He appeared to have come out of the pub carpark, turned right on to Daniels Rd, and gone through a red, across four lanes of traffic, narrowly missing a traffic light pole, a sturdy tree, before scything through a hedge, across a lawn, and into the weatherboard council flat.
The car had ploughed so deep into the house that it had to be winched out before emergency workers could try to free him.
The flat's wall had caved in, a large window smashed, and bedroom and adjoining bathroom wrecked.
The driver was cut from the badly damaged car by firefighters using the jaws of life.
He was taken to hospital with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.
His passenger was "rather intoxicated" according to a police officer at the scene, however, he was unhurt.
In fact, once his mate had been cut free from the wreck, the passenger, with the aid of a walking stick, strolled back into the tavern.
When a police officer at the scene was asked if alcohol played a factor in the crash, he replied: "It's something we will be looking at."
Mr Murphy, meanwhile, said he was "bloody lucky" to be alive.
"I could've been sitting there. He's hit it very hard. He's lucky to be alive too."
Mr Murphy said he would now have to phone Christchurch City Council and seek alternative accommodation.
"I can't sleep in there."
One neighbour said he was sitting in his bedroom when he heard the sudden "bang".
"I just can't understand how he's managed it," he said.
Angela Howarth was driving to her home nearby when she was nearly taken out by the car.
"I was very surprised. You don't expect to be going through a green light and see someone coming straight at you," she said.
She managed to slow down and avoid the car before it crashed.
Mrs Howarth pulled over and phoned emergency services.
A police spokesman said they got the call at 7.37pm.
