Henry Hampden Dutton and Murray Aunger set out from Adelaide in November 1907 to cross Australia from south to north. The car was a 20 hp Talbot with a four speed gearbox. On this first attempt the car became hopelessly bogged near Tennant Creek. Dutton and Aunger abandoned the attempt, but the following year tried again in a more powerful car. The specially fitted Stepney wheels made movement across the many sandhills they encountered easier, but a tow rope can still be seen in this photograph.

On the second attempt at the south-north crossing, they found the original car as they had left it. Aunger repaired it, and they continued their journey, now with the luxury of two cars. They successfully reached Darwin 51 days after leaving Adelaide. 42 of those days had been spent in actual driving. There were of course no made roads only wagon tracks at best. They had however shown the potential of the car for use in the Outback.

Stepney wheels were spare wheels, in this case fitted side by side with the normal wheels. They provided additional grip and traction in the difficult driving conditions the men and their cars encountered.

Dutton, H. H. Across Australia by motor Adelaide?: H.H. Dutton, [1909] (Adelaide: J.L. Bonython)

Davis, Pedr Wheels across Australia: motoring from the 1890s to the 1980s Hurstville, N.S.W.: Marque Publishing, 1987