Books for the gearhead on your Christmas list
Christmas 2020 is going to be different, with many people staying home. But the silver lining is that means there will be plenty of time to spend with a good book. Here are three suggestions for a gearhead on your gift list.
Mickey Thompson: The Lost Story of the Original Speed King in His Own Words
First up is a book that almost didn't see the light of day. It was written in the early 1970s by then motorsports writer, editor and drag racer Tom Madigan. Madigan and Thompson conducted taped interviews over about two years. After each conversation, Madigan typed up the stories.
After Madigan completed the work, however, Thompson wanted him to wait to publish it. Madigan placed all of his typewritten pages in a plastic container and put it in a desk drawer. As Madigan writes in his introduction, “Typical Mickey, he wanted to hold the story until later in his life, with the idea of a movie off in the distance.”
While not forgotten, the manuscript lay dormant through 1988, the year Thompson and his wife Trudy were murdered at their California home. Madigan waited another 20 years before releasing this 240-page hardcover. It's filled with more than 200 images that showcase Thompson's vehicles, from his days in the 1950s creating dragsters to the 1980s and race-winning Baja buggies.
Motorcycle Messengers 2: Tales From the Road by Writers Who Ride
This is the second volume in a series edited by Canmore, Alta., writer and rider Jeremy Kroeker. Available from www.oscillatorpress.com, Motorcycle Messengers 2 features a foreword by Charley Boorman of Long Way Round fame. He writes, “Throughout my life's journey, travel books have urged me on to further adventures of my own.”
Motorcycle Messengers 2 offers a literary escape and explores two-wheeled adventures in far-flung locations, as well as a few closer to home.
For example, included is the story Finding Peace. Writer Liz Jansen completes a Canadian adventure she had started two years prior, searching for the land near Beaverlodge, Alta., that her immigrant grandparents had farmed in the 1920s. She beautifully describes the roads and surrounding country as she does eventually locate the area.
The Harley-davidson Story: Tales From the Archives
Finally, there's a book for those with an interest in the history of Harley-davidson, but who might never get a chance to visit that company's museum in Milwaukee, Wis. The book by Aaron Frank takes readers deep into the motor company's past and present.
Frank makes good use of all the plentiful archive materials to relate the Harley-davidson story, beginning with the earliest printed document on record, a drawing of a bicycle motor penned by William Harley in 1901.
Frank notes, “More than anything, this simple line drawing captures an incredible moment in time. A moment when the personal transportation landscape was being rapidly and radically reshaped. A moment of incredible business opportunity, when two hardworking and resourceful young men (Harley and his friend, Arthur Davidson) could build a manufacturing company up from nothing, in a backyard shed.”
It's a fascinating glimpse behind the scenes of the motorcycle manufacturer.