Motor vehicle

“ Not in name merely, but in fact, they have been Sociétés d'encouragement throughout, and by trials and demonstrations in Great Britain, and races and hill-climbs abroad, have established the claims of the motor vehicle to the attention of the world. ”

“ The motor-car triumphed. It grew rapidly more reliable, more silent, more pleasing to the eye; and to-day it glides in thousands along our roads, a pleasure to those who occupy it, a nuisance neither to pedestrians nor to other wheeled traffic; more under control when it is well driven, and more ready to stop quickly when required, than any horsed vehicle which it may have replaced. At one time the papers were full of such headlines as: "Another Motor-car Accident." ”

“ Assuming that the vehicle is in perfect condition for use and the engine has been set going, the first thing to do is to examine the ways and means of starting the carriage either forward or backward, to ascertain how to stop it when desired, and steer it from side to side or round a corner, or to avoid an obstacle. We will suppose that the vehicle is of the Panhard type, with wheel steering and single lever at the right-hand side, giving the speeds forward and reverse. ”

“ Almost every type of motor vehicle has its own peculiarities, and it is evidently easier for a mechanic to undertake the maintenance of a certain number of machines all of one make than to keep in running order a similar number of miscellaneous vehicles varying essentially from one another. ”

“ The uses to which the motor vehicle has been put are legion. On railways the motor carriage is catering for local traffic. On the roads the motor omnibus is steadily increasing its numbers. Tradesmen of all sorts, and persons concerned with the distribution of commodities, find that the petrol- or steam-moved car or lorry has very decided advantages over horse traction. Our postal authorities have adopted the motor mail van. The War Office looks to the motor to solve some of its transportation difficulties. ”

“ On the other hand, the use of the motor vehicle was extended in the first instance mainly as a sport, and as a new occupation for well-to-do individuals of a mechanical turn of mind. There is an attraction about speed in all forms, and consequently, it was on this point that attention was for many years concentrated. ”

“ Concurrently with its development into a reliable, silent, odourless and smokeless power-propelled vehicle, the motor-car gradually came into more general use. It no longer appealed only to a few but gained converts daily, and its final triumph came when it began seriously to displace the horsed vehicle. becoming the private carriage of the wealthier classes to be used on all occasions. ”

“ Every motor vehicle shall be equipped with either two systems of brakes, independent of each other, or one system of brakes with two independent means or operation, of which one means of operation will function, even if the other fails to function, provided that in all cases the system used is really effective and rapid in action. ”

“ Yet this is the practical—the socially and nationally important lesson—which is brought to us by reminiscences of the few years in which the mechanical vehicle has been steadily asserting itself, in the face of unreasoning prejudice and pig-headed obstruction. ”

“ When driving on greasy roads it is always well to keep as far away as possible from any vehicle in front, whether it be a motor-car, a horse-drawn vehicle, or a cycle, as this allows plenty of time to pull up slowly and gradually. ”

“ Altogether the motorcar must revolutionise our social life in the country, and let us hope before long will lead to the bettering of our cross-country roads. The horse, poor beast, has never been able to tell us what he endures from bad roads, and the pace of a horsedrawn vehicle has been too slow for even the springs to suffer much; but if you get into a motor-car going five-and-twenty miles an hour over a road which you have hitherto deemed good, the engine and car will very soon tell you the difference between what the road surveyor's work has been and what it ought to be. ”

“ For household purposes, if you live at a distance from your country town, you will find a motor car of great use for parcels, for sending away your game, and for bringing your supplies; and let me also mention that your servants, should you care to give them a day's outing in the summer, will enjoy a motor-car drive and a picnic in the woods with a zest which they never knew in th days of the horse-drawn vehicle. ”

“ An electric vehicle may be regarded as consisting of a body, a running gear, with one or two motors mounted on it and arranged to operate the driving wheels of the vehicle through speed reduction gearing, of a battery of accumulators carried on the car itself, of connections between this battery and the motors, and of a controller, the functions of which will be explained. ”

“ For after including automobile truck, automobile wagon and motor cycle, the words 'any other self-propelled vehicle not designed for running on rails' still indicate that a vehicle in the popular sense, that is a vehicle running on land is the theme. It is a vehicle that runs, not something, not commonly called a vehicle, that flies. ”

“ Assuming a vehicle with running gear complete and motors mounted and geared to the driving-wheels, the motors have to be fed with energy in order that the car may be propelled— that is to say, we must in addition to the motors have a source of electric current present. A car with body, running gear, and motors geared in position, is a potentiality only. ”

“ When in close quarters, perform every operation slowly as a move made slowly but surely will probably take less time than a move made incorrectly. There is no occasion for getting excited, as it is safe to assume that every other vehicle is under perfect control.175 Learn to shift gears without looking at the lever, because you will need your eyes to watch the road. Sit straight in the seat: do not get hunched over the steering wheel as this indicates a novice. Always drive into the garage on the first speed gear. ”

“ When going backward look toward the back of the car and also up and down the street to see that no other vehicle is approaching. After the car has traveled back a sufficient distance, release the clutch, take foot off of accelerator pedal and apply brake, at the same time turning steering wheel to the left until the car stops. ”

“ It is not possible for a motor or any other vehicle to descend the steep, stone-paved streets, and about a quarter of a mile above the town we left the car in an exceedingly prosperous-looking stable-yard filled to overflowing with motors, carriages and chars-a-bancs. ”

“ Looking at the other side of the question, the ideal conditions are reached when every vehicle of the column is identical and represents the very best make and type, and when all the drivers are thoroughly acquainted with the idiosyncrasies of this particular type of vehicle, and the mechanics responsible for repairs equally experienced as regards every feature of the mechanism of the machines. ”

“ It is reasonable to suppose that the near future will see considerable developments in the armoured motor car in two directions, namely, in the direction of the vehicle designed and constructed throughout for a specific purpose, and also in the direction of the lightly armoured fast touring car available for staff and scouting purposes. ”

“ Ford is an enthusiast on the future of the motor vehicle. He believes it will replace the horse in a very few years, for business as well as for pleasure, whether for traming, trucking or hauling passengers in the city, or pulling the plow, nay wagon or reaper on the farm, and it is only a question of a very few years before all this will be accomplished. ”

“ Of the 200,000 motor vehicles estimated to be constructed in 1910, 165,000 were to be petrol-driven pleasure cars, 30,000 were to be petrol-driven high-wheeled buggies, and 5000 steam and electric carriages and commercial vehicles. ”

“ See Tyres Postel-Vinay electric motor, the, 286 'Powerful' electromobile, the, 290, 300 Pumps for boilers of steam cars, 257
Quadrant motor cycle, the,
Races and trials, English and Continental, in motor vehicles, 402-408 Railway level crossings, dangers of, 335 Rain covers, mackintosh, for cars, 95 Reading system for steam cars, 246; engine for steam cars, 268 Reminiscences of motoring, 361; mechanical traction on roads long delayed by obstructionists, 362; the Hon. Evelyn Ellis's introduction of the Panhard car to England as a police test, 362, 363; Mr. ”

“ A seat for the driver and sundry pedals and levers are needed to accomplish speed and steering control, and sundry other parts have their place, but the above covers in a general way the necessities of an automobile.
An automobile, as the name suggests, is a car which contains its own propelling force and to which it is not necessary to hitch a horse, or steam engine, or something else to make it go. ”

“ Our “chauffeur” shook his head. “Not without wrecking the engine. There is nothing for it but to be towed to a machine shop.”
[19]
“And then?” I asked.
“That depends——” was his ambiguous answer, and we said nothing more.
Is there anything more exhilarating than an automobile running smoothly along? Is there anything more dispiriting than the same automobile unable to go? The bigger and heavier it is, the worse the situation seems to be. You might get out and push a little one, but a big car standing stonily silent portends something of the inexorability of Fate. ”

“ When she has the car ready, supplied with gasoline, lubricating oil, water for the radiator, and all the other things which make for safety and successful operation, and has cranked the engine, unless there is a self-starter, then, with hands and feet engaging the steering wheel, levers, and pedals, the momentous hour has come when the machine is to be under her control. ”

“ It matters not whether one call it an automobile, a tin lizzie, a gas wagon, or what not, it consists of a steel frame upon which are mounted wheels, an engine, appliances for connecting the engine to the driving wheels, a fuel supply tank, a system for producing ignition at the right moment, and appliances for regulating the speed of the engine and the direction of the car. ”

“ In a four-seated car the rear passengers should glance occasionally at the driving-wheel tyres out of consideration for the driver, and if either of them be splayed at the point of contact with the road he should be apprised of the fact at once. ”

“ It takes more than a knowledge of certain small levers and pedals and a deftness in manipulating clutch and brakes and gear shifts and steering wheel, to make an automobile driver. Because of this fact the Automobile School of the West Side Young Men’s Christian Association, in New York City, has formulated a set of instructions to its students for the road lessons, which are about the most complete, yet concise, so far published. ”

“ MOTOR-CARS THE MOTOR OMNIBUS — RAILWAY MOTOR-CARS
The development of the motor-car has been phenomenal. Early in 1896 the only mechanically moved vehicles to be seen on our roads were the traction-engine, preceded by a man bearing a red flag, the steam-roller, and, in the towns, a few trams. To-day the motor is apparent everywhere, dodging through street traffic, or raising the dust of the country roads and lanes, or lumbering along with its load of merchandise at a steady gait.
As a purely speed machine the motor-car has practically reached its limit. With 100 h.p. ”

“ Next to the engine itself the construction of the transmission gear is the most important thing about an autocar; for as this portion of the machine is the medium through which the power is conveyed from the engine to the wheels, it does not require an intimate knowledge of mechanics to perceive that bad design and undue friction here may make a very material difference in the running and speed of the car. ”

“ RAMMING AN OX CART
Mingled with the frantic tooting of an automobile horn, there was the shrill shrieking of the brake-band as it gripped the wheel hub in a friction clutch.
“Hi, Bob! Look out for that ox cart ahead!” exclaimed one of three sturdy youths in the touring car. ”

“ I should recommend for estate work a good rough wagonette which can take materials as well as persons, with plenty of engine power, say, not less than twelve-horse, and a low gear which will make a load of bricks or half a dozen bags of cement a possible freight. And, above all, have electric ignition, and only use tube ignition, if you have it, in cases of emergency or breakdown in your electrical arrangements. Otherwise a flare-up and a charred car is a daily possibility. ”

“ So many accidents have occurred lately through the ignition of petrol that a wealthy motorist, we hear, is making arrangements for his car to be followed, wherever it may go, by a fully-equipped fire-engine, and, if this example be followed widely, our roads will become more interesting than ever.
Are there motor-cars in the celestial regions? ”

“ There is not one jarring note—until the 'honk, honk' of a motor is followed by the breathless, panting whirr of the engine, and a big car flashes down the road and past, travelling at the topmost of its top speed. ”

“ Have, say, a six or a twelve-horse-power car for the loaders, a good roomy wagonette with a low gear and plenty of floor space, let them start a quarter of an hour earlier than you, and follow them in your flyer, on a twelve- or twenty-horse-power machine with your guests. Many a last beat of a good shoot has been spoilt because one of the party was not called in time, or was eating his breakfast when the party ought to have been starting. ”