Better Than Johnny Walker

Mr James Whitlock, 730 Gladstone Road, could show the above bloke a thing or two when it comes to "still going strong". Rising 97, Mr Whitlock passed his annual driving licence test with flying colours. He is the oldest driver in Gisborne.

He also has a remarkable record in that he is as fit as a fiddle with not a thing wrong with him, and the only blemish on his driving career is the fact that he got "copped" for doing 33 m.p.h. in a 30 mile limit speed zone.

James Whitlock came to New Zealand from Australia in 1898 and spent a couple of years in Northland and the King Country before coming to Poverty Bay in 1900. After two years bush felling he got a place of his own at Waerenga-a-hika- and farmed there and at Makauri until he retired 11 years ago.

He married in 1902 but his wife died in 1950.

Mr. Whitlock got his first car in 1923 and has been driving ever since.