AROUND THE WORLD.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, 8 May 1925, Page 6

AROUND THE WORLD.

A MUCH TRAVELLED CAR

To all intents and purposes tho luxuriously equipped touring model conveyed no oilier impression than that it had recently been unpacked I from its caso and' had spent a-few light , months--'on youth Canterbury roads. In the few - short months of its life, however, tho stock model, light six cylinder Buick car which arrived at tiro Borough Council Chambers shortly before two o’clock on W/cdncsday aftcri noon in order to obtain an official memento of. its visit to 'Lnnnru, m tho shape of the. 'Town Clerk’s signature in its log book, luul travelled far and liad poked its brightly polished nose into, many strange and decidedly interesting corners of iho world. Early in December of last year tho car was unpacked from an export caso in New York and 1 shipped to England, front where, after, after touring swiftly through tho leafy byways of tho mother country, another voyage was taken, this time to Holland. Through the well roaded canal country a rapid journey was made across Belgium and over the poplar bordered roads of Franco \o the Alodltcmuican Sea, over which, access was gained to Asia Minor. Disembarking at Beyrout, in Syria, a run of VU miles inland took the Buick to Damascus, the capital of Syria and the meeting place between the East and Most, where enormous caravans ot camels daily puss to and fro, exchanging the dates and tobacco and spices and carpets of the East for the produce of the looms and workshops of Europe. Penetrating still inland into Asiatic Turkey, tho gleam of the domes and minarets of Bagdad wero eventually sighted through the groves of date trees encircling, the town. Basra, on tho West bank of the Euphrates, provided an outlet via the Persian Gulf and tne Arabian Sea to India, where after touching .at Colombo to tour Ceylon, the car was shipped-a distance of 312 U miles to Perth.

The Australian portion of the tour was commenced with a drive via Adelaide, a distance of 1400 miles, from where it was shipped by the Auckland, route to Napier, and driven to Wellington and shipped again to Lyttelton. 'Three minutes alter being landed on the Lyttelton wharf hist Sunday tho car was -in going order for :ts trip over the Port Hills to Christchurch, where the log, which was written up and officially signed, at every point, was again registered. Leaving Christchurch at 10.15 a.m., Dunedin was reached after a wet drive ’ over the latter portion of tho journey at 7.30 p.m. A for Invercargill was made at 1.30 ppn. the next day, Mr Clarke, (representing Messrs Cooke Howlison and Coy. Ltd., Dunedin) driving. Arriving that night, the next morning was spent in the uotvu, ilio return trip being made in tho ufternoon to Dunedin. The return portion of the journey from Dunedin was undertaken by Air S. 'Cooke jnr, of Alessrs Cooke Howlison and Coy., Ltd., who, leaving the bouthom city at 8 a.m., arrived at Timaru at 1.45 p.m., actual running time after allowing for ono hour at Oamaru, i hour at Waimate, and 25 minutes spent in photographing the car at Alt Cargill, being 4 hours 5 minutes, which in Mr Cooke’s own words vas ‘‘travelling comfortably.” From Lyttelton the car will cross to Wellington and travel by road to Auckland, and from that point the route will lead to San Francisco via Honolulu. Amviug at the former port the ear will complete clie journey across America to the. starting point, New York, when it will then have done over 14,000 miles, up to the present 11000 having been registered. Throughout tho journey the car has been handled exclusively by Buick dealers in the various' territories through which it passed, no drivers or mechanics travelling with it on tour other than those responsible for taking it through their individual territories, and witli the exception of tyres being changed no mechanical repair work has been effected. Tho car, on arrival at the local Buick Agency, Bockaert’s Gp-rage, was running exceptionally well, and showed little trace of the severe test to which it liad been subjected The services of tho local dealers, Alessrs Culling and Meredith, wero placed at the disposal of the driver, who left shortly before three o’clock to take the car across to the North Island agents who will bo responsible for its further transit through New Zealand on its round the world trip, a trip which is not only providing a very severe mechanical test for the car itself, but also demonstrating beyond doubt the wonderful efficiency of the Buick organisation