One of the latest and most notable developments of the motor industry is the prominence of the small car. It is obvious that the number of individuals who can afford to pay from £150 to £230 for a motor-car for purposes either of pleasure or business is enormous in proportion to the number of those who can afford to pay more. Motor manufacturers have never been blind to that fact. It is only in recent years, however, that they have seen their way to meet the demand with satisfaction to their customers and profit to themselves. The small car has come, and its merits are so considerable, the pockets to which it appeals so many, that its popularity is assured. It is not a very rash prophecy to declare that in a few years’ time it will be the vehicle most commonly met with on the high road, and its manufacture the mainstay of the motor trade.

In France, where the possibilities—commercial and practical—of the small car were first foreseen, the great motor race of the year, the Grand Prix of the Automobile Club de France, is now preceded by a Grand Prix des Voiturettes, and the result of the 1908 contest is a striking illustration of the speed and reliability of which some of these little vehicles are capable. Of the forty-seven voiturettes which went to the post, twenty completed the course of 286 miles in a little more than seven and a half hours. The winner, a car driven by a single-cylinder De Dion engine and weighing little more than twelve hundred-weight, covered the distance in five hours and three-quarters—an average speed of nearly fifty miles an hour; while the second car, a single-cylinder Sizaire, which was only six minutes behind at the finish, covered one of the laps at an average speed of more than fifty-three miles an hour. Speeds such as these are happily not lawful on English roads. I point to them only to illustrate the power that the motor manufacturer has succeeded in obtaining from a single cylinder of less than four inches bore, and the excellence of design and material which has enabled him to produce a little vehicle, weighing a good deal less than a ton, yet capable of withstanding the shocks of rattling over 286 miles of country road at racing speed.

The race for the Grand Prix des Voiturettes and other recent trials have amply demonstrated the speed and reliability of the small car. They have shown that for sums ranging from £150 to £230 the manufacturer can make a car which, for all practical purposes of everyday use upon the road, is the equal in speed and trustworthiness of a car costing from three to five times as much. The 8 horse-power De Dion, which costs £225 15s., went through the International Touring-car Trial of 1908 with flying colours. It covered 1800 miles of arduous road work in capital style, and by shedding one of its passengers it even managed to climb the terrible two-mile slope of the Kirkstone Pass. The 9 horse-power Sizaire, the engine already referred to as having accomplished the fastest lap in the Grand Prix, costs 190 guineas. There are many other cars, British and foreign, not less reliable and equally moderate in price: the Phoenix, for example, a twin-cylinder car, costing £140; the Jackson De Dion, costing £220; the Pick, a four-cylinder 14-16 horse-power car, costing only £165; the Rover, costing from 100 to 200 guineas according to engine-power and finish; and the Vauxhall. When it is remembered that cars can often be bought second-hand but in first-class condition for about two-thirds of their original cost, it will be recognised that motoring need not be the exclusive privilege of the very rich.

It is not, however, in the comparison of first cost so much as in that of the cost of maintenance that the small car appeals to the man of moderate means. Generally speaking it may be said that as compared with a full-powered car the small car uses little more than one-third the quantity of petrol per mile travelled, and that its tyres cost only half as much and last twice as long. A gallon of petrol, which will propel a big car 12 or 15 miles, will propel a little Rover or Phoenix from 30 to 40 miles. Here is a statement of the actual cost of running a 6 horse-power Rover for eleven months over nearly 6000 miles of country roads:

The car belonged to a doctor who had to make frequent stoppages on the way, so that the consumption of petrol was higher than it would have been with continuous travelling. Nevertheless, the cost of running the car works out at about four-fifths of a penny per mile—less than third-class railway fare for one person. This is, no doubt, an exceptionally low figure. Another user of an exactly similar car has found the cost of running 3400 miles to be as follows:

—almost exactly a penny a mile. To these figures must, of course, be added the cost of licences, insurance, garaging, and an allowance for the depreciation of the car—that is to say, the difference between its first cost and the price at which it could be resold.

In every respect but one the advantages of the small car over its big brother are enormous. Its one drawback is that its accommodation is necessarily smaller. The typical small car is a two-seater; but that is the essence of its economy. Extra seats and extra passengers mean extra weight, and extra weight requires larger engines and more petrol, and entails more wear and tear on tyres, machinery and chassis. It is the weight that runs up the maintenance bill and the prospective purchaser should bear this in mind if he hankers after an extra seat. I may point out, nevertheless, that some of the small cars in the market can be fitted with a detachable rear seat for £6 or £7, and that others have sufficient space for the accommodation of an extra passenger upon the floor. A friend who owns a “two-seater” Sizaire, tells me that it often carries four passengers to the railway station.

It is as a two-seater, however, that the small car bases its claim to popular favour. In the majority of journeys by any sort of private vehicle two is the number for which accommodation is most frequently required. Many owners of large cars have discovered that the occasions on which a two-seater would not serve their motoring purposes are comparatively few. Obviously it is gross extravagance to employ the voracious eater of petrol and rubber upon a service which can be accomplished at a quarter of the cost by a smaller car, at the same speed, with less strain upon the driver and with equal comfort to the passenger. For these reasons the time is at hand when every motor-car owner; however many big cars he may possess, must add to his fleet at least one two-seater for run-about purposes. The large car will be a luxury, the small car will be a necessity—and not only for those who are ordinarily described as wealthy. The time is coming when every man who can afford to go out of town at week ends will find it worth his while to be a motorist, when every suburban house with a rental of over £60 will have its motor shed, and when the small car will be as prevalent upon the country road as the bicycle is to-day.