John Arnold<p>_The Evening Post_, 15 March 1924:<br> SENSATIONAL MOTORING<br> N.Z. RECORD BROKEN<br> BY<br> ESSEX CAR<br> ——<br> AUCKLAND – WELLINGTON IN<br> 13 HOURS 19 MINUTES.<br> DRENCHED to the skin, plastered in mud, and shivering with cold, Norman Smith, better known as “Wizard” Smith, of Sydney, reached the Wellington Post Office at 6.34 on Thursday evening in an Essex racing car,…498 miles [800 km]…from Auckland in 13 hours 19 minutes…the new record has been achieved in the worst possible conditions as regards the weather,…slippery, mountainous, and winding roads…. the strain was necessarily enormous, and, although both he and his mechanic, Ben Campbell,… were in the pink of condition, they were both feeling the effects of the marvellous feat.… His car was a four-cylinder Essex, 18 h.p., two seater.…<br>[Details of incidents]<br>CAUSES OF DELAY<br> That Smith is capable of clipping at least 2½ hours off his present record may be believed from the…avoidable delays which occurred:—Attention to exhaust, 15 minutes; accident, 47; wrong turning, 18; punt at Mokau River, 17; bad roads and rain between Levin and Wellington, 30; motor-lorry on road between Paraparaumu and Paekakariki, 40—a total of 2 hours 47 minutes…<br><a href="https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19240315.2.183" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/news</span><span class="invisible">papers/EP19240315.2.183</span></a></p><p><a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/OnThisDay" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OnThisDay</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/OTD" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>OTD</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/PapersPast" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>PapersPast</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/Automobiles" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Automobiles</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/Cars" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Cars</span></a> <a href="https://social.vivaldi.net/tags/NewZealand" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NewZealand</span></a></p>