As a nice addition, there are hints about where you can see these cars for yourself – either at classic racing events, or shows across the UK. With an accessible price tag, easy reading and great photos, this is an ideal one for younger readers just getting into classic racing cars, and who may well form the next generation of those engaging in rallying, hillclimb or sprint events.
My Travels on Racer Road: Can-Am and Formula 1 in their golden age
- Pete Lyons (Evro Publishing, evropublishing.com)
- Price: around £70
- Rating: 4.5 stars
Author Pete Lyons is such an accomplished journalist and engaging writer that it’s very reassuring this is an autobiography, rather than just a biography. Not only is he obviously best placed to tell the stories, but he does so with enviable recall and a great sense of humour.
It’s a slow burn before you get to much about racing, recalling his father’s Buicks, holidays in Montauk and his early exposure to cars and car culture. But once you’re in, you’re reminded of just how thrilling it must have been to report on Can-Am and Formula 1 racing during the sixties and seventies – an era when absolutely anything could, and often did, happen.
That Lyons can fill the majority of a book with tales from barely over a decade and still keep it interesting, relevant and engaging is testimony to his skill as a writer, though the book’s also beautifully produced and crammed full of images – some from the trackside and some from the family album. A great read from a fantastic motorsport journalist, and well worth picking up, even if you’re not of an age to remember the reports in period.
