Transportation —“Stearns-Knight” Selected

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 31, 31 October 1929, Page 7

Transportation —“StearnsKnight” Selected

Since comfort and efficiency is the keynote of everything connected with the Chateau Tongariro, it is only to be expected that the controlling company has spared no expense in providing for the best possible means of transport from the National Park station for those who arrive by rail. For this reason, the enterprising Mount Cook Motor Co. has purchased one of the most up-to-date and efficient of motor-cars —a nine-passenger “Stearns-Knight” six-cylinder saloon, which has been supplied by the CanadianKnight and Whippet Motor Co., North Island distributors for Stearns-Knight, Willys-Knight and Whippet cars, and as traffic warrants the company intends to purchase a fleet of these super-cars. Now, the Mount Cook Motor Company has had many years’ experience with motor-cars, as is known by anyone who has travelled in the South Island. They have gone deeply into the transport question, and with that thorqughness which characterises all their enterprises, have satisfied the public in every preference for the "Stearns-Knight” cars. Their decision is not a hastily made one. but one born of long experience both in regard to the tastes of the tourist public and also to the state of the roads. National Park, situated as it is, more or less in the centre of the island, must necessarily be reached by means of a lengthy, jourdey by rail, and even when the station is reached, there is a road journey of 10 miles before the Chateau is reached. . This road rises and rises, and from the motor-car the traveller is afforded a never-to-be-forgotten vista of some of New Zealand’s most wonderful scenery, while in the distance are to be seen those lofty sentinels of the'district — Tongariro, Ruapehu, and Ngauruhoe—three mountains for which our Dominion is famous the world over. To appreciate to the fullest extent the glorious views to be seen en route to the Chateau one must be . afforded the maximum of comfort, for. it .is only natural that, after the the long railway journey, the traveller .will be a little tired. The "Stearns-Knight" car in which he will be seated may' truly be said to be the acme of comfort. ' The visibility is perfection itself. • The seating accommodation is the last word in comfort. The upholstery is luxurious to a degree. As for the'engine-— well, .what better could one imagine than a 70-horse-power engine of the sleeve valve type? Such an engine combines everything that stands for efficiency, smoothness of running. and above all, power. Then again, the drivers, in accordance with the policy of the Mount Cook Motor Company, are all picked men, who know every inch of the roads. A driver can make or mar a motor journey, and for this reason the company has always made perfectly certain that 'not only shall their drivers make the journey, but also that they shall handle their charges so efficiently that even those who profess to dislike motoring—3nd there are still a number of such people—are unable to find a single fault either with the driver or with the car.

Appearance, of course, goes a long way, and many people are apt to judge a car almost entirely on its looks. This being the case, the fame of the "StearnsKnight” ought to spread rapidly over the whole country. It has been specially designed for the type of work required in the mountainous districts, and is similar to other tourist cars previously supplied by the Canadian-Knight and Whippet Motor Company. So successful and popular’have these cars become that the discriminating tourist has come to look for Stearns and Willys-Knight service cars on the road, and, for that reason alone, their success is ensured on the National Park-Tongariro highway.