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 15_s._, 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 Phœnix, 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.