Did Emily II survive?

[Mark McKibbin]

I have just finished Hector MacQuarrie's book "Round The World In A Baby Austin" and wondered if the star of the book Emily II still survives? She made it back to NZ.  The first Emily went down with the ship on it's way to San Francisco at the start of the book.

[Bob Culver]

I dunno

A review of the book appeared on the old site. May interest you. Would be curious about any comments.

This book is often mentioned. I recently re-read it. For those with it on their bucket list, a few observations may be of interest. For anyone curious about the car, how it performed, driving impressions, the form of the roads etc it is somewhat disappointing. The author was not at all mechanically minded and was not the main driver. Details about the car could be fitted onto one page. The Austin company paid for the car and repaired accident damage and overhauled it in the UK so there is no comment which might be read as adverse. Roads and scenes which would warrant comment today were not seen as remarkable at the time.
In Arizona concrete roads gave way to washboard corrugations “’which must play havoc with the workings of a small car”. Anyone who has encountered extensive corrugations in a Seven will understand, nevertheless, many NZ Sevens have survived thousands of miles of these. Worse surfaces in Persia led to a broken rear leaf, followed by a main leaf, but they progressed by binding all with rope, until “welded”. The car was greased daily and at least one decarb was undertaken. Early on “we always realised the importance of treating our car with exquisite care on perfect roads, never then accepting all she is willing to offer and thus running the risk of weakening parts”. But between Damascus and Baghdad they joined a convoy for safety. The large vehicles which maintained 44 mph were concerned that the Seven would not keep up but the author claimed that the then light laden Seven could attain 60mph which they delighted in demonstrating. That is about all there is about the operation of the car.
However, it is an intriguing read on several other accounts. The drama of the initial ship sinking occupies several chapters. For many hours all aboard were in considerable danger of sharing the fate of Emily One.
The author grew up in Auckland, attended both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, and had worked in official colonial positions. He was an accomplished writer with the attitudes of an upper class Englishman. The book is a fascinating picture of a past world and of a different era when classist, racist and deprecating personal comments could be freely dispensed. Those tired of dishonest modern fawning PC attitudes will love it.
There is much of interest about the author on the net.

[Chris KC]

Thanks Bob. Unless I'm much mistaken I have an as yet unread copy lurking in a box somewhere, I must put it on my to-do list.