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MASS-PRODUCED CARS
ABUNDANT VALUE FOR MONEY
Mass-production methods have cer
tainly helped to solve the problems of
providing popular models at low prices,
writes nn "Owner-Driver." But these
methods, with the labour-saving de
vices Involved in them, are still criti
cised occasionally because of the lack
of individual craftsmanship.
We can only Judge by results. One
indisputable fact Is that the modern
mass-produced car gives abundant
value for money. Another fact Is that
the crafts of the hand are not en
tirely absent from the factories where
cars are turned out in great numbers.
Where speed in production Is es
sential. it can scarcely be expected that
hand-made methods will be employed
in the style of earlier and more leis
urely days. Yet, if you are seeking a
real hand-mdde model, and can af
ford to pay a little extra, you arc well
I catered for by British firms, each one
of whose cars Is treated as an individ
ual product from the earliest days of
. its construction.
The managing-idlrector of such a
firm told me recently:— "We aim at
making cars of distinctive appenrance.
performance, and finish which villi ap
peal to those who want the best of
"something different'. We believe that
the best way of doing so Is by pro
ducing them In accordance with the
finest British engineering traditions
— traditions which have made this
country the workshop of the world."
STREAMLINING.
From advance news of the 193D mod
els, It seems that manufactures have
resisted the temptation of employ
ing exaggerated streamlining styles.
The fact Is, of course, that unless the
engine Is mounted at the rear, it Is
scarcely practicable to employ true
streamlining without Interfering with
the required standards of passenger
accommodation and driving vision.
The new season's models will show
that manumacturers have compromis
ed efficiently by using modified stream
lining, or "fairing," which reduces the
effect of wind resistance without nec
essitating new bodies of revolution
ary design.
Actually, the need for overcoming
wind resistance Is important only at
fairly high speeds. At moderate epecds
engine power Is not utilised to any
substantial degree In "pushing" the
car through the atmosphere. As the
car's speed Is doubled, air-resistance
is Increased by about four times.
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