A NEW ONE-TONNER FOR BRITISH USERS.
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A Useful and Speedy American Transport Unit which will Shortly Make Its Appearance on the British Market.
MIOR MANY YEARS past. we have
directed attention to the growing demand which exists in this country for a vehicle with a carrying capacity of one ton, and we have persistently advocated the need for British makers turning their attention to a market in which the foreign vehicle was unmistakably gaining a firm foothold.. It is now, we think, generally well known that certain prominent manufacturers in this country have vehicles of this capacity actually on the stocks, although no definite pronouncement concerning manufacture is expected much before the doors of Olympia are opened on the Commercial Motor Exhibition towards the end of next month. We take to ourselves a meed of credit for the production of these models, for we have unceasinglyendeavoured to get British makers to produce a one-ton vehicle at a price more or less competitive with the cheapest of imported productions. We have nothing to say against the foreign one-toriner of proved merit and reliability, especially if it be hacked by a well-Organized service system in this country; but we are merely. voicing the views of many users who have expressed surprise at their inability to obtain a British product of a like capacity.
Foreign commercial vehicles, especially the light American models, will always be sure of a certain market in this country, chiefly because they can be sold at a figure with which the British maker finds it. well-nigh impossible to compete. It is as well that it is so, too, for under the stimulus of competition the industry may benefit in many ways.
It is for this reason, if for no other, that we welcome the appearance of the Gray one-tanner in this country. This vehicle is the product of the Gray Motor Corporation of Detroit, Michigan, and -it is being handled in this country by the Ancona Motor Co.' Ltd. of 78-82, Brampton Read, London, S.W. 3. Th.e Gray one-tort chassis is, in many respects, a typical American production, and it incorporates in' its general specification many features which have proved their worth on the Gray touring car chassis, which, as many of our readers may be aware, possesses a good reputation in the United States.
The chassis is of sturdy built for the Moderate weight of goods which it is intended to carry, and it is built to heavy-vehicle standards of oompanents which are of recognized merit.
The four-cylindered engine is of the reheaded type, and it has a bore of 3-1 ins, and a stroke of 4 ins., the R.A.C.
rating being 21 h.p. The cylinders are cast en bloc with the upper half of the crankcase, and they have a detachable headpiece. The cooling water is circulated on the thermo-siphonie principle, and the cooling effect is aided by a radiator of the ordinarv. fin type. Lubrication is by the centrifugal splash system.
The power developed by the engine is conveyed through a single-disc clutch, which runs in oil, the disc bding 91 ins. in diameter. The gearbox, which is of the ordinary sliding-gear type, gives three speeds forward and reverse, and all the gears run on Timken bearings. The change-speed lever is mounted direct on the box ; this gives central control.
From the gearbox the drive is conveyed by an open propeller shaft to a semi-floating hack axle, which has a pressed-steel housing.
The service brakes are of the-externalcontracting type, and act on the rear wheels, the drums being 14i ins, in. diameter with a 2-in. face. The amen gency brake acts an the transmission.
The springing of the chassis has been well considered, and at the front semicantilever springs, 2 ins, wide and 22 ins. long, are used, whilst at the rear the semi-elliptic springs are 21 ins, wide and 44 ins. long.
The frame is of pressed steel, the channel section being 5 ins. deep. Two tubular moss-members, one disposed in line with the front anchorage of the rear springs and the other almost at the end of the frame, give rigidity to the frame , assembly.
The Timken front axle is a one-piece forging, and it is of I-beam section. Steering is effected by irreversible worm and wheel.
The wheelbase of the Gray one-ton chassis is -113 ft., 2nd the wheels, which are of the wood artillery type, each having 12 hickoryspokes, are shod with non-skid pneumatic tyres of 30-in, by dimensions at the frontand 32-in. by 4-1-in. at, the rear. The equipment of the vehicle is most 'complete. . We are notyet acquainted with tlie price at which the new Gray ane-tormer is to be offered to British users, but it is certain that it will be a highly.com
patitive figure.
The ,company are also about to exploit on the British market -a-10-cwt; lightvan, in which the chassis is precisely the same as the company's touring car chassis. All types of-bodies can be fitted to both models, and these will be British built.