HERE AND THERE, April 1933

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HERE AND THERE

More Records at Muroc.

FOLLOWING Stubby Stubblefield’s records with the Gilmore Special on the dry lake-bed at Muroc, Cal., a standard Auburn 12-cylinder 6418 c.c. chassis, slightly modified and fitted with a racing body, was taken out by Eddie Miller and Howard Wilcox. The records attacked were those in Class B (5001 c.c. to 8000 c.c.), and altogether 9 records were taken during the course of the run. As will be seen from the figures below, the car attained a very high speed for a stock car, the fastest being that for 500 miles, at 113.38 m.p.h. The records were previously held among the LeylandThomas, the Lanchester, and the GrahamPaige. Here are the new figures :

Stop that Squeak !

Nothing is more annoying than to have a number of squeaks emanating from various parts of one’s car. Particularly are they audible when travelling slowly over a poor surface, and to any keen

motorist the lack of efficiency which they reveal is distinctly irritating.

Probably the worst offenders in this respect are road springs, which receive ,the brunt of the rain and mud, and recently, of flood water. A little creepingoil, such as Filtrate Penetrating Oil, squirted on to the leaves, will soon put matters right and remove the squeaks, at the same time freeing the leaves from rust.

Singers in Switzerland.

Singers proved their ability to cope with Alpine Passes by the magnificent show they put up in the Alpine Trial of 1932, when one of them gained a Glacier Cup. Now the Singer Co. has followed this up by sending over two cars, a 9 h.p. sports coupe and a 14 h.p. saloon, and giving demonstration runs over the worst roads in the country to Swiss dealers. The result is that one of the largest distributing organisations in Switzerland has taken up a Swiss agency, and is placing substantial orders for all models.

Brakes.

One of the most vitally important parts of a car which is often taken for granted is the quality of the brake lining. Up till now the problem of ensuring that a particular brand of lining is used has presented great difficulty. The writer has always requested that Ferodo should be used whenever he has had the job of relining executed, but as he drives away from the garage he realises that he has no proof whatsoever—beyond dismantling

the brakes himself—that Ferodo has actually been used.

The Ferodo people have now hit upon a plan, however, which will obviate this uncertainty. If he has specified Ferodo, a motorist will receive from the garage who have relined his brakes a guarantee, written on a special disc, that Ferodo brake linings have been used.

Incidentally, there are some very interesting points about braking contained in a little booklet issued recently by the Ferodo Company, called “You Step on the Brakes—and what Happens ? ” Here are one or two : a 30 cwt. car at a speed of 45 m.p.h. has sufficient contained energy to lift itself vertically into the air to a height of 70 feet. The power required to drive it along at 45 m.p.h. is not very great, but to dissipate the contained energy created by its momentum requires the equivalent of 150 h.p. to bring the car to rest in a distance of 90 feet. The booklet is well worth reading, and any reader, an mentioning MOTOR SPORT, will be able to obtain one post free from Ferodo, Ltd., Chapel-en-le-Frith.

In Australia.

Triumphs have pulled off a splendid ” double ” in Australia. In New South Wales the Castrol Trophy is awarded annually for the best performance in a series of events, and this year has been won by a Triumph Again, in Victoria a championship contest is held on the same lines, and once more a Triumph has been judged the winner.