SEEKS CAR SPEED RECORD

Taranaki Daily News, 9 December 1931, Page 9

SEEKS CAR SPEED RECORD

‘WIZARD’ SMITH AT AUCKLAND : r “CHANCES MILLION TO ONE ON,” CAR COMPARED WITH BLUE BIRD. NINETY-MILE BEACH ADVANTAGE. By Telegraph.—Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. “The chances of my breaking the land speed record with the Fred H. Stewart Enterprise at Ninety-Mile Beach are about a million to one on, as I consider the car is the best-designed and built machine that has ever attempted to break the record,” said “Wizard” Smith, noted Australian racing motorist, on his arrival from Sydney by the Ulimaroa to-day. "I am absolutely confident I will succeed,” Mr. Smith said, “and I am basing, my opinion on the tremendous horsepower developed by the 12-cylinder Napier racing aero engine, the fact that, my car has 34 per cent, less head re-’ sistance than the Blue Bird 11. with i which Sir Malcolm Campbell gained the. present record, and the general efficiency of the design of the car.” Mr. Smith added that the racing car, - designed and built by Don J. Harkness, Sydney, was so streamlined that the terrific wind caused by its movement alon<v t.he beach would tend to keep it firmly on the track. In the event of an accident, Smith said, the car was swung so low that. it would actually run on its wheels upside-down. Mr. Smith had not seen Daytona, where the late Sir Henry Segrave and Sir Malcolm Campbell had made their successful runs, but authorities who had Seen both Daytona and Ninety-Mile Beach considered the Dominion track to bo the better. Although the engine of Iris car was of the same type as that in the Blue Bird, the Broad Arrow motor developed by Napier and Sons, Ltd., England, for the Schneider trophy race in 1929, the plant in the Stewart Enterprise embodied several fresh modifications making for greater efficiency. The attempt on the record, which would take place during January when tide and weather conditions permitted, would be the first all-British attack on the record for many years. In the preliminary bench tests carried out before the car left Sydney it behaved perfectly. Mr. Smith said the. machine was vaguely reminiscent of Segrave’s Golden Arrow. It was stowed on the foredeck of the Ulimaroa. Mr. Smith is accompanied by Mrs. Smith, Mr. Harkness, Mr. C. L. Westcott (representing Lord Wakefield), Mr. N. Nelson Alcock, one of the chemists on the staff of C. C. Wakefield and Co., Ltd., and others. It is announced that the Marine Department has decided that no motor-cars ■will be allowed on Ninety-Mile Beach during the attempt except those driven by officials. Mr. Smith stated he would probably attack the 10-mile and 10-kilometre records first, then the five-mile and fivekilometre and finally the one-mile coveted land speed record. CAMPBELL PREPARES BLUEBIRD. RIVAL FDR WIZARD SMITH. By Telegraph— Press Assn. —Copyright. Rec. 8.30 p.m. London, Dec. 7. In view of the expectation that Wizard Smith will beat the world motor speed record, Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird is being prepared fot a fresh attempt at Daytona or New Zealand and Kaye Don’s Silver Bullet is likely to be equipped with new engines capable of a maximum speed of 300 miles an hour. . . It is reported that an American is experimenting with a car fitted with Liberty aero engines.