Racers from the Road
There aren’t many perks to working on the VMCC’s British Historic Racing Committee, but the odd free review book doesn’t go amiss, particularly if it’s as good as ‘Production Racers of the 1960s’ by Peter Crawford, writes Nic Powell.
As Ray Knight comments early on: “To begin with most promoters wouldn’t put on a production race. In those days it was difficult to get race entries, as there were too few meetings for the many wanting to ride.” From tiny acorns, however, production racing grew exponentially and as the author points out: “It’s all production racing now.” I’d never really considered that – and I should, I help organise such things – but it’s true and the book covers in great detail just how that came about.
The story is helped by 16 double page spreads covering the landmark road machines of the decade. These range from BSA’s Gold Star to the new tide of foreign motorcycles, such as the 250s from Suzuki and Ducati. But what really sets this book apart is its wealth of information, along with its sources.
It’s told through the recollections of more than 50 sponsors, tuners, mechanics and of course racers. There are many stories from the big hitters – the names Croxford, Gould and Butcher stand out – though it’s perhaps the contributions from the lesser lights, the real privateers, which I found most interesting, from Ted Reading’s experiences of the Charles Mortimer racing school: “And for my £25 – not a small sum in those days – I received a detailed report stating that: ‘This man shows promise’” – I bet we all did at that price! – to Clive Davies’ eye-opening baptism of fire story of being overtaken by two ‘standard’ 250s during his first race on his 650cc BSA Spitfire.
The personal stories of just getting to the Barcelona 24-hour races are equally remarkable, along with the cheating which went on. These included Bruce Cox and future world champion Rod Gould passing off a Greeves Silverstone as a road bike, complete with bicycle lights and non-functioning kick-start.
However, nothing for me compares with the story of Ray Knight and Peter Butler riding their race bikes to the Isle of Man ferry in 1967. It’s a lovely story, not least since they were accompanied by PC Graham Bailey, who recounts in great detail how he then took his allegedly police spec Triumph Saint to seventh place in the very same race, before riding it home again. Priceless.
It’s through this approach that the book avoids the easy pitfalls of becoming simply another list of bikes, dry facts and results (though they’re still in there, contained in an exhaustive 25-page appendix). The book concentrates instead on the evolving and increasingly professional production racing scene which saw road bikes rise up the paddock pecking order as the decade progressed.
As Peter Crawford points out, following the first legendary 100mph production bike lap of the Isle of Man: “There’s still a pub which commemorates Malcolm Uphill’s name. Even Joey Dunlop had to buy his own.”
It’s this style in which the book is written which makes it so readable, a true story over 300–odd hardback pages with more than 350 photos. There are many hours of reading within this impressively weighty and meticulously researched book, along with countless photos, virtually none of which I’ve ever seen before. Very nicely done.
At £28 direct from Wideline Books (£35 other sources) you might want to add this one to the Christmas list.
Production Racers of the 1960s (ISBN 978-1838133634) can be ordered direct from Wideline Books at www.wideline.co.uk for £28 plus post and packing. You can also ring 07966 575182 or email editor@wideline.co.uk for more information.