ATTRACTIVE MOTORING LITERATURE

ATTRACTIVE MOTORING LITERATURE Two Interesting Booklets from Alms and M.G.

ABEAUTIFULLY produced catalogue or instruction book can never fail to please the eye of motoring enthusiasts, and we have recently received two specimens of this work which are excellent examples of their kind.

The first is a very comprehensive instruction book which has just been produced by the Alvis Car and Engineering Company, of Coventry, for their “Speed Twenty” model. Printed on the finest art paper, the book is profusely illustrated, and contains an extraordinarily complete description of every part of the car. So attractively produced is this instruction book that no Alvis owner can fail to read it from cover to cover, thereby considerably increasing his appreciation of the workings of his car. Incidentally, we are informed by the Alvis Company that so strong has proved the demand for this car that in spite of two increases on the production schedule first laid down, thus more than doubling the output first proposed, they are now considering yet a third increase in an effort to overtake this demand.

“At the Sign of the Octagon.”

The other booklet on our desk is entitled “At the Sign of the Octagon,” in which the M.G. Car Company have conceived the original idea of taking the reader on an imaginative tour of their Works under the personal guidance of the Founder and Managing Director of the Company, Mr. Cecil Kimber. The booklet opens with a short illustrated history of the firm since its inception in 1924, when the first Morris Oxford was “hotted up” into an M.G. in the mews in Pusey Lane, Oxford. Then, after being introduced to Mr. Kimber in his beautiful office, with a Tudor fire-place and oak beams, the reader is shown over the entire system of the manufacture of M.G. cars. What progress these modern and perfectly organised works at Abingdon represent, when compared with the mews in Pusey Lane ! The keynotes of the M.G. methods are clean, tidy departments, and a pain:— taking care in every phase of the cars’ construction. Through the Boiler House and Tool Store, the Machine Shop, Assembly Department, Body Shop, Test Department, Finishing Section, Maintenance Department, Frame Making Department, Power Unit Shop, Experimental Department, Service Repair Shop, Dispatch Department and Electrical Section, the reader is conducted, and the whole visit gives him a very excellent insight into the reason both for the marvellous series of successes M.G. cars have attained both on road and track, and for their immense popularity among motorists who ask for individuality in their cars combining an outstanding performance with low price and economy of upkeep. Lastly, “At the Sign of the Octagon” leaves the reader with a sense of great achievement. Mr. Cecil Kimber is one of Britain’s youngest motoring manufacturers, and in these days when lack of opportunity

is so often used as a cloak for mediocrity, he stands out as an example of what initiative, perseverance and courage can accomplish.