New Oil Cuts Engine Wear by Four-fifths
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ANEW engine lubricating oil, B.P. Special Energol Visco-Static, was introduced to tlie British market on Wednesday by Shell-Mex and B.P., Ltd.
The new oil has been made possible by extensive research into engine wear by the Anglo-Iranian Oil Co., Ltd., at their research station at Sunbury, Middlesex. It will be sold only in sealed cans, which will retail at 2s. 6d. a pint and 16s. 6d. a gallon.
Reduced engine wear, easier starting and lower fuel consumption are claimed. The viscosity is not sensitive to temperature change and this oil can be used all the year round in engines for which any oil between S.A.E.10W and S.A.E.40 is recommended.
Tests on new engines have shown that when Visco-Static oil is used, the accumulation of wear in an engine which is started up once a day and run continuously for 120 miles, and is then stopped, is said to be about a fifth of that found when a conventional premium-grade oil is used. In the case of shorter daily runs and more cold starts a day, the reduction of wear would be 'even more marked.
A low viscosity at all normal temperatures ensures adequate lubrication for starting, which results in easier starting and reduced petrol consumption.
The new oil is recommended only for four-stroke petrol engines in good mechanical condition, but it is expected that tests in progress will show that it is equally suitable for oil engines. The full-performance life of a four-stroke engine is expected to be doubled.
As the oil is fully detergent, a flushing run of 500 miles is recommended for engines in use, and the new oil should thereafter be changed at the period recommended for conventional oils.
BETTER USED VEHICLES
COURSES in the reconditioning of used cars and commercial vehicles are to be held by Vauxhall Motors, Ltd., for service men from their dealers. The object is to raise the standard of used vehicles for sale.
Lessons will be given at the company's service technical institute at Luton and will cover vehicles of all makes. The manager of the institute, Mr. F. T. Rolls, has made an intensive study of vehicle reconditioning methods in the U.S.A. and other countries.
MORE WORK FOR CONTRACTORS NfiACH1NERY services for farmers AVI should not he provided by the Government, who would be glad to hand them over to private contractors when they were satisfied that contractors could do the work, said Earl St. Aidwyn, Joint Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture, last %seek. He was speaking at the annual dinner of the British Agricultural Contractors' Association in London,
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Would Rather Lead Cattle Than Use Rail
" NEVER again will I use rail trans;
port. If I cannot get a private haulier, I would rather lead the cattle myself as I have done in Canada." said Mr. Robinson Carter, a farmer, when he supported an application by Mr. N. Birks, of West Hartlepool, to the Northern Licensing Authority, last week, to carry livestock within a 125-m i le radius.
Mr. Carter referred to an incident when he bought a bull at Horsham and arranged with British Railways for it to be brought to Stockton. It was carried to Middlesbrough and a locomotive had to be sent to bring it to Stockton.
The Authority suggested that the radius should he 25 miles and the applicant agreed. The railway objection was withdrawn and the licence was granted.
CUT FARE FOR PENSIONERS DERMISSION has been granted to a Sheffield coach operator, Mr. C. Q. Littlewood, to operate an express service for old-age pensioners and disabled persons from Sheffield to Torquay in May, September-and October next year. A concession fare of £2 10s., against a charge of £2 18s. 3d payable on Mr. Littlew,00d's normal service, was also authorized.
The Yorkshire Licensing Authority, who announced the decision last week (the hearing was reported in The Cominercial Motor on November 19) restricted picking up to within a fivemile radius of Sheffield Post Office.
EARLY BOOKINGS FOR S.U.T.
BOOKINGS for next season's coach tours have been opened by Sheffield United Tours, Ltd., a month earlier than usual, resulting in almost as many bookings in the first days as were usual at later dates in previous years.
S.U.T. coaches carried 15,000 passengers last year. The company are to compete in next year's Montreux and Nice rallies.
S.U.T. have opened a new booking hall in their Sheffield offices, to give passengers greater comfort and better facilities for booking on British and Continental coach tours.
OILERS FOR POST OFFICE
ANUMBER of Trojan oil-engined vans has been purchased by the Post Office, in conjunction with the Ministry of Supply. They will be tested under operating conditions and include models of normal and extended wheelbase.
GENERAL MOTORS SPEND MORE A FURTHER 9m. dollars is to be 171 spent by the General Motors Corporation in England, France, Denmark and Sweden. An additional £601,920 is to be spent for a new building to provide for the expansion of manufacturing facilities at Dunstable.
Licence Not Needed to Carry Cars
ACHARGE that a lorry had been used unlawfully for the transport of stock racing ears, in that it had no C licence, was dismissed by Long Eaton magistrates last week.
John Roland Smith, 126 Alderson Road, Liverpool, was said to have carried a car on a lorry and towed another car behind it. A police officer's attention was brought to it by a Ministry of Transport official. The officer found that there was no C licence.
Prosecuting, Chief Insp. J. S. Loydall said that promoters paid money to competitors in stock-car racing, and selected drivers were awarded prize money. He submitted that the lorry was being used for transporting goods "for business, profit or reward."
Smith said that racing was a sport for him. and not a business. The lorry was purchased for the sole purpose of carrying cars from one meeting to another.
MAY C-LICENCE VEHICLE BE BORROWED?
LUDLOW magistrates last week Li adjourned a charge against Phoemax (Ludlow), Ltd., of having used a vehicle to carry goods without a licence, until an official of the' Licensing Authority could be present.
A constable said that he stopped a van driven by Mr. Albert Westmead, a member of the company, in Ludlow. The C licence was in the name of Mr. William J. Bebbington, Norton Farm, Craven Arms. Mr. Westmead was carrying a load of blow-lamps, and said he had borrowed the van from Mr. I3ebbington.
Mr. Westmead stated that there was no question of using the vehicle for hire or reward. The van had been lent to him by Mr. Bebbington, and when he (Westmead) had telephoned the Licensing Authority's office at Birmingham, he had been told that such use was not an offence.
1955 I.M.I. SUMMER SCHOOL
NEXT year's annual summer school of the Institute of the Motor Industry will be held from August 20-27 at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Reservations may now be obtained from Dr. R. D. A. Crafter, 40 Queen's Gate, London, S.W.7. The curriculum covers law, cost control, personnel problems, sales-promotion and economics.
CLEANERS TO MAN BUSES
CLEANERS and other workers of Sheffield Transport Department are being trained as conductors so that they can assist during peak periods. Although 562 new drivers and conductors were taken on during the past 11 months, 779 left. Up to 51 buses and trams are not in service at morning or afternoon peak hours as a result of staff shortages.
Free Travel : No Compensation
IS Birmingham Corporation liable to pay compensation for injuries sustained by old-age pensioners while travelling free on the corporation's buses? Mr. G. V. Prescott, the Birmingham ratepayer who was recently successful in securing a declaration that the corporation's free travel scheme for the aged was invalid, thinks it is. As non-paying passengers, they were not entitled—under the provisions of the scheme—to compensation for injury but Mr. Prescott believes that this ruling is wrong. "Since the scheme has now been declared illegal, it is possible that Birmingham Corporation is liable for injuries to passengers who were taking advantage of it," Mr. Prescott said last week. "I know of several cases Where passengers who have received injuries have been told by the corporation that they arc not entitled to compensation, but if they will get in touch with me by letter, stating the facts, I will see that their claim has a preliminary examination, free of charge." Today, the city's ratepayers will have an opportunity at a town's meeting to give a mandate for a Parliamentary Bill to legalize free or concessionary travel on the corporation's buses (The Commercial Motor, last week). eie.
SECOND THOUGHTS ON FARES
PRIVATE operators with services along or near routes served by Glasgow Transport Department have objected to the corporation's proposals for concession fares on the ground that they would affect the existing co-ordination between fares on common routes and would result in a degree of unfair competition. In consequence, the transport committee have recommended that concessions should be restricted to journeys for which no other service is available to the public.