Traction For Sale

BILL MUNRO & PAT TURNER, Earlswood Press, £54.99, ISBN 978 0 9931018 6 1

If, like this reviewer, your knowledge of cars driven by the Ferguson four-wheel-drive system was largely limited to the Jensen Interceptor FF plus the Ford Capri and Triumph Stag that sometimes pop up in magazine features, then this book will come as a shock. A very welcome shock, however, because the number of vehicles converted to 4WD by Harry Ferguson’s company and its successors was simply huge.

First, though, a shout-out of the ‘boo’ kind. This attempt to tell the whole Ferguson story in real depth was not made any easier by new owner Ricardo having dumped nearly all the Ferguson archives in a skip when they bought FF Developments in 1994. It’s only thanks to the actions of a single concerned individual – take a bow, former employee Bill Simpson – that at least some of the photos and documents were saved.

With that in mind, author Bill Munro (who carried on with the book project initially started by Pat Turner, wife of an engineer at Ricardo FFD), has done a simply incredible job. This 300-page, large-format hardback is stuffed with images that complement a thorough but always readable text.

Beginning with the main characters involved during the 1940s – tractor magnate Harry Ferguson, racer/engineer Freddie Dixon and army major/car enthusiast Tony Rolt – it runs right through to the 1990s and 2000s; the Ferguson patents were enormously influential in later life, as more and more carmakers adopted 4WD for mainstream cars.

There are so many fascinating projects described here, not least the Opel Diplomats and Senators that were converted to 4WD for undercover work in East Germany during the Cold War. A surprising variety of American cars, too, including a mid-engined 1969 Mustang fastback… In fact, this book is one surprise after another. An outstanding work.