AND THE REVS KEPT RISING: Great Drives in Fast Cars

Mel Nicholls. Published 2013 by Haynes. Reviewer’s own copy. Mel Nichols is one of a group of Australian writers who transformed! the style and content of UK magazines from the early 1970s; particularly through the pages of Car magazine.

Here, in 415 packed pages, is some of his very best work. And what automotive treats there are! Most of the stories feature ‘supercars’ of the 1970s and 80s – Countachs, various 911s, Nick Mason’s Daytona, TVRs, Maserati Ghibli, Audi Sport Quattros and the almost convincing USmade Vector W2 geared for a 237mph top speed.

Some of the articles talk about the car in a lot of technical detail, others focus on giving the flavour of the drive and the locations because Nichols travelled far & wide with his writing – from Wales to Modena, Munich to Flagstaff. And some very long fast drives in between! The Silver Trashcan doesn’t say much about the Mercedes-Benz 450SEL that he drove across America in, but you get a fabulous sense of where he’d been. There’s the amazing convoy of Lamborghinis being driven from the factory to the UK for lucky customers. And those were the days when a 4 speed gearbox or a 3-speed automatic often were regarded as quite enough.

The book’s had great reviews, and deserves them; if I could write ONE piece like these I’d be delighted! However, I’d have paid a bit more for fewer stories but more photos and larger pages because the other part of the great change was the fact that magazine articles started to look great as well as to read well. Still, it’s a super book to dip in & out of and remind us how much we owe to writers like this.