Brooklands Behind the Scenes

BROOKLANDS BEHIND THE SCENES

BOOK REVIEW

Brooklands Behind the Scenes by Charles Mortimer Haynes Publishing Co.

861 Lawrence Drive Newbury Park, Calif. 91320 or Motorsports 6115 Gravois St. Louis, Mo. 63116 $22.95 plus 75c postage

What with old bikes and the restoration thereof becoming the order of the day, all sorts of hitherto unknown material is commencing to surface from the black hole of time. Car books are much more prevalent about the period say 1910-1939 but motorcycle books tended to have short runs as motorcyclists didn't have much money. You may well say why another bloody book about bloody Brooklands, especially after Peter Hartley has had a good go, but the hard fact remains that Brooklands track was the development lab of the 'tween wars period and made the British motorcycle industry the colossal success it was at that time. Starting from belt-drive velomoteurs, the private tuners literally forged, through close competition, the bikes that ruled the racing world until Herrman Meier came along with his blower BMW anyway. After the Itler war there was no more Brooklands, thanks to the Labour Government who thought racing an upper-class pastime, and the Limeys promptly folded.

So. Charles Mortimer is an old racing hand on bikes and cars and in fact has done several other books all v good read-

ing. He actually rode at Brooklands and got to know all the “residents,” being thus in an exceptional position to show the peculiar atmosphere of that racer's heaven. Imagine a full bore banked road course track within an hour of home where you could test all day for a few shillings? Races about two weekends a month? Lovely.

This book is in two halves; the first covering the seasons between 1920 and 1930, the rear half a series of most illuminating interviews with celebrated riders, tuners, and specialists at that fine art. There are funny stories, horror stories, technical stories (the J.A.P. with a magnesium piston), spooky stories and a lot of backstairs gossip which goes to show that bike boys were the same then as they are now. Find out what to do when a handlebar breaks on the banking! Read about the wopps that stopped a record attempt! Chas must have had a lot of fun writing this and besides being thoroughly educated, you will have more reading it.

A really good read and marvelous value.

Henry N. Manney III