100 + years of Commercial Motor

An article from 1910 on bus traffic and road surfaces…

"There were unending complaints about the motorbus traffic which passed between Hammersmith and Barnes. The residents on the road between the bridge and Ranelagh, which is known as Castelnau, were particular sufferers, in that the noise rendered sleep or rest well-nigh impossible"

:stuck_out_tongue: :laughing:

Some of this old stuff is fascinating…

Steam or Petrol?
The Editor, " THE COMMERCIAL MOTOR." 1907
“Sir :—When will this controversy be settled? Do you think the R.A.C. Trials will be conclusive in proving one or other the real superior? It is very hard to come to a decision, and I think, myself, that another ten years will elapse before the internal-combustion engine becomes as generally understood as is the steam engine. There are comparatively few drivers who know all they. should about petrol motors, and the necessary adjustments for them, as well as for the transmission, but there is an excess of steam-wagon drivers. Can you tell me whether the superheated-steam systems are coming into use more widely, and is it true that their fuel consumption per mile, for equal loads and speeds, are no more than for petrol engines?”

The magazines response was…

“Our correspondent should continue to study the trials reports. They will certainly establish reliable hard comparative data. Drivers of steam vehicles require more special knowledge, as a mile, than do drivers of approved types of petrol vehicles, and the experience of large users of petrol motorvans indicates that the supposed difficulty over the provision of drivers is not a real one. Superheated steam systems, such as the Darracq-Serpollet, arc rapidly coming to the front, but their fuel consumptions are not so low per mile as where internal combustion is employed. It should be noted, however, that paraffin is burnt”

Its fascinating to think they weren’t sure whether the internal combustion engine would be better or not. Look how far things have come now.

This was literally history in the making!