AN INVERTED VAUAHALL AND REBOTET LANOTA

at high speed with the lowered chassis, and the owner has every reason to be satisfied with his experiment. The second hybrid car referred to was a Lancia which was being reconstructed by Messrs. West and Chittendon, the well-known Lancia specialists of Walworth Road, S.E.17, to the order of Mr. R. A. Samuel, the well-known trials driver. The chassis was originally that of a 1927 Lambda with a wheelbase of I! ft. 4in., but by cutting and re-welding the pressed steel side members, in this car no longer integral with the licitly, the wheel base had been reduced to 9 ft. 6 in. This operation is a commonplace one for Mr. West, his great achievement being to instal a 1926 4.6 litre Trikappa engine in place of the Lambda one originally fitted. The Trikappa engine is an eight cylinder unit virtually equivalent to two of the 16 Ii. p. type. With its shaftdriven overhead camshaft and double carburetter it was as far in advance of current practise when built as was the Lambda chassis, with its front-wheel brakes and independent springing, and propelled the massive Trikappa chassis at speeds around 90 m.p.h. Lighter valves and stronger springs are now fitted, and the tubular connecting rods freed of superfluous metal, while the compression ratio has been raised to suit Pratt’s Ethyl, so the power unit should produce amazing acceleration in the light Lambda chassis

Mounting the engine was a difficult job, for on the big chassis the engine was mounted on the usual type of bearers, while here it had to be adapted to the tubular mounting parallel to the side members which is a Lambda feature. The auxiliaries presented certain difficulties and much thought was needed to find a place for the starter ; S.U. petrol pumps on the dash replace the Old Autovac. The engine is very compact owing to the staggered lay-out of the cylinders, but it was no longer possible to keep the gear-box in its old position under the bonnet. It has therefore been moved to the centre of the chassis, under

the front seat, and is carried on two supplementary cross-members. The flywheel, the clutch and the gear-box are all those of the Lambda, and the front end of the clutch shaft is now carried by a ball-race in turn supported by a spider on the flywheel. The complicated brakecompensating gear has been moved back with the gear-box, and works quite happily in its new position.

Transmission and the rear end of the chassis are unaltered except that a short tubular propeller shaft takes the place of the long solid one, with its centre steady bearing, and the petrol tank is carried .low down and no longer enclosed in the famous ” boot.” The body is to be a three-seater with tapering stern, rather like those fitted on the old Type 43 (supercharged) Bugattis, with the spare wheel horizontal under the tail. The performance of this reconstructed car should more than justify its speedy lines, and owner and designer deserve all success in this bold venture so ably carried out.,