Современное автомобилестроение. Сахарова Н.С. - 89 стр.

‘whenever I meet a woman driver I get right down into the gutter and go dead slow. It
has become a habit’. Or ‘the driver was a woman of the no hair bare-headed type’
referring to the short hair style of the Eton Crop.
    The 20s have been called the Golden Age of motoring. It was a time when there
was little traffic, few restrictions on the motorists, and unspoilt country beauty spots.
Cars were far more reliable and easier to control. Garages with petrol pumps became
a common place with petrol costing on average 1s. 6d. (71/2p) a gallon. A motorist
would pay 5/-(25p) for a licence, 3 gns car tax on a 61/2-12h.p. car, while insurance
was an option and not compulsory. Roads were still narrow but even in 1924 John,
Lord Montagu of Beaulieu had the vision to propose a motorway scheme to link
London with Liverpool. The House of Commons, however, was not convinced.
Traffic lights were introduced in 1928 and white lines as road dividers in 1927.
    The car owner in the 20s still came from the wealthy and professional classes.
Advertisements of the period portray an image of motorists with plenty of leisure
time, leaving their mock-tudor house, going to tennis parties and country house
weekends. A picnic in the country and touring became increasingly popular. For the
young smart point treasure hunts became fashionable crazes.
    The 20s will always be remembered for the luxury cars, probably the finest ever
made. Rolls Royce continued with the Silver Ghost until the Phantom I and II were
introduced in 1925 and 1929. Daimler, Napier, Lanchester and Leyland were the
other top British makes. Italy’s premier car was a huge Isotta-Franschini Tipo 8
weighing three tons, with a 12ft. 1 in. Wheel base and a 5.9 litre straight eight engine
capable of 80 m.p.h. This was a fashionable car with Hollywood film stars. The
Hispano-Suiza H6, of French/Spanish origin was another luxury car whose
engineering qualities became world famous. America too had fine cars in the Cadillac
V8, the Packard Straight 8 and the Duesenberb J capable of an amazing 119 built by
craftsmen and the 20s saw new heights for the coachbuilder’s art.
    What would now be called a sportscar really began to emerge in the 1920s. The
finest British types were the Vaxuhall 30/98 E-type, the Bentley 3 litre, and the Alvis
12/50 which was strong and soundly made with a 1,5 litre engine giving 75 m.p.h. top
speed. From the Continent came the beautiful and nimble Bugatti type 22 Brescia and
type 35. Mercedes on the other hand produced vast cars like the 6 cylinder, 7.1 litre
38/250, but they had produced a 1.5 litre machine which offered commercially for the
first time in Europe, a supercharger. The Italian Alfa Romeo 6C super sport of 1928
was a masterpiece with a lively engine and a top speed of 100 m.p.h.
    For the less flamboyant and impecunious car buyer, a real bargain was to be found
in the outstanding small car of the period, the Austin Seven. ‘It is a decent car for the
man who, at present, can only afford a motorcycle and sidecar and yet has the
ambition to become a motorist’. – Herbert Austin. The Austin Seven offered all the
features of a large car, only in miniature, and cost £165 when introduced in 1922. The
arrival of ‘baby’ cars like the Rover 8 and Austin 7 virtually killed off the cyclecar
which had become popular at a time of high demand for basic motoring. Basic these
cars certainly were, for they used twin cylinder motorcycle engines, belt or chain
drive, a spidery chassis and elementary suspension and steering. The most famous of
this group were the Morgan three-wheelers.
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