LETTERS from READERS

N.B.—Opinions expressed are those of our correspondents and Motor Sport does not necessarily associate itself with them—Ed.

AN AMERICAN QUALM Sir,

Sir,

I-trust that you won’t take a moderate trans-Atlantic jibe amiss. Before cutting loose with it let me assure you that my regard for English ears is high,. and that it is my earnest desire to own one—a Hinman Minx to start with. Now for the jibe : In your review of’ the Connaught 1.3 you said that your criticisms were in very Minor key compared to the excellence of the car as a. whole. In fact, there was nothing wrong with it Whatever except (1) the body flapped and rattled; (2) the very light alloy panels had distorted here and there ; (3) the doors didn’t like to stay. shut ;

(4) the seat provided poor support for the back ; (5) the cushions were so high the wheel tended to ‘hide in the driver’s lap ; 00 the wheel rim was so slippery it made the fingers ache to grip it ; (7) the gearlever was indecisive to the point where it was difficult to tell Nyhat ratio would be engaged from neutral ; (8) because of close ratios the engine was sometimes ,Stalled in changing gears: (9) the trans:mission made a harsh noise ; and ((0) the headlamps-. were not. focussed. All this In a true Sports car costing a cool_ £1,350 I I No American would tolerate: more than two or three such defects in an ordinary family car costing the dollar equivalent of £509 ! He would have the offending hack back at the dealer’s the next morning, yelling his head off to have things fixed up right—or his money back.

Even So; I would dearly love to drive a Connaught 1.3. I -am, Yours, etc.,

Pam, ST.-GationNS.

Boston, U.S.A. (The Connaught we tested was borrowed on the full understanding that it was an -experimental model and so the snags we ‘enumerated have scarcely any bearing on the production cars, particularly as With such small-production cars individual points, like height of seats, can be altered to suit customers’ tastes.—ED.1