HERE and THERE By "Camshaft, February 1931

HERE and 11-1 FIR IE

‘arnsletaft”

Damage by Frost.

NOWADAYS most comprehensive insurance policies embody a clause which indemnifies the motorist against damage by frost. This is pleasant in that it lends a feeling of security, but the fact remains that there is nothing more annoying, whether one is insured or not, than to come to one’s car on a cold and frosty morning and to find the radiator or cylinder block cracked. The insurance company may bear the cost of the necessary repairs, but it does not compensate one for the trouble and inconvenience entailed.

The recent cold weather has naturally made motorists go into the matter of protecting their cars against damage caused by frost. There are many ways of doing this, of course—a heated garage, radiator lamp, muff, rug on the bonnet, etc., but the best way is obviously to prevent the trouble at its source by adding to the water, something which lowers the freezing temperature to a degree seldom reached in this country. During the recent spell of wintery weather I have been trying a solution known as Stop-It-Freezing, one of the best known compounds available, but not all its good qualities are described in its title. Whilst, for instance, the solution definitely prevents the formation of ice at any degree down to zero —a temperature seldom recorded in Great Britain—it also prevents over-heating, since in addition to lowering the freezing point it actually raises the boiling point ! It is thus one of the few things in this world which can “burn the candle at both ends” continually and successfully.

The Motor Trade in 1931.

Interesting as may be the views of an individual motorcar manufacturer on the prospect for 1931, they can scarcely have the same broad outlook as those of a manufacturer who supplies the requirements of five out of every six makers in this country. Such a man is found in Mr. Reginald Delpech, Sales Director and founder of the Triplex Safety Glass Company, and his opinions are obviously of considerable value.

“I take an optimistic view of the prospects for 1931 ” he said in a recent interview. ” I believe it will see a big expansion in. the British motor industry.

“At no time have our cars been so cheap or so good. Especially in the popular ‘Light Six’ class, cars to-day are selling at less than half the price willingly paid for them only so recently as three years ago. “Such achievements are all the more remarkable in view of the general trade depression. They are due to the amazingly youthful spirit of enterprise which for

some curious reason seems to animate the average motorcar manufacturer more than any other type of British industrialist. He even outstrips his confrere, the commercial vehicle maker.

“Take, for instance, the fitting of safety glass. This has had to be made compulsory by the new Road Traffic Act, chiefly with an eye to the bus and coach whose owners simply would not move in the matter. Certain British car manufacturers, however, began to standardise it of their own accord three years ago. And to-day there is hardly a model of even the cheapest make that has not got ‘Triplex all round’ in its standard specification.

“As to the foreign manufacturer, particularly on the Continent, he has hardly begun to think about Triplex glass yet. So that to him also, our British manufacturers have set a noteworthy example of enterprise.

“This youthful, almost restless, spirit cannot fail to reap its reward as soon as there is the slightest sign of a recovery in international trade—and most people think that this year will witness it.”