under the auspices and control of the motor-car manufacturers'
associations of the respective countries. The Paris show, the oldest
and for a long time the largest as regards number of exhibitors, was
resumed after the war, in 1919. But in 1920 the show was suspended,
because at the time when preparations would have been made trade
conditions seemed to make it unnecessary. London shows were held
at Olympia, and in 1920 there was an overflow exhibition at the
White City. Owing to the fact that Great Britain was one of the
greatest markets for motor-cars, importing more cars than any other
country in Europe, the Olympia show always had a strong inter-
national flavour. There was a special show for commercial cars at
Olympia in 1920, shortly before the passenger-car show. In the United
States also truck shows had been held separately for several years.
National motor-car manufacturers' associations previous to the World
War had an international federation with headquarters in Paris.
One of the activities of the federation was to allocate dates for
national shows to all countries represented, so as to prevent conflict,
which would have been annoying to manufacturers wishing to ex-
hibit at several shows. The federation also endeavoured to restrict
the organization of shows, to exercise a certain control over races
and to influence legislation. In 1920 the original international feder-
ation was dissolved and a new allied federation took its place.
Standardization, A great help to the motor-car industry in the United States was the standardization work of the Society of Auto- motive Engineers, concurrent with specialization in the manufacture of parts. One of the first things standardized was fine-pitch screw threads. It was found that the former standard threads, such as the U.S.S., Whitworth, etc., were too coarse for motor-car work, and manufacturers began devising their own fine-thread standards; if this had continued it would have led to the use of many different pitches for screws of the same diameter, which would nave been most annoying to the user. In order to obviate this the S.A.E. screw thread was evolved, and soon came into common use. A great deal of the standardization work was concerned with the joints or connexions between parts made in different factories. Thus the mountings on the engine, of carburetters, battery ignition units, magnetos, electric generators, starters and tire pumps were standard- ized, as were flywheel housings, shaft fittings, spring mountings, etc. At the end of 1920 there were about 180 separate motor-car standards on the records of the S.A.E. Great Britain had a similar technical society, the Institution of Automobile Engineers, but motor-car standardization work was carried on by a sub-committee of the British Engineering Standards Committee, on which both the Institution of Automobile Engineers and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders were represented. There was also a technical society in Germany, the Automobil und Flugtechnische Gesellschaft, but it had not been active. During the World War engineering standardization work was begun in Germany by a general organization covering the whole engineering trade, and after the war motor-car standardization was continued by the Verein deutscher Motorfahrzeug-Industrieller.
Taxation. In nearly all countries motor vehicles were subject to an annual road tax based upon the rated horse-power of the engine. Great Britain did not impose such a tax until Jan. I 1921. The rate of tax was then i per horse-power, determined by the following equation :
where N is the number of cylinders and b the bore in inches. The same formula, known in Great Britain as the Royal Automobile Club formula, was used in most states of the United States, where it was known as the A.L.A.M. formula. Japan used a very similar for- mula, the denominator of the fraction being 3 instead of 2-5. Widely different formulas were in use in different countries for determining the tax horse-power. Some, like those above cited, made the horse- power proportional to the cylinder bore, others to the piston dis- placement volume, and still others to this volume and the normal speed of revolution. Let C be a constant, b the cylinder bore, I the piston stroke, N the number of cylinders, and r the normal engine speed then the various horse-power formulas used in 1920 may be written as follows :
For Belgium: H.P. =C.6 2 ./.N.r (where C varies between 3 and 3-5 for motor-cycles and between 4-5 and 5 for motor-cars, and b and / are in metres. It was customary to make C=3 and r = 1,000 for motor-cycles and C =4-5 and r = 1,000 for motor-cars).
In France the formula reads the same as that for Belgium; C is equal to 0-0002 for single-cylinder engines, 0-00017 f r two-cylinder, 0-00015 for four-cylinder, and 0-00013 for multi-cylinder, b is inserted in centimetres, I in metres, and r in revolutions per second.
In Germany: H.P. =o-3N.& 2 ./ (b being in centimetres and / in metres). Holland, Denmark, Switzerland and Russia used the same formula.
In Italy: H.P. =0-0525^.^ for passenger vehicles and H.P. = 0-0350 N.6 2 for commercial vehicles (b being in centimetres).
Ford Cars. A unique position in the American motor-car industry has been occupied by the Ford Motor Co., whose annual productionfor several years constituted about one-half that of the whole industry. This company in igog-succeeded in developing a passenger car which it was able to sell for the next 1 1 years without material modifications
in design except as regards the body and equipment. This stability of design made possible production on an unequalled scale and at remarkably low cost. At one time during the World War period this car sold in the United States as low as $325 for the two-seater and $360 for the five-seater. In 1917 the company began to produce also a light truck, and in 1920 the production of passenger cars and trucks combined exceeded 1 ,000,000 vehicles.
German Lorries. Motor-lorry services under public ownership were developed in Germany after the Armistice of Nov. 1918 from an emergency service previously established by the War Department. Toward the end of 1916 the German Government, facing a trans- portation crisis at home, was compelled to withdraw a large number of motor lorries from the front in order to relieve the congestion at freight depots and to carry agricultural produce to the great centres of population. This service was gradually extended, and during the last full month of the war, Oct. 1918, the lorries in the home service moved 302,000 tons of freight and covered an aggregate dis- tance of 922,000 m., of which 525,000 m. was with load. The useful work done amounted to 1,960,000 ton-miles and the fuel consumed to 260,000 imp. gallons. After the Armistice 16 limited liability corporations (Krojtverkehrsgesellschaften) were organized, and oper- ating territories were assigned to each so that the whole country was covered. The National Government furnished the vehicles and received in return shares of stock and certificates of indebted- ness. Most of the capital stock of the companies was subscribed by the local governments of the districts served. According to a report made in 1920 these companies then operated 98 services with a rolling-stock consisting of 2,871 motor lorries, 37 tractors, 1,079 trailers, 187 passenger cars, 126 motor-cycles and 150 motor- buses. The personnel numbered 3,000. The interests of the national Government in these companies were looked after by the Treasury Department. Lorries and other vehicles with drivers (and helpers if necessary) were furnished either on a direct ton-mile basis or by the day, in the latter case there being a limit on both the time and the distance covered, with extra rates if either limit was exceeded. Similar services for passengers and mails were established in Ger- many by the Post-Office Department. In 1920 this department established 100 new mail lines in country districts with an initial equipment of 260 vehicles ; it also added between 400 and 500 vehicles to the equipment for carrying mails in the cities.
Motor Omnibuses. The largest motor-omnibus service in the world in 1920 was that of the London General Omnibus Co., which then had more than 2,500 buses in operation. This company shortly after the World War introduced a new " K " type of double-deck omnibus with seating capacity for 46 passengers (22 below and 24 on top), which weighed no more than the 34-passenger buses in service up to that time (see fig. 26, PI.). Of the passengers carried on the lower deck six occupied a longitudinal seat while all the rest faced forward. The chassis frame and the framework of the body of this new omnibus were made of ash bars reenforced with steel flitch plates. Practically all the panels of the body consisted of three-ply birch ; the main floor was of the same material and had wearing slats secured to it, while the roof consisted of two thicknesses of this three- ply with a layer of waterproof duck between. Fully equipped for service this motor omnibus weighed 7,600 lb., of which 2,350 Ib. was body weight. The engine had four cylinders of loo-mm. bore and l4O-mm. stroke, which were cast in pairs; it developed 30 H.P. at 1,050 r.p.m. The wheelbase was l7Oj in. ; the large passenger capacity for this wheelbase was made possible by placing the driver's seat alongside the engine. On July I 1920 there were 80 of these buses in service.
War Developments. During the World War the motor-car industries of ah 1 the belligerent countries greatly increased their productive capacities, because they possessed the personnel and the equipment necessary for turning out many essentials of warfare, such as vehicles of all kinds, aero-motors and munitions. Thus the capitalization of the German motor industry increased about 1 80% between 1914 and 1919. Twenty German motor- car manufacturing concerns during this period issued additional stock to the amount of 176,350,000 marks, and bond issues and the capitalization of newly organized companies brought the capital increase up to 214,950,000 marks. There was a similar increase in the capitalization of the British motor-car industry, but most of the new issues of stock in Great Britain occurred after the Armistice, while in Germany the greatest accession of new capital took place during the war period.
During the early part of the World War the American motor industry furnished large numbers of motor lorries to the British, French and Russian Governments, and this was reflected by the export returns, which showed an increase in the number of trucks exported from 784 in 1914 to 21,265 i n 1916. At the same time the foreign demand for American passenger cars increased greatly, because the belligerent European countries could not make deliveries. In 1918, when the United States threw its full
