REMARKABLE SPEED TEST.

Free Lance, Volume XIX, Issue 1029, 18 February 1920, Page 4

REMARKABLE SPEED TEST.

AUCKLAND TO WELLINGTON BY " CHANDLER." ACCOMPLISHED IN 16 HOURS. A remarkable , speed and endurance performance; .unprecedented as far as New Zealand is concerned and probably comparing favourably with any other world in consideration, of the circumstances that had to be taken into account, was achieved yesterday by a motor-car of the Chand-;, ler Six model. Leaving Auckland. lasl> Friday at 3 a.m. this machine accomplished the somewhat astounding feat of covering the distance between thetwo towns in 16 hours 8 minutes, arriving in the, City at 7.8 the same evening. The real significance of this test will be most appreciated by motoring and" by those who are acquainted with the difficulties and dangers presented to travellers oh ■ some of the notoriously neglected and sometimes hazardous roads in certain parts of the North Island. Front the point of view of speed, the achievement' is rendered the more remarkable, and the skill and nerve of the motorists the more commendable from the fact that the route selected had not been previously studied, and that it is in reality one of he .roughest that could have been chosen. The Chandler ,'car -in which the journey waseffected, _was> one which had been; taken straight from stock in Auckland.; having been landed from overseas by. one of the latest arrived vessels. The machine is of 30 h.p., and:, as indicated by the name, has six cylinders. It was naturally to be expected that in negotiating rough roads at high speed the machine would suffer considerably, but apart from the tyres, which were consider®bly; hacked about, the car came through the ordeal imposed upon it without further injury. On four occasions punctures necessitated: stop-' pages, while fresh tyres were adjusted, .but no engine - trouble whatever was experienced. During the latter stajge of the journey, for several miles 9 11 home run into the ci£y. the ran was out of commission. The motorists : who undertook the run were Messrs W. S. Miller, of Auckland, George Campbell, and b-eorge Smith, mechanic. Interviewed by a newspaper reporter on arrival here, Mr Milkier, who was obviously much exhausted by. his tedious ' journey, removed any doubts as to the time occupied en 1 route by producing a' document 'certifying as , to the hour of departure from Auckland- and- the minute of •*arrival *at the destination;. Mr Hutchison, secretary of -the Auckland Automobile Association, bore testimoney to the departure of the speedists from Auckland Post; Office at 3 a.m.v a <n • E - Duff, a local postal olhcial, who was accompanied by a- representative of the local Automobile Association, testified the arrival of the machine at the time stated at Wellington Post Office. , '' Xea,_ we had breakfast in Auck- { a r nd dmner in Wellington/' said Mr Miller; ' 'welinked up the two principal, cities - 'of the North■ Island :; in" :just_ Over sixteen,hours, doing the trip m better time than the Main Trunk Express. Without exaggeration' on two occasions we went three feet off the and we all waited for her ; to hit terra firma again. When she came down the two rear tyres absolutely gave out. Once into the Taranaki Territory we were right; but the roads _in_ - AncHand Province were not fit for a dray.. On one part of the th© Mokai River, we virtually climb steps. At another place the car. struck something £ n .i a led So the righthand side of the road, fully 18 inches above_the road itself. I think our ran constitutes not only a record for New : inv rmrf its own with any performance anywhere. Our averhours^" S a ° ne *°- ma iptain for 16 The actual disfconce travelled bv as shown by the speedometer, was 465 miles. The actual travelling time was 14 hours, so that the average speed was nearly 33J miles per hour.