1910 Rolls Royce Begins 635 Mile Non-Stop Trip

Press, Volume XCVII, Issue 28701, 26 September 1958, Page 11

1910 Rolls Royce Begins 635 Mile Non-Stop Trip

TN 1911 a history-making journey was completed when a Rolls Royce Silver Ghost returned to London after a non-stop drive to Edinburgh and return with the gear lever locked in top—a distance of about 800 miles. Last evening Mr J. A. McEwan began another chapter in the history of this world-renowned car when he left his home in Invercargill in his 1910 Silver Ghost Rolls Royce to drive non-stop to Nelson—a distance of about 635 miles.

Mr McEwan is' travelling to Nelson for the Vintage Car Club’s

rally which is being held in conjunction with the Nelson centenary celebrations. To make this non-stop run Mr McEwan has had to provide additional storage for petrol. By building a large tank on the back of the car he has increased its capacity to 60 gallons. He estimates that if his car averages only 12 miles to the gallon—he expects 14—he will-need practically all this petrol.

The 48-yeac-old car has been in Mr'McEwan’s possession for 13 years and in that time he has driven it all over New Zealand. It has now done about 600.000 miles and is reported by Mr McEwan to be as good today as when it was first put on the road. He has found little need to make repairs. Mr McEwan emphasised that he was not attempting , this journey for a or to beat

any record. The 1911 journey was undertaken in high gear throughout. Mr McEwan will travel as far as he can in top gear but will not attempt the whole journey in this gear if he finds the hills are too steep for it.

Travelling all night, Mr McEwan expects to pass through Christchurch this morning about 7 o’clock. Mr McEwan, who is the proprietor of a service station in Invercargill, will have as co-driver his friend, Mr R. McKay.