N.Z. Veteran and Vintage Motoring
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\ . EADED IIEELS N.Z. VETERAN AND VINTAGE MOTORING DECEMBER, 1961 ., . ) t , • f) Rnli \-RO'r FTn "Wizard" Smith Tries Out Car On Beach Above : "Wizard Smith and Don Hark ness tryout hu ge car prior to World Rec ord lO-mile run. B elow : Mr. Smith. and a view of his ra cing car from the rear show ing the F ir estone Tires which he used in making the A us tralian record. lVIEMORIES OF THE PAST N. (WIZARD) SMITH SETS WORLD'S SPEED MARK IN NEW ZEALAND FIRESTONE EQUIPPED CAR LOWERS IO-MILE RE CORD; I-MILE NEXT Ma intaining th e terrific speed a verage of mil es per hour, by averaging 128 m.p .h . wit h a 148.637 mil es per hou r to cove r a ten-mile maximum speed of 142 m.p.h. st retc h in 4.02 1-5, Mr Norma n (Wiza rd) Follow ing th e exa mple of champion drivers Smith, well-known Au stral ian mot or enthus i in Am erica a nd else whe re in th e world, Smi th ast, smashe d the world's ten-mile sp eed record equipped his ca r with Firestone "Gu m-D ippe d" on January 17, at N in ety Mil e Beach , Ka ita ia, tyres, ari d F iresto ne equipment perfor med per Ne w Zealand. f ectly in mak ing both records. F or the Aus The fo rme r record , accordi ng to availa ble t ralian run, F irestone t yres were f urnishe d by figures, wa s 148- 409 mil es per hou r, es ta b Mr E. A. Marr, F irestone distributer a t Sy d lished by Ralph De Palma . Smith went over ney , wh o a lso arrange d that tyres be shi ppe d to the New Zeal and bea ch from Au stralia t o to New Zealand for the a ttempt on Ni nety g et the ben efit of the long stra ight-away.H e Mil e Bea ch. used a ca r sp ecia lly desi gn ed by Mr Don Succeedi ng in two objec tives, Mr "Wizard" H arkness, one of Au stralia's best known mot or Smith now h a s designs on the world's mo tor eng ineers. The eng ine was a n a ero type, s im i speed r ecord of 231 m. p.h. a t present held by lar to those used in th e Schneider Cup Ra ces, Maj or Segra ve of England. 1\11- Smi th has now of light cons t ru ction, wei ghi ng 800 pou nd s a nd esta blishe d 55 speed records a lto ge ther, and having a nom in al devel opmen t of 360 hor se his success has encou raged his many we ll powe r a nd a pproximately 20,000 c.cs, This is wis he rs in the hope that the wo rl d's record the second record broken bv Smith in this ca r ma y fall to Au stralia. Fo r his big attemp t , within two months . E arly in Dece mber he Mr Smith expects to hav e a mor e formida ble broke the Au strali a n mil e record of 109.19 racing ea I'. Bead ed Wheels is th e voice of t he Vintage Car M ouem cnt in N ew Z ealand and of th e Club s whose e!JortJ are fosterin g and eve r wide ning th e interest in this movem ent and form rallying points for that eve r incre as ing band of enthusiasts. The fascination of age itself or rev ulsion [rom th e flashy m ediocrity of our present day is d rawin g an increasing number of motorists back t o th e individuality , solid worth, and [un cti onal elegance that was demanded by a more discrim inating ge ne ration and it is to th ese that we dedicat e- BEADED WHEELS VOL. VII, N o. 28 DECEMBER, 1961 " BEADED WHEELS" DIRECT ORY TO T HE Bead ed Wh eel s is Published V INTAGE CA R CLUB'S OFFICERS Quarterly by th e Na tiona l Executive: President , R. B. Sh and,C hristc hurch; Vli'\TAGE C/\R CLUB OF N.Z. rx c, 20 II ACKTHORi'\E ROAD C lub Ca pta in, L. G. J . Witte, T cddington ; Vi ce-C lub CII RI5TC IIURCH, 5.2, i'\EW ZEALAl'\D. Capta in and " Beade d Wh eels" Editor, Moll ie Andcrson, Yearly Subscripti on 10/ - post free. C hristc hurch; Hon . Secretary , A. A. Anderson , Christ church; Committee, L. B. Southward (Wellington ), R. Individua l copies 2/6 ea ch. Porter ( Carterton ), H . B. Foste r (C hristchurch) , N. C . Editor: Mrs M. .J. ANDERSON. Adarns (Auckland ) . AHistlln t Editor: R . PORTER. All corre sponde nce to C lub Secret ar y, E. A. Bail ey, P.O . Audcrsons Line, Ca rt crton. Box 2546 , Christchurc h. Copy mu st be typed on one side of pap er Auckl and Branch : C hairman, I-I. Ro binson; Secretary, N . C. and sent to the Ed itor, 20 Ha ckth urne Adam s, 66 Wairoa R oad, Dcvcnport. Road, Christchurch. Bay of Plenty Bran ch : Chai rman, 1.. Coupe; Secretary, G. - *- Capper, J oh n St. , Mt. Maunganui. COPY FOR MARCH CLOSES 'Wanganui Bran ch : Chairman, A. P. Tonks; Secreta ry, R. P. FEBRUARY 15th Le e, 47 M t. View St. , Wanganui. H awk es Bay Bran ch: C ha irma n, R. Kilbcy; Secretar y, Mrs I NT HIS ISSU E O. Ki lbey, Chilto n Rd. , Napi er. Wellington Bran ch : C ha irma n: C. M axwcll ; Secret a ry, C. T he E lusive Ansaldo Page 2 Dray, 8 Bcntick Avc., Wellington . Pionee r M otoring and Motorists Marlboro ugh Bran ch: Cha irman, L. Lord ; Secretary, J. T. in New Zealand 4 Ma y, 41 Muller Rd., Blcnheim . H ave Cadillac, Will T ravel 10 Canterbu ry Branch : C ha irman , E. J. S. Walk er ; Se cre ta ry, An Alvis Adven ture 14 R . J. C u m rni ns, 23 Randolph St., Linwood , C hrist church. Came ra Review 16-17 Sou th Canterbury Bran ch : Chairman,G . W. Piddington ; V. & V. Motor Cycle No tes 21 Se cretary : B. Goo d ma n, c/o. P.O ., Washdyke. Ca n terbury Notes 24 No rth O tago Branch: Chairman : R. Murray; Sec retary: J. Register and Dating Committee" 26 Sutherland, T owar d St ., O amaru, Ea rly Enginee ring in Marl- O tag o Branch : Ch airman, R . E. N. Oakley; Sec reta ry, A. C. borough 26 Carre l, e/u. Roslyn Fire Station, Du nedi n. Wa ika to No tes " 29 Southland Branch : Cha irman, J . R. Lindsay; Secreta ry, J. W. Barnes, 206 Bluff Rd., Invcrcargill . Wellingt on Branch No tes 30 Co rrespo nde nce " 31 COM ING EVENTS Nelson and Sou thland Not es 31 Wel lingt on Branch : Marlbor ough Branch No tes 32 Feb. 12-A.A. Cen tennial Wairarapa V. & V . C lassified Adv ertisements Insid e back Feb. 26- Wa irara pa wee k-end. Vi ntage. cove r March 19- Cl ub Capta ins' Tria l. V inta ge. Otago Branch: J an. 27-27- D uncd in-Brighton R un for Veteran Cars EDIT O R IA L and Motor Cycles. You arc now read ing th e last issue of "Beaded Wheels" for 1961, a nd as we go NORTH ISLAND R ALLY to print to cnd yet an ot her volum e we A commi ttee has bcen form ed from \Vangan ui Branch would like to take this op po rtunity of with the idea of ho lding a North Island ra lly a t Palm erston th anking our many contributors, subscrib North during Easter 1962. Further details will be circulated crs and readers for their sup po rt during to north Island members at a lat er dat e. Meantime keep the year and to wish you all, wherever East er free. you may be a very happy Christm as a nd prosperou s New Year.-From th e Editor COVER PHOTO.- T he 1923 6-ey linde r Ansa ldo- ial Co mm ittee of " Beaded Wh eels," New test ed in this issue . Z ealand. ( Photo by D. R"" Mackay) P..v;E TWO DECDflJER. 1961 TH E ELUSIVE ANSALDO K. M. Newbery. There wer e some very interesting cars David began at the back-end, adjusting manufactured in Italy during th e 'twenties, the unusual reverse spira l diff and worked his but one seldom reads accounts of the Ansaldo, way right through replacing and ren ewing or of th eir performance, which must have until he slid satisfied from the shining front been rather startling. dumb-iron. Some known weakn esses were corrected to make this ca r more reliable, The Ansaldo described here is a 1923 such things as skew gears were replaced with 2-litre type 6A owned by David Silcock of gears made from a m at erial th at will last Christchurch; it is a perfectly restored open more than the length of High Street, Dune tourer origina lly owned by J ack Sa mpson din .