World Record Broken With Old Engine!

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 885, 31 January 1930, Page 7

World Record Broken With Old Engine!

“Wizard” Smith’s “Anzac” Equipped with Motor that Cost £4O . . . Lessons of Recent Speed Tests . . . No Need to Fear “Aggression ” from

WHEN NORMAN (“WIZARD”) j SMITH smashed the world’s J ten-mile land speed record at j Ninety-mile Beach, the engine which drove the freak racing car, Anzac, was a comparatively old 350 horse-power job, which was bought for £.40 at a. sale of aircraft equipment last year. Astounding but true, it reflects the greatest credit upon Don Harkness, for it was he who tuned the engine to the high pitch of perfection which sent the golden Anzac over the hard sands of the great northern beach to clip time off an important world’s record. It also marks the daring and courage of both Smith and Harkness, and the confidence which the famous Australian motorist has in his companion, who ranks as one of the world’s foremost engineers. And what have these two Austra- j lians done for New Zealand? Much ■ more than meets the eye. Their per- i formanees are bound to have an inestimable value in publicity for the j Dominion, and they have possibly j paved the way for the invasion of more notable racing motorists in Segrave, Campbell, Kay Don and others. For it is doubtful if there is a better beach in the world than, that which sweeps down the West Coast of the Far North of Maoriland for establishing record times. Rome was not built in a day, or are the preparations for a world’s record overcome in that time. Organisation plays Its part, and while “Wizard” Smith on his recent venture had a flue hand of willing helpers, general organisation which could well have overcome many obstacles, and so reduced the numerous worries and dangers of the task to a minimum, was not perfect. It could not be expected that it would. The venture was novel to New Zealanders and, to some extent, even to Smith, in spite of his lengthy list of honours and experience in motor racing. The performance could well be regarded in the light of a most successful experiment. Much was learned and there are great benefits to be reaped by those who follow in Smith’s footsteps. Smith made endeavours before his record breaking attempts to announce when he would make his run. This was impossible, and when the great day actually came, there was but a mere handful of spectators present. Each tide seemed to change the beach. Some days there were dangerous soft mounds of sands, while on other occasions the shells were bad. Then the beach would be perfect, clear of haze and all other such obstacles. Thus it can well be realised that Smith could have attacked the ten miles on many occasions before he did, if it had been possible for him to give only about an hour’s notice. But this time did not permit the flagging of the ; beach, and the assembling of the . necessary officials. With better organ- :

Toheroas, but Gulls Unsympathetic to Speedsters !

isation a mere half-hour’s notice would be sufficient. And that is one of the most important lessons which has been learned.

Then after the party had been in Kaitaia for many days and was most anxious to get the event over, but was prevented owing to the strong winds from off the sea, it was realised that the early morning was the most suitable. Day after day when the party made the tedious trip to the track there were fresh cross-winds prevailing and the beach was hidden in dense haze. But in the early morning the beach was always at its best. Visibility was always clear and seldom was there a wind. And here lies another consideration for other motorists. And the birds on the beach, especially the great grey-backs, wore always dangerous. They were . ! >w in lifl-

ing from the ground, and tourers burling along the beach at about 60 miles an hour (for that was the popular speed on the beach) often killed them. This worried Smith considerably, and to obtain as much protection as possible, he had the frame of his radiator covered with wire-meshing. Col. Allen Bell promised to overcome the danger by placing men every few hundred, yards along the beach with shot-guns which would be fired a few heats of time before the speedy Anzac whirled along the beach. But this experiment did not take place. As it was, Smith killed about six birds on the day of the ten miles, one big grey-back hitting the motor meter, skidding along the bonnet, and hitting the seat with terrific force between Smith and Harkness. It was 'a fortunate escape, for these birds, hit by a car travelling at nearly 150 miles an hour, are a real menace. As Smith put it, “if one hit you, it would knock your head clean off.”

The presence of many beds of toheroas also formed a problem. The shells were sharp and would cut the tyres. But it was found that, given sufficient time, the toheroa would sink well into the sand, and there would be no fear. And it was often difficult to patrol the whole track just before a run, and on some occasions the natives* seemed to appear from “nowhere” to start churning up the smooth surface in search of toheroas.. Many were the problems which faced Smith and his party, but we now are well conversant with them all, and it is not a difficult matter to overcome them with a reasonable amount of organisation.