TERS FROM READ

Sir,

Mr. Harold Biggs’s notes on the Light Trials Allard Special serves to add to my steadily-growing enthusiasm for, and interest in, special Fords, especially V8s, though I am afraid that the interest will have to remain theoretical until something is done about the present system of taxation.

There is one point upon which I should like to comment, and that is the use of a crankshaft-mounted fan on a car which is, presumably, to continue its trials career after the war. I have had a certain amount of experience with Fords so equipped on cross-country work, and have come to the conclusion that this is an extremely undesirable feature on a trials motor, the reason being that the fan-tips meet the water in even a shallow ford, whipping up a literal deluge under the bonnet which swamps the ignition unit in its rather vulnerable position, so ending forward progression. As a matter of fact, the position of the fan seems to cause Ford engineers a certain amount of worry, as the 1942 American Ford, not seen in any numbers in this country, has a third way of mounting and driving the fan. It is a compromise between the rather high position on the dynamo spindle and the low position on the crankshaft. This compromise has to be paid for in the form of a rather complicated drive, which is by a separate two-point belt from the

dynamo spindle, situated above the fan spindle and driven, as before, together with the two water pumps, by a four-point belt drive. I am, Yours, etc.,

R.E.M.E. J. S. MOON (Capt.). * * *