A look round the annual motor show just opened in the Grand Palaip is distinctly discourpging to the mere pedestrian. He sees that a great effort is being made to encourage the French public to buy' cars. The show From Our Own Correspondent. simply swarms with small cars, the cheapest of which can be had for under 5,000 fr. The streets of Paris and the high roads are dangerous enough already, @nd if the traffic they have to carry is to be increased to the extent foreshadowed by the show, the only course for the citizen who goes upon two legs will be to add to his accident and life insurance policies. The prospect of hordes of cars, with more or less experienced drivers, tearing along streets and roads that were never meant for such vast amounts of. traflid is anything but pleasant.
Apart from these considerations of personal safety, one must admit that the show gives evidence of great vitality on the part of the motor industry. Tt is animated by a productive and competitive spirit such as existed during the bicycle boom a quarter of a century age. The greatest novelty is the new direct drive brought out by the Voisin Ca. The drive is transmitted direct from the engine shaft to the rear axles, the changing from low gear to higher being performed automatically and gradually as the car gathers speed. The new principle of course has to stand the test of actual practi ice, but it marks a distinct advance in construction, and the whole mechanism of the car fitted with it must benefit from the absence of jerk and strain which the preseat gear-box involves. The Voisin 8 b.p. car fitted with this new drive is priced at 37,800fr. Anothr novelty 1s the new Micholin tyre, considerably larger than the usual type and inflated at very low pressure, the object being to absorb shock. A smaller wheel compensates for the extra weight.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.