary circuit being of a voltage sufficiently high (calculated at from 5000 to 1o,000 volts of a very small amperage) to jump across a See also:gap See also:left in a sparking plug inserted in the cylinder. By rotating the See also:body of the switch (called the contact breaker) the ignition could be timed to suit exactly the speed of the pistons and, in this way, greater piston speed was obtainable. The great development of this system was the introduction by Mr F. R. See also:Simms, in See also:conjunction with Herr See also:Bosch, of the magneto See also:machine, known as the Simms-Bosch magneto, the prototype for many such appliances. This machine, in its simplest elements, produces a low voltage current (assumed to be of about eight or ten volts) by the rotation of an See also:armature in the magnetic See also: The magneto machine has almost entirely displaced the accumulator system for See also:ordinary running, although, as the latter makes for easier starting, it is often fitted as an addition. Great gain in power has been secured from improvements in the lubrication of the internal-combustion engine. It is now recognized that a small See also:supply of oil to the See also:journals and See also:bearings of such an engine is insufficient, but in the early days it was found difficult to give the journals and bearings more oil without too much getting on to the cylinder walls, because the latter were lubricated by the oil that was thrown on to them by the See also:spinning See also:action of the webs of the crank-shaft and by the connecting-See also:rod ends, these latter dipping into a well of oil in the See also:lower part of the crank-See also:case. The modern method has overcome this difficulty. The cranks and connecting-rod ends no longer See also:dip into the oil, for the latter drains away into a sump or See also:reservoir below the See also:base of the crank chamber. Thence it is passed through a See also:filter and pumped to ducts which convey the oil under pressure to the crank-shaft journals. Sometimes it is conducted thence along ducts bored in the crank-shaft and through the webs and crank-pins, whence it feeds the connecting-rod bearings, enough squirting out to splash on to the cylinder walls. Sometimes, a shallow trough is placed under each connecting-rod end, to hold oil to a certain See also:depth and no more, and a See also:scoop on the big end collects enough oil to effect the lubrication of the connecting-rod bearings and cylinder walls. The aim has been to secure definite lubrication of all moving parts, and, at the same time, to prevent oil being See also:present on the cylinder walls in such quantities as will permit the piston to carry it up into the combustion chamber. Any oil present in the combustion chamber is burnt during the explosion, but, its combustion being imperfect, smokiness of the exhaust is the result. By reducing the oil on the cylinder walls to the minimum necessary for lubrication, smoking has been abolished, whilst clogging, or carbonizing, of the valves has been materially reduced. Methods of carburation have also undergone improvement, so that the carburation shall not materially vary with varying engine speed. The only other feature in the engine that calls for mention is the method of cooling. With the introductionof the See also:honeycomb type of radiator, by which the water is made to flow through canals an eighth or a sixteenth of an See also:inch wide, the efficiency of the cooling system has been doubled because of the large amount of See also:surface, in a given See also:size of radiator, for dissipating the heat. A See also:fan is generally employed, either situated behind the radiator and driven by the engine, or the flywheel is vaned so as to induce a current of air through the radiator. To deal now with the transmission mechanism, the drive is taken through a clutch and gear-box as in the earliest days, but, for the final drive, See also:chain transmission to the road wheels running on a fixed See also:axle has largely given See also:place to propeller drive on to a live axle. The See also:leather-faced conical clutch, although still employed, has in many cases given way to the multiple-disk clutch in which a number of disks bearing against each other, either See also:flat in See also:section, or (as in the Hele-See also:Shaw clutch) having See also:annular tapered grooves, are contained in an oil-tight box. These plates are capable of being separated laterally from each other when " out of gear," or brought into frictional contact with each other when it is desired to start the car. Metal-to-metal See also:cone clutches, expanding metal See also:shoe clutches, single metal See also:plate clutches and coil spring clutches have all at some time found favour with de- signers wishing to avoid a leather clutch. See also:Hydraulic and electromag- netic clutches have also been tried, but these have not gained any See also:vogue. In the See also:matter of the gear- box, the sliding into mesh of the gear-wheels as employed by Levassor is still the See also:standard practice, although that See also:pioneer himself regarded the method as barbarous, and looked upon it as a See also:mere temporary expe- dient. But details of the gear-box have materially improved. A single See also:lever is usually employed for engag- See also:ing any of the forward gears or the See also:reverse, so that the See also:mistake of simul- taneously engaging a reverse and a forward gear is not possible. The See also:spur-wheels are generally mounted in pairs on two sleeves, so that, by means of a selector mechanism that compels one See also:sleeve to be brought to the neutral position before the other can be moved, no two gears can ever be engaged together. By means of " See also:dog clutches," the clutch shaft can generally be coupled See also:direct with the See also:bevel-wheel driving the back axle, the " drive " on the highest gear being thus transmitted without passing through any spur-wheels. This reduces noise and frictional losses. Except for cars of great weight, chain transmission is fast dying out, the power being generally transmitted through a propeller shaft (with universal See also:joints at one or both ends) to a bevel-drive on the back axle; such axle being divided into two revolving or " live '? axles carrying the differential gear between them. The bevel-wheels, differential gear and live axles are enclosed and run in a lubricant. See also:Wire suspension wheels are growing considerably in favour, a saving in weight being thus effected. The liability of the pneumatic See also:tire to deflation, through a puncture or burst, The 4o-5o h.p. Six-cylinder Rolls-Royce Engine (valve side, showing also position of magneto). tension distributor, and position of centrifugal water See also:pump). has led to the introduction of detachable rims and detachable wheels. The detachable rim is See also:borne on the periphery of the wheel (which is bonded) and secured in position by various methods. When the tire is punctured or damaged the rim and tire are removed bodily and replaced by a spare rim with its tire already in position and inflated, a change capable of being effected in five minutes or less. The detachable wheel is mounted upon a See also:shell which fits over and is secured to a sleeve, four cylinders (according to the choice of the riders) developing some 3 to 8 h.p. with magneto ignition and See also:belt drive. The engine was usually started by the rider running alongside the machine, and causing the machine to rotate the crank-shaft through the belt and See also:pulley until the initial explosion was obtained, when he would jump into the seat. Trailers were employed at first for carrying passengers, but, the length of the combined vehicle being between nine and ten feet, a side-car, which latter turns and is secured upon the fixed axle. In the case of tire trouble, the wheel intact is removed from the sleeve (which in the case of a driving-wheel carries the driving fittings, the See also:brake-drums, &c.) and a duplicate wheel is substituted. The pneumatic tire has undergone continuous improvement, particularly in the matters of the selection of the material and the proportioning of the strength of the " body " to the See also:work which the tire is to be called upon to perform. Various methods have been devised for the prevention of skidding or " side-slip " on greasy surfaces, and, whilst certain See also:mouldings on the See also:rubber treads have proved advantageous, the method most adopted is that in which a large number of steel studs stand about a See also:quarter of an inch above the surface of the tire. It will be seen that the general lines of the car of 1889 have not required to be radically altered. Every detail has been improved so that the cars are more efficient, easier to control and See also:manage, and infinitely more comfortable, but, in essence, Levassor's scheme is as good to-day as it was when planned by him. The steam car is made by five or six British manufacturers at the most, whereas the actual manufacturers of petrol cars in Great Britain numbered at the end of the year 1909 about seventy, whilst some four See also:hundred other firms were actively engaged in the construction of cars and their parts, accessories and sundries. But the steam car appeals to those men who are or have been steam See also:engineers, and to them the management of the steam generator and the burners constitutes no difficulty. The limitations under which the early steam car laboured have, in the main, disappeared, for the modern steamer can travel nearly as far without requiring to refill the See also:boiler as a petrol car can travel without replenishment of the fuel tank. The electric car is still the luxury to be employed in towns and in covering See also:short distances, for the weight of the accumulators has not been greatly reduced, despite sensational announcements made from time to time. • An interesting feature of the motor movement has been the steady growth in popularity of the motor See also:cycle. The motor tricycle was developed up to the year 1903, and then gradually became displaced by the motor bicycle, which had been introduced in 1901. Motor bicycles gradually increased in popularity, until in See also:numbers they were in excess of cars. The standard See also:machines of 1909 had an air-cooled motor of one, two or evenplaced at the side of the cycle and secured thereto by detachable fittings, largely displaced the trailer and also the " fore-car, in which the passenger was carried in a body placed in front of three- and four-wheeled cycles. The rapid growth of the motor movement in Great Britain may be judged from the fact that by the 30th of See also:September 1905 the number of motor vehicles of all kinds registered had totalled to 74,038, and by the 30th of September 1908, three years afterwards, to no less than 154,415. Of these, 137,323 were registered in England and See also:Wales, 10,907 in Scotland, and 6185 in Ireland. 71,405 were private motor-cars; 12,104 were See also:trade motor-cars; 5880 were public service vehicles and 65,026 were motor cycles. A year later (See also:Sept. 30, 1909) the figures showed a further remarkable increase, the total number of vehicles registered in the United See also:Kingdom being 183,773, giving an increase of 29,358 in the year. Of these, private motor-cars numbered 84,84o; trade motor-cars 15,181; public service vehicles 8752 ; and motor cycles 75,000. The numbers registered in England and Wales were: 74 ,748 private motor-cars; 13,961 trade motor-cars; 8131 public service vehicles and 66,341 motor cycles, or 163,181 in all. The figures for Scotland were: 6157 private motor-cars; 1056 trade motor-cars; 584 public service vehicles and 5296 motor cycles or 13,093 in all. The figures for Ireland were: 3935 private motor-cars; 164 trade motor-cars; 37 public service vehicles and 3363 motor cycles, or 7499 in all. In the year private motor-cars in the United Kingdom increased by 18.8 %; trade motor-cars by 5•4%; public service vehicles by 48.8 %, and motor-cycles by 15.3 %. It is possible to obtain a better See also:idea of the number of motor vehicles in use from the returns of the commissioners of inland See also:revenue. The total number of privately-owned cars for which licences were issued in 1908 was 48,019, of motor cycles 35,784, and of motor-driven See also:hackney carriages 17,300. These figures may be compared with the See also:registration figures already given for the year ending the 30th of September 1908. As accounting partly for the difference, a certain proportion of the registered vehicles (seeing that the figures include all vehicles in use on and after the 1st of See also:January 1904, less those in respect of which the registrations have been cancelled) must have fallen into disuse and some vehicles will have been sold out of the country, whilst others will have been sold and re-registered with different authorities. But the See also:life of the mechanism of a car, in one form or another, is of considerable length (there were, for instance, in use in 1910, as commercial vehicles, motor See also:chassis that were put on the road in 1896), and it is considered that many registered but unlicensed cars remain for years capable of rendering useful service in emergencies or on special occasions, such as at See also:election periods. In 1906 an act of See also:parliament authorized a See also:census of production, which was taken in 1908, the See also:statistics See also:relating to 1907. These figures show that the output of See also:complete motor vehicles in the United Kingdom in that year was 11,700 completed cars and chassis, and 3600 motor cycles, the total value of the productive work done in the motor trade being £6,327,000 inclusive of repair work and the production of parts and accessories. The number of cars and chassis imported into and retained in the country (those imported and afterwards re-exported being excluded from the statistics) in 1909 was 7747 as compared with 6530 in 1908. The See also:absence of a See also:classification, in 1907 and previous years, for chassis prevents further comparison in the matter of numbers, but taking the value of the motor-cars, parts and accessories imported into and retained in the United Kingdom, there is a total of £4,170,121 in 1907, £3,753,140 in 1908, and £3,922,781 in 1909; the average value per car falling from £432 in 1907 to £333 in 1909. The value of the motor cycles and their parts imported into and retained in the country was £71,101 in 1907, £52,206 in 1908, and £48,327 in 1909. The number of British made cars and chassis exported in 1909 was 2802 as compared with 2441 in 1908, and of British made motor cycles 1893 in 1909 as compared with Io48 in 1908 and 800 in 1907; the total value of the exports of cars, parts, chassis and motor cycles in 1909 being £1,669,361 as compared with £1,315,913 in 1908 and £1,378,180 in 1907. With the growth of the motor-car movement there have, naturally, been great developments in the outside See also:industries catering for the motorist. Most affected by that movement has been the oil trade, considerable changes having taken place. In the See also:distillation of crude petroleum for the production of See also:lamp See also:oils, &c., quantities of volatile spirit were obtained, the outlet for which, formerly, was small, as the spirit was mainly used for cleaning purposes. With. the introduction of the petrol motor this spirit came into demnd, and, as the demand increased, the situation changed and the crude petroleum had to be distilled mainly for spirit, thus leaving a surplus of the heavier oils. The situation was largely met by a See also:gradual See also:conversion of the petrol-consumers from spirit of •68o specific gravity to a spirit of .715 specific gravity, whilst for commercial motors even heavier grades were employed. The quantity of •715 spirit obtainable from a given quantity of crude oil is considerably greater than the quantity of •68o that could be produced, so that a better See also:balance between the demand for motor spirit and that for lamp oil has been effected. The total quantity of motor spirit used in the United Kingdom in 1909 was 60,000,000 gallons, of which about one-See also:half came from the Dutch See also:East Indies, whilst a third came from America. See also:Rumania supplied about 6,000,000 gallons and See also:Russia about 3,000,000 gallons. Large quantities of lubricating oil were obtained from America, whilst the See also:remainder (about one-tenth of the total) came from Russia. France is the centre of the motor-car industry in Europe, and up to the year 1906 it undoubtedly led in the production of motor vehicles, but in that year the United States of America, as we shall have occasion to See also:note, took the lead. The number of private cars in use in France had risen from 1438 in 1899 to about 23,000 in the year 1909, whilst See also:industrial vehicles have increased even more rapidly in number. The following figures are obtained from the See also:taxation schedules: Number of Vehicles in use. Year. Total. Pleasure Cars. Industrial Cars. 1899 1,438 234 1,672 1900 2,354 543 2,897 1901 4,427 959 5,386 1902 7,358 1,849 9,207 1903 ' 9,922 3,062 12,984 1904 12,519 4,588 17,107 1905 15•,01 I 6, 532 21, 543 1906 17,358 8,904 26,262 1907 19,601 11,685 31,286 1908 22,252 15,334 37,586 1909 26,000 20,000 46,000 The figures for the year, in the absence of the See also:official return, are estimated. The average h.p. per car (pleasure vehicles) has steadily risen from 5•o6 in 1901 to 13.28 in 1908, the number of cars seating more than two persons having increased in greater proportion than those seating one or two persons. The export of French motor vehicles had risen in value from 4,259,000 francs in 1899 to 144,352,000 francs in 1907. In 1908 the exports See also:fell to 127,300,000 francs, and in 1909 an improvement to about 145,594,000 francs had taken place. The imports of See also:foreign motor vehicles to France See also:rose from 473,000 francs in 1899 to 8,676,000 francs in 1907, and since that period there has been an See also:annual decrease. In See also:Germany the number of motor vehicles of all kinds in use on the first of January in each year is shown in the following table:-Year. Number of motor vehicles. 1907 27,026 1908 36,022 1909 41,729 1910 . . . 41,941 In 1910 45% of the total consisted of motor cycles, 49.3% consisted of pleasure vehicles and 5.7 % consisted of commercial vehicles, the proportion of pleasure vehicles having consistently risen in the four years. The development of motoring and of the motor industry in the United States has been exceedingly rapid. As good roads multiply and extend the use of cars must be still further developed. The See also:American See also:farmer has discovered that he can make considerable use of the motor-car in connexion with his industry, and this fact largely accounts for the demand for high-wheeled buggies, and for vehicles having ample clearance between the machinery and the road level. In the early days of the movement the American See also:taste inclined towards steam cars, and the mistaken view that the vehicle driven by an internal-combustion engine could never be made to run as silently as a steam car was generally held. But in Europe the petrol engine became refined so rapidly that its equality with the steam engine in the matter of silence, together with its superiority in 'the matter of simplicity and suitability for the man who is not an engineer, soon created for it a popularity that prevented any material expansion of the business in steam cars. The makers of steam cars in America are able to See also:cope with the See also:major portion of the See also:world's demand for this particular type of vehicle. The introduction of the Dingley See also:tariff, assessing an import See also:duty of 45% ad valorem on motor-cars (in the classification of " manufactured metal "), added to a further charge of about 5 % for See also:freight, encouraged American capitalists to embark upon the manufacture of motor-cars, and in 1899 See also:thirty manufacturers produced 600 cars. In 1909 the number produced by 200 concerns was 114,891. Set out in See also:tabular form such figures as are obtainable are very striking:- Cars Produced. Year. Number. Value. $ 1899 600 1,290,000 1903 10,576 16,000,000 1904 13,766 24,500,000 1905 20,787 42,000,000 1906 23,000 50,000,000 1907 42,694 105,000,000 1908 49,952 83,000,000 1909 114,891 135,000,000 1910 200,000 225,000,000 The number of cars for 1906 is approximated and the number of cars and their value for the year 1910 are based upon the estimated output of the various manufacturers. In 1908, whilst the number of cars constructed showed an increase over the number for 1907, the total value had decreased owing to the commercial crisis of that year. In 1909 those manufacturers who had formed the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers, and who agreed to recognize the validity of the See also:Selden patents, paid See also:licence fees upon 94,891 cars, the remaining 20,000 cars being estimated as the output of the concerns that did not belong to the association. Of the 200,000 motor vehicles estimated to be constructed in 1910, 165,000 were to be petrol-driven pleasure cars, 30,000 were to be petrol-driven high-wheeled buggies, and 5000 steam and electric carriages and commercial vehicles. The history of the Selden patent may be given briefly A patent was applied for on the 8th of May 1879 by See also:George B. Selden, of See also:Rochester, New See also:York, for a gas See also:compression engine for propelling road vehicles. A patent was granted to him on the 5th of See also:November 1895 for an improvement in road engines, and he claimed that any vehicle propelled by an internal-combustion engine, manufactured since that time, was an infringement of his rights under the patent. At the commencement of the year 1910, 71 manufacturers admitted this claim and paid to the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers 1i % of the See also:catalogue See also:price of their products as licence fees. The imports of motor vehicles into the United States of America are not numerous, as will be seen from the following figures:-1902 . ' . 265 cars imported 1906 . .. 1433 cars imported 1903 . 267 „ . „ 1907 . 1017 „ „ 1904 . 605 „ „ 1908 . . 1387 „ 1905 . . 1054 „ The exports rose from $599,927 in value in the year 1902 to $5,502,241 in 1907 with a falling off tai $5,277,847 in 1908. AuTaoRrTrEs.-See also:Baader, See also:Die Unmaglichkeit Dampfwagen auf gewohnlichen Strassen mit Vortheil einzufuhren (See also:Nuremberg, 1835); See also:Badminton Library, Motors and Motor Driving (London, 1902) ; See also:Beaumont, Motor Vehicles and Motors (London, 1900), and "Mechanical Road Carriages " (Cantor Lectures, London, 1895) ; See also:Brander, L'Automobile de 1822 a 1835 (See also:Brussels, 1898) ; Farman, See also:Les Automobiles (Paris, 1896), and Autocars, Cars, &c. (London, 1896); See also:Fletcher, Steam Locomotion on Common Roads (London, 1891); run, on an average basis of 180 m. a See also:week; with a trailer carrying another 3 tons the corresponding figures vary from 9d. to Is. per mile run, according to nature of roads, gradients and fuel available. The inclusive working cost of a tractor, on macadamized roads, is generally about 15% less than for a 5-ton See also:wagon, but a standard tractor cannot haul more than a See also:gross load of 8 tons behind the drawbar-except on dry and level roads. On See also:granite setts the extra vibration often causes undue See also:wear and See also:tear, unless the suspension of the tractor be very good.
Vehicles in which the power is derived from internal-combustion engines are commonly known as " petrol " vehicles. Petroleum spirit of o•700 specific gravity is usually the fuel, but many are now supplied with spirit of o•76o specific gravity; the range of boiling points is the criterion of satisfactory use-not the See also:density. Petrol vehicles are, practically, stoutly-built motor-cars, and some of the See also:models now in use have been developed from accepted designs of lighter types. There are, however, numerous manufacturers who construct solely for utility purposes. Below See also:net loads of 2 tons, the petrol-propelled vehicle
Gordon, A See also:Treatise on Elementary Locomotion by Means of Steam Carriages on Common Roads (London, 1832, 1834 and 1836) ; See also:Gore, Propulsion of Carriages on Common Roads by Power other than See also:Animal Power (London, 1893) ; Graffigny, See also:Manuel pratique du constructeur et du conducteur de cycles et d'automobiles (Paris, 1900) ; See also:Grand Cartaret, Le Voiture de demain (Paris, 1898) ; See also: (London, 1835); See also:Mann, New Method of Propelling Locomotive Machines (compressed air) (London, 1830) ; See also:Medhurst, A New System of Inland See also:Conveyance for Goods and Passengers (com-
pressed air) (London, 1827) ; Milandre and Bouquet, Traite See also:Summary of Working See also:Costs for Petrol-driven Vehicles (Exclusive of
de la construction, de la conduite et de l'entretien de voitures inageme England. automobiles (4 vols., Paris, 1898-1899) ; O'Gorman, Motor See also:Pocket Book (London, 1904) ; Perisse and Godfernaux, Traction mecanique sur rails et sur routes (Paris, 1900) ; Rose, A See also:Record of Motor Racing (London, 109) ; Salomons, The Horseless Carriage (London, 1895); Saunier, L'Automobile lheorique et pratique (2 vols., Paris, 1899-1900) ; Sennett, Horseless Road Locomotion (London, 1900) ; See also: (C. S. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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