Design Discussion .sx In which the Editor extends some arguments contained in last month's " Showdown " article .sx THE idea was expressed in MOTOR SPORT last month that enthusiasts who know about cars and drive them far and fast should eschew " vintage " designs and , by purchasing modern models for their daily motoring , set an example to the car-buying public of the benefits of such technical items as i.r.s. , elimination of the propeller shaft , reduction of greasing points and so on .sx Leaving out cars with front-wheel-drive , in which independent springing of the undriven back wheels is easy to achieve ( or if for some reason it is ignored , merely means that a light axle beam is involved ) and rear-engined cars in which i.r.s. is virtually forced upon the designer , there are the following front-engined/ rear-drive cars the enlightened manufacturers of which provide independent suspension of the back wheels , for maximum riding and cornering efficiency on rough roads and the elimination of judder and heelspin under acceleration which is a shortcoming to which rigid rear axles are prone , particularly when unlocated and attached to the chassis by leaf-springs :sx - Those , then , are the cars you should go for , unless you decide that divorcing the engine from the driven wheels is ridiculous and prefer a car with front-wheel-drive or rear-engine location .sx Personally , based on satisfactory experience of the B.M.C. ADO15 and ADO50 designs , I vote for the former .sx " n , the World's most advanced car , has had driven front wheels for nearly 30 years and the DS in its latest , more powerful form is a very fine motor car indeed ; if ever it gets the air-cooled flat-six engine which rumour says its designer always intended for it , it will combine in one vehicle practically everything I find desirable .sx So enamoured have I become by the safety factors inherent in a front-wheel-driven car that I long for the day when Alec Issigonis will trigger off the next B.M.C. offering of that species .sx He , like the " n designer , has been obliged to use a conventional engine already in production .sx You cannot tell me that the bulgy bonnet of the old torsion-bar-sprung Morris Minor wasn't intended to protect a flat-four engine , whereas Issigonis was prevailed upon to use an existing side-valve lump of iron when the car went into production .sx And while this talented designer has shown quite outstanding genius in placing another production B.M.C. engine across the front of his Mini to save space within the body envelope , I wonder whether , at all event in his dreams , Issigonis hadn't visualised a flat-four , or even a swash-plate power unit , for these brilliantly conceived ( if less conscientiously assembled ) little cars ?sx I suggest this in spite of Issigonis' statement in the current issue of Road & Track that designing new engines as well as new cars is too big an undertaking for him to adopt it .sx . It remains to be seen whether B.M.C. can achieve the same success with larger versions of the ADO15 layout .sx Personally I believe they will , should their future policy lie in that direction , despite rumours that nothing larger has followed the Minis because there is a limit to how much power can be used with f.w.d. without an excursion into the realms of dangerous handling characteristics , a theory that the Cooper-Minis go some way towards refuting and to which I do not subscribe .sx I would like to see Alec Issigonis , aided by rubber-man Alex Moulton , cock a snoot at " n with , say , a big trans-engine f.w.d. car powered by a 3-litre 6-cylinder B.M.C. engine , but whether a longer engine could be used across the car without seriously restricting the steering lock is open to conjecture .sx Whether your choice is for front-drive , rear-engine or divorced power unit and axle in a car with all-round independent suspension , there is still great variety to be found in the technical approach of 1962 .sx I was amused recently to read in Lord Montagu's entertaining journal The Veteran and Vintage Magazine the statement that in 1898 " motor car design was in a state of flux :sx engines were placed in front , amidships , and at the rear ; some were horizontal , others vertical , while at least one- the Clement-Panhard- was slightly inclined .sx " The position is not so very different over sixty years later and inclination of the engine to secure a low bonnet line , as on the Mercedes-Benz 300SL , B.M.W. 1500 , Chrysler Valiant , and Peugeot 404 , for example ( or a compact boot in the case of the rear-engined Simca 1000 ) has extended to the underfloor engines of the VW 1500 , and the Fiat 500 Giardiniera in which the engine has been turned on its side , while the data on the opposite page show that cylinder disposition has by no means reached standardisation .sx Moreover , N.S.U. have their Wankel rotary engine as an extremely compact power unit of the near-future , and Rover and others are convinced that the gas-turbine will eventually have its day .sx One aspect of engine design not yet exploited by British designers is that of smoothing out the 4-cylinder power unit and improving its durability by providing it with five crankshaft bearings , as adopted by Alpha Romeo , B.M.W. , Chevy =2 , Facellia , Goggomobil , Simca and Volvo .sx Considerable attention is being paid to the reduction of chassis greasing points .sx But while Rover is frequently named as a notable pioneer in this field , the Triumph Herald is all too often ignored , although it , too , can be very quickly serviced ; but in reduction of greasing nipples Fiat and N.S.U. on their smallest models do rather better .sx Only the D.A.F. from Holland and the front-drive Renault R4 from France appear to have eliminated greasing points entirely , but in this country Vauxhall and Rootes have made very considerable progress in reducing the periods between or the amount of servicing necessary , while in America Oldsmobile , Ford , Mercury , Lincoln , Plymouth , Dodge and Chrysler have adopted pre-lubricated chassis bearings that postpone replenishment until 30,000 miles have been run , which , in conjunction with oil changes recommended after 6,000 miles and cooling systems intended to hold their water for some two years , has taken most of the tedium out of the servicing routine .sx So much interest attaches to this aspect of car ownership , especially when service stations are frequently overcrowded and inefficient , and when home-mechanics probably prefer to spend their hours in the garage tuning , if not " souping , " their engines to grovelling about under their cars with the grease-gun , that I append a table showing how a representative collection of cars requires to be greased , from which the disinterested manufacturers who do nothing to relieve servicing tasks stand out like sheep- black sheep , as black as the unfortunate owners or mechanics who have to grease these cars !sx Incidentally , that the propeller shaft is an anachronism is emphasised by the fact that of only three grease nipples on the Hillman Super Minx and four on the Singer Gazelle , one of the former and two on the latter are on the propeller shaft , while Rover have successfully rid themselves of every nipple save one , again- on the propeller shaft .sx - W. B. VETERAN- EDWARDIAN- VINTAGE .sx A Section Devoted to Old-Car Matters .sx V.S.C.C. SILVERSTONE RACE MEETING ( July 22nd ) .sx THIS , the second of these enjoyable fixtures this year , took place in overcast but dry weather and attracted the usual delightfully varied entry , although few " new " old cars appeared .sx The programme commenced with an Inter-Team Relay Race which was contested between 14 one-make teams and a team of Edwardians .sx The race was difficult to follow but in the end jubilation in the Amilcar Six pit indicated that the Tozer , Harding , Lyne team of these fine little supercharged cars had won from the two Frazer Nash teams .sx In spite of modern Weber carburetters , Riseley's 1931 Aston Martin retired .sx The Austin Seven team comprised Nippy , Ulster and Chummy , and there had even been a complete team of three Gwynne Eights and I noticed that between them they numbered a Wolseley gearbox , a stubby right-hand gear-lever and a long central lever , sure sign that standardisation is a word unknown in vintage circles !sx The first 5-lap Handicap was led on the last lap by Brogden's 2-seater 3-litre Bentley , Williamson's 2-seater 3-litre of this make also passing Rowe's Ulster Austin that had been out in front for three laps , and was close up on the second Bentley at the finish .sx Another 5-lap Handicap followed , which incorporated the Light Car Handicap .sx The small fry were overtaken by Beavis' rather nondescript 1928 Riley Nine after three laps , and Blyth's Austin , with Boyd Carpenter long-tail body , came in second , followed by Smith's Gwynne Eight , leader of the light cars .sx Abrahams' racing Singer Junior went well into fourth place .sx Elsworthy ran a 1930 M-type M.G. Midget in original body trim .sx We now drove to Becketts Corner , where Ronald Barker had arrived in Sedgwick's open Speed Six Bentley , Sedgwick having driven up in the first of the Continental Bentleys dating from 1951 , while a Voisin was circulating as temporary Course Car- variety which makes these V.S.C.C. days so enjoyable .sx Faster stuff came out for yet another 5-lap Handicap , Bergel's 2.3 Bugatti going very nicely to a popular victory from Michelsen's i.f.s. Frazer Nash " Patience , " Edwards' big Lagonda third .sx In spite of a tendency to mis-fire , Gahagan's scratch 2-litre E.R.A. lapped at 72.75 m.p.h. A mixed bag from 1908 to 1936 contested the fourth 5-lap Handicap and it was splendid to see Clutton's great 12-litre Itala quite undismayed by front-braked " moderns , " so that it came home a thunderous second behind Cook's little Ulster Austin , making fastest lap , into the bargain , at 61.2 m.p.h. Third place was secured by Marsh's Austin .sx Poor Liston-Young could get nowhere from scratch in his Fiat Balilla and space helmet , and Zeuner , holding his Brescia Bugatti's gear-lever in gear , was lapped by Cook .sx Kain drove a neat Type 40 Bugatti .sx So to the race which is the purpose of this meeting , the 50-km .sx Boulogne Trophy Scratch Race .sx This was a splendid event .sx Margulies built up a growing lead in his 3-litre Maserati , Hull's 2-litre E.R.A. second , ahead of the Hon .sx Peter Lindsay and Murray in their 1 1/2-litre E.R.A.s. As the race settled down Murray's green E.R.A. fell back and Margulies , Hull and Lindsay were out ahead of the E.R.A.s of Waller and Brown .sx Then on lap nine the big Maserati retired , as did Waller , so the order was Hull , Lindsay , Brown , Gahagan and Murray , all in E.R.A.s , followed by Mudd's Maserati which , although mis-firing , was keeping ahead of Husband's blown Talbot , about which Goodhew's E.R.A.-Delage could do nothing at all .sx Cottam's E.R.A. was pursuing this group , followed by McDonald's 4 1/2-litre Bentley that eventually took the Vintage Award .sx Lindsay was driving " Remus " with real fire and a lap later passed Hull .sx Gahagan , too , was coming round fast in his 2-litre E.R.A. , with occasional glances at his off-side rear wheel , and on lap 13 he was third , having passed Brown .sx Finally , as a fast , eventful race ran its course Mudd got ahead of Murray , the s/ c. Talbot continuing to hold off the E.R.A.-Delage- how unpredictable vintage racing is !sx Margulies lapped fastest , at 80.62 m.p.h. , before retiring .sx Unfortunately Philip Mann's 1922 Strasbourg Sunbeam had suffered a serious fracture of the top of the cylinder block in practice and spent the race on its trailer behind a Land Rover .sx The races now reverted to 5-lappers , Begley's Frazer Nash shaking off Holford's Singer Nine and Harris' Austin to win the fifth , in which Michael , sawing at the wheel of his lowered , ex-Goodhew 4 1/2-litre Lagonda , made fastest lap , at 68.1 m.p.h. Hull , as he often does in short races , won the Scratch event , from Day , whose E.R.A. sounded off form , Waller third , Gahagan fourth , after Lindsay started badly and fell back after a spin .sx Hull lapped at 78.23 m.p.h. Bradley's well-known 4 1/2-litre Bentley won another of the Handicaps from Morton's very fierce 3-carburetter 4 1/2-litre Bentley and Morley's drastically lowered 4 1/2-litre Bentley with straight-tooth back axle and castors instead of front wheels , the classes going to Heap's Riley , Ashley's very rapid Frazer Nash and Footitt's so very worthwhile A.C.-G.N.