SENSATIONAL MOTORING

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 61, 15 March 1924, Page 20

SENSATIONAL MOTORING

N.Z. RECORD BROKEN BY ESSEX CAR AUCKLAND-WELLINGTON IN . 13 HOURS 19 MINUTES. "QRENCHED to the skin, plastered in mud, and shivering with cold, Norman Smith, better known as "Wizard" Smith, of Sydney, reached the Wellington Post Office at' 6.34 on Thursday evening in an Essex racing car, having covered the 498 miles' run from Auckland in 13 hours 19 minutes, thus knocking 73 minutes off the record created three weeks ago by AY. Miller, of Auckland, who covered the same distance in 14 hours 32 minutes. Not only that, but tho new record has been achieved in the worst possible conditions as regards the weather, the last part of the journey, from Levin to Wellington, being made in the teeth of a howling southerly wind and pouring rain, slippery, mountainous, and winding roads, the last fifteen miles in semi-darkness. ,In such circumstances the. strain was necessarily enormous, and, although both he and his mechanic, Ben Campbell, of the staff of Dominion Motors, Ltd., Wellington, were in tho pink of condition, they were both feeling the effects of the marvellous feat. What is more wonderful still, but for stops- owing to mishaps, crossing rivers, and hold-ups of one sort and another, at least another two hours would have been clipped oft the record. The 30-odd miles from Packakariki had taken about an hour, for tho climb over this well-known mountain in such conditions requires the nerves o£ a man of steel, as the slightest miscalculation meant a certain fall down any one of the deep gullies with which the road is lined. Interviewed, "Wizard" Smith stated that he left Auckland Post Office at 5.15 on Thursday morning, and the clocked distance • was 498 miles. His car was a four-cylinder Essex, 18 h.p., two seater. He said the roads were rough, narrow, and winding, Rangiriri road being particularly bad, but they answered all tests. ROCK STUNS MECHANIC jThe first stop was made just before running into Hamilton, fifteen minutes being taken in attending to the exhaust pipe. •■ Otherwise the car ran perfectly smoothly. Hamilton was reached about 7.30. A few minutes were spent at Te Awamutu for breakfast, after'which they sped on through Te Kuiti and into Awakino Valley. While passing through the valley tho mountain side started to slip, and a piece of rock weighing about three pounds struck Campbell, the mechanic, on the top of the head, stunning him. Fortunately he had his head bent at the time attending, to the pressure for the ■petrol feed, and the blow was a glancing one, or it would probably have killed him instantly. Mr. Smith did not notice it on tho instant, and Campbell was slipping out of the car unconscious when the driver grabbed him- by tho shoulder and held him until he ..was able to pull the car up. Ciimrfbell remained unconscious for 47 minute's, but as soon aa he revived he pluckily insisted on the journey being resumed at once. ANOTHER DELAY Once again the car sped along until the Mokau River was reached, and here they arrived just in, time to see the punt well in midstream, and fully 17 minutes passoa before it returned.' Once over the river, they reached Waitara about 1 o'clock, where the tires were changed, and a clean run was made to Hawera. Just beyond Hawera Campbell again became partly unconscious, and as a result Smith took the wrong road for seven miles, neccessitating his return to the main road again. This lost about 18 minutes. By this time Campbell was feeling considerably better, the leather .headdress having reduced tho force of the blow, but rain had come on, and they ran through several showers befdre Wanganui was reached, this being about 3.15. Foxton and Levin were soon left behind, but they now felt tho full force of the howling southerly, especially as they passed over Paekakariki, although bad weather'was struck after Waitara. Rain came down in torrents, and soon both driver and mechanic were soaked to the skin, for they had no hood or protection, only having engineer's overalls over thick underclothing. DANGEROUS ROADS ' The roads during this part of the journey were narrower, slippery, tortuous, and altogether more dangerous than they had been all day, and speed had to be considerably reduced. Another valuable thirty or forty minutes were lost when crossing the- swamp between Paraparaurnu and Paekakariki, where for 18 to 20 miles a motor-lorry ran in front of them at a speed of 15 miles, and they were" unable to get by owing to the narrow road. Low speed had also to bo maintained for the'last few miles in Wellington, although he found the Hutt road to his liking, but the light was- too bad to take advantage of it. Then the lights of Wellington hove in sight, and the Post Office clock showed four minutes past the half-hour as he pulled the car up outside to receive hearty congratulations from friends, including Mr. C.-J. B. Norwood, chairman of directors of Dominion Motors, Ltd., and Mr. A. W. Duncan, manager. CAN DO BETTER STILL Mr. Smith added that under decent weather conditions he could knock at least two hours off the new record he has creaiod, and there is also tho fact to be taken into consideration that he had only been over the road once before, and that in an ordinary touring car. He specially desired to pay tribute to the very fine way in which .Campbell looked after the car during the journey in spite of the serious accident which befell him. Mr. Smith is returning to Auckland shortly to tako part in the motor races at Muriwai on 22nd March, and if the weather is propitious he may make another attempt to still further reduce this record. Although only 32 years of age, Smith holds no fewer than 14 Australian interState records in addition, to reliability eontosts. CAUSES OF DELAY That, Smith is capable of clipping at least 2J- hours off his present record "may bo believed from (ho following list of avoidable delays which occurred:—Attention tv oxhaust, 15 minutes; accident, 47; wrong turnips, 18; punt at Mokau River 17; bud roads and rain bcl.wcen Levin and Wellington, 30; motorjorry on road between Pnraparaumu and Paekakariki 40—a total of 2 hours 47 minutes, and under ideal conditions ho would do much bettor still. Tho record of Mr. Miller was made in ii. six-cylinder Chandler, while, the Essex car is only fonr-cylindered and of less horso-poivpr. "Wizard" Smith's companion. Ben Campbell, also holds sorno New Zealand records, including New Plymouth-Welling-ton nnd Wanfrnnui-Wellington.