design discussion . in which the editor extends some arguments contained in last month &apos;s showdown article . the idea was expressed in motor sport last month that enthusiasts who know about cars and drive them far and fast should eschew vintage designs and , by purchasing modern models for their daily motoring , set an example to the car-buying public of the benefits of such technical items as i.r.s , elimination of the propeller shaft , reduction of greasing points and so on . leaving out cars with front-wheel-drive , in which independent springing of the undriven back wheels is easy to achieve ( or if for some reason it is ignored , merely means that a light axle beam is involved ) and rear-engined cars in which i.r.s is virtually forced upon the designer , there are the following front-engined &amp;sol; rear-drive cars the enlightened manufacturers of which provide independent suspension of the back wheels , for maximum riding and cornering efficiency on rough roads and the elimination of judder and heelspin under acceleration which is a shortcoming to which rigid rear axles are prone , particularly when unlocated and attached to the chassis by leaf-springs : - . those , then , are the cars you should go for , unless you decide that divorcing the engine from the driven wheels is ridiculous and prefer a car with front-wheel-drive or rear-engine location . personally , based on satisfactory experience of the B.M.C Ado15 and Ado50 designs , I vote for the former . Citroe&quot;n , the world &apos;s most advanced car , has had driven front wheels for nearly 30 years and the ds in its latest , more powerful form is a very fine motor car indeed ; if ever it gets the air-cooled flat-six engine which rumour says its designer always intended for it , it will combine in one vehicle practically everything I find desirable . so enamoured have I become by the safety factors inherent in a front-wheel-driven car that I long for the day when Alec Issigonis will trigger off the next B.M.C offering of that species . he , like the Citroe&quot;n designer , has been obliged to use a conventional engine already in production . you can not tell me that the bulgy bonnet of the old torsion-bar-sprung Morris Minor was n&apos;t intended to protect a flat-four engine , whereas Issigonis was prevailed upon to use an existing side-valve lump of iron when the car went into production . and while this talented designer has shown quite outstanding genius in placing another production B.M.C engine across the front of his Mini to save space within the body envelope , I wonder whether , at all event in his dreams , Issigonis had n&apos;t visualised a flat-four , or even a swash-plate power unit , for these brilliantly conceived ( if less conscientiously assembled ) little cars ? I suggest this in spite of Issigonis &apos; statement in the current issue of road &amp; track that designing new engines as well as new cars is too big an undertaking for him to adopt it &amp;hellip; . it remains to be seen whether B.M.C can achieve the same success with larger versions of the Ado15 layout . personally I believe they will , should their future policy lie in that direction , despite rumours that nothing larger has followed the Minis because there is a limit to how much power can be used with f.w.d without an excursion into the realms of dangerous handling characteristics , a theory that the Cooper-Minis go some way towards refuting and to which I do not subscribe . I would like to see Alec Issigonis , aided by rubber-man Alex Moulton , cock a snoot at Citroe&quot;n with , say , a big trans-engine f.w.d car powered by a 3-litre 6-cylinder B.M.C engine , but whether a longer engine could be used across the car without seriously restricting the steering lock is open to conjecture . whether your choice is for front-drive , rear-engine or divorced power unit and axle in a car with all-round independent suspension , there is still great variety to be found in the technical approach of 1962 . I was amused recently to read in Lord Montagu &apos;s entertaining journal the veteran and vintage magazine the statement that in 1898 motor car design was in a state of flux : engines were placed in front , amidships , and at the rear ; some were horizontal , others vertical , while at least one - the Clement-Panhard - was slightly inclined . the position is not so very different over sixty years later and inclination of the engine to secure a low bonnet line , as on the Mercedes-Benz 300SL , B.M.W 1500 , Chrysler Valiant , and Peugeot 404 , for example ( or a compact boot in the case of the rear-engined Simca 1000 ) has extended to the underfloor engines of the VW 1500 , and the Fiat 500 Giardiniera in which the engine has been turned on its side , while the data on the opposite page show that cylinder disposition has by no means reached standardisation . moreover , N.S.U have their Wankel rotary engine as an extremely compact power unit of the near-future , and Rover and others are convinced that the gas-turbine will eventually have its day . one aspect of engine design not yet exploited by British designers is that of smoothing out the 4-cylinder power unit and improving its durability by providing it with five crankshaft bearings , as adopted by Alpha Romeo , B.M.W , Chevy 2 , Facellia , Goggomobil , Simca and Volvo . considerable attention is being paid to the reduction of chassis greasing points . but while Rover is frequently named as a notable pioneer in this field , the Triumph Herald is all too often ignored , although it , too , can be very quickly serviced ; but in reduction of greasing nipples Fiat and N.S.U on their smallest models do rather better . only the D.A.F from Holland and the front-drive Renault R4 from France appear to have eliminated greasing points entirely , but in this country Vauxhall and Rootes have made very considerable progress in reducing the periods between or the amount of servicing necessary , while in America Oldsmobile , Ford , Mercury , Lincoln , Plymouth , Dodge and Chrysler have adopted pre-lubricated chassis bearings that postpone replenishment until 30,000 miles have been run , which , in conjunction with oil changes recommended after 6,000 miles and cooling systems intended to hold their water for some two years , has taken most of the tedium out of the servicing routine . so much interest attaches to this aspect of car ownership , especially when service stations are frequently overcrowded and inefficient , and when home-mechanics probably prefer to spend their hours in the garage tuning , if not souping , their engines to grovelling about under their cars with the grease-gun , that I append a table showing how a representative collection of cars requires to be greased , from which the disinterested manufacturers who do nothing to relieve servicing tasks stand out like sheep - black sheep , as black as the unfortunate owners or mechanics who have to grease these cars ! incidentally , that the propeller shaft is an anachronism is emphasised by the fact that of only three grease nipples on the Hillman super Minx and four on the Singer Gazelle , one of the former and two on the latter are on the propeller shaft , while Rover have successfully rid themselves of every nipple save one , again - on the propeller shaft . - W B . veteran - Edwardian - vintage . a section devoted to old-car matters . V.S.C.C Silverstone race meeting ( July 22nd ) . this , the second of these enjoyable fixtures this year , took place in overcast but dry weather and attracted the usual delightfully varied entry , although few new old cars appeared . the programme commenced with an inter-team relay race which was contested between 14 one-make teams and a team of Edwardians . the race was difficult to follow but in the end jubilation in the Amilcar six pit indicated that the Tozer , Harding , Lyne team of these fine little supercharged cars had won from the two Frazer Nash teams . in spite of modern Weber carburetters , Riseley &apos;s 1931 Aston Martin retired . the Austin seven team comprised Nippy , Ulster and Chummy , and there had even been a complete team of three Gwynne eights and I noticed that between them they numbered a Wolseley gearbox , a stubby right-hand gear-lever and a long central lever , sure sign that standardisation is a word unknown in vintage circles ! the first 5-lap handicap was led on the last lap by Brogden &apos;s 2-seater 3-litre Bentley , Williamson &apos;s 2-seater 3-litre of this make also passing Rowe &apos;s Ulster Austin that had been out in front for three laps , and was close up on the second Bentley at the finish . another 5-lap handicap followed , which incorporated the light car handicap . the small fry were overtaken by Beavis &apos; rather nondescript 1928 Riley nine after three laps , and Blyth &apos;s Austin , with Boyd Carpenter long-tail body , came in second , followed by Smith &apos;s Gwynne eight , leader of the light cars . Abrahams &apos; racing Singer junior went well into fourth place . Elsworthy ran a 1930 M-type M.G Midget in original body trim . we now drove to Becketts Corner , where Ronald Barker had arrived in Sedgwick &apos;s open speed six Bentley , Sedgwick having driven up in the first of the continental Bentleys dating from 1951 , while a Voisin was circulating as temporary course car - variety which makes these V.S.C.C days so enjoyable . faster stuff came out for yet another 5-lap handicap , Bergel &apos;s 2.3 Bugatti going very nicely to a popular victory from Michelsen &apos;s i.f.s Frazer Nash Patience , Edwards &apos; big Lagonda third . in spite of a tendency to mis-fire , Gahagan &apos;s scratch 2-litre E.R.A lapped at 72.75 m.p.h . a mixed bag from 1908 to 1936 contested the fourth 5-lap handicap and it was splendid to see Clutton &apos;s great 12-litre Itala quite undismayed by front-braked moderns , so that it came home a thunderous second behind Cook &apos;s little Ulster Austin , making fastest lap , into the bargain , at 61.2 m.p.h . third place was secured by Marsh &apos;s Austin . poor Liston-Young could get nowhere from scratch in his Fiat Balilla and space helmet , and Zeuner , holding his Brescia Bugatti &apos;s gear-lever in gear , was lapped by Cook . Kain drove a neat type 40 Bugatti . so to the race which is the purpose of this meeting , the 50-km Boulogne trophy scratch race . this was a splendid event . Margulies built up a growing lead in his 3-litre Maserati , Hull &apos;s 2-litre E.R.A second , ahead of the Hon Peter Lindsay and Murray in their 1 1/2-litre E.R.A.s . as the race settled down Murray &apos;s green E.R.A fell back and Margulies , Hull and Lindsay were out ahead of the E.R.A.s of Waller and Brown . then on lap nine the big Maserati retired , as did Waller , so the order was Hull , Lindsay , Brown , Gahagan and Murray , all in E.R.A.s , followed by Mudd &apos;s Maserati which , although mis-firing , was keeping ahead of Husband &apos;s blown Talbot , about which Goodhew &apos;s E.R.A.-Delage could do nothing at all . Cottam &apos;s E.R.A was pursuing this group , followed by McDonald &apos;s 4 1/2-litre Bentley that eventually took the vintage award . Lindsay was driving Remus with real fire and a lap later passed Hull . Gahagan , too , was coming round fast in his 2-litre E.R.A , with occasional glances at his off-side rear wheel , and on lap 13 he was third , having passed Brown . finally , as a fast , eventful race ran its course Mudd got ahead of Murray , the s &amp;sol; c Talbot continuing to hold off the E.R.A.-Delage - how unpredictable vintage racing is ! Margulies lapped fastest , at 80.62 m.p.h , before retiring . . unfortunately Philip Mann &apos;s 1922 Strasbourg Sunbeam had suffered a serious fracture of the top of the cylinder block in practice and spent the race on its trailer behind a Land Rover . the races now reverted to 5-lappers , Begley &apos;s Frazer Nash shaking off Holford &apos;s Singer nine and Harris &apos; Austin to win the fifth , in which Michael , sawing at the wheel of his lowered , ex-Goodhew 4 1/2-litre Lagonda , made fastest lap , at 68.1 m.p.h . Hull , as he often does in short races , won the scratch event , from Day , whose E.R.A sounded off form , Waller third , Gahagan fourth , after Lindsay started badly and fell back after a spin . Hull lapped at 78.23 m.p.h . Bradley &apos;s well-known 4 1/2-litre Bentley won another of the handicaps from Morton &apos;s very fierce 3-carburetter 4 1/2-litre Bentley and Morley &apos;s drastically lowered 4 1/2-litre Bentley with straight-tooth back axle and castors instead of front wheels , the classes going to Heap &apos;s Riley , Ashley &apos;s very rapid Frazer Nash and Footitt &apos;s so very worthwhile A.C.-G.N . 