How To Drive A Motorcar
A Key To The Subtleties Of Motoring

STARTING UP medium-powered cars, which, however, is only being mentioned for the benefit of those people to whom it might prove of use. It must be distinctly understood by the reader that the mention of the principle in no way whatsoever signifies its advisability for the average motorist. The idea referred to is what might be termed the strong-man or the strong-wrist principle, in which he who is gifted with a strong wrist may train himself to Strong-wrist method of starting. ignore such little details as a backfire, partially through his strength and largely through knack. For people in garages or testers, or for those who, like the writer, are continually in charge of different cars, the possibility of being able to ignore a backfire is worth recording. Instead, therefore, on the downward movement, of having a bent wrist, one has to get a little more ver- tically over the starting handle, and keep the wrist ab- solutely firm until very near the bottom of the stroke, or, in other words, well past the point at which the backfire, if any, will occur.* If the wrist is held quite firm, and the fore-arm is braced to expect and-to tak« a backfire, then a sudden though partly-anticipated * It is, of course, assumed that the starting handle is properly set; even to-day some cars are so egregiously ill-conceived in this respect, that the top and bottom positions of the starting handle coincide with maximum com- pression ! 25