Posts Tagged ‘Literature’

Barn Finds and Sleeping Beauties

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Barn Find Ford Escort

It's the holy grail for every lover of old cars and every obsessive tinkerer with hopeless automotive projects. Finding that neglected vintage car in a dusty barn is something every petrolhead should aspire to.

Rumours of Aladdin's caves containing many million pounds worth of sleeping beauties are usually exaggerated - they surface once in a while and have the motoring press fizzing with envy.

But Veloce publishing have taken to stirring the delectable rumour mill with a call to publish pictures of your found gems here.

Our personal favourite on the site so far is the powder blue Mk2 Escort (above), which apparently has shored up and turned into a botanical feature on the fertile island of Madeira.

Coming a close second is this nameless jalopy from down under, which, in its rusted pathos, reminds us of 'Mater from Cars, the Pixar animated feature of a few years ago.

Is any vintage car enthusiast out there able to identify this senior automotive citizen?

Mystery Jalopy

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Hells Angels by Hunter Thompson

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

"The hard core, the outlaw elite, were the Hell’s Angels… wearing the winged death’s-head on the back of their sleeveless jackets and packing their ‘mamas’ behind them on big ‘chopped hogs.’ They rode with a fine unwashed arrogance, secure in their reputation as the rottenest motorcycle gang in the whole history of Christendom."

Anyone even vaguely interested in the written word and the world outside our windows cannot ignore the work of Hunter S Thompson. And if there's even a smidgin of petrol in your veins, then his work is not to be missed.

Making a scandalous name for himself for his lysergic dispatches for Rolling Stone in the mid sixties that culminated in the fabled 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' – a work of insane anti-narrative based loosely on a magazine assignment to cover a dune buggy race in the Nevada desert – Thompson's real journalistic opus – on the Angels – was published in 1966.

Hells Angels was the result of an extended sojourn into the notorious biker gang's countercultural way of being – and though never taking the vows and ascribing his name in Angel blood – the narcotic-obsessed arch observer of humanity got as close as possible to the subject matter without becoming the subject itself.

But ultimately the creed of Gonzo journalism Hunter S Thompson initiated and espoused was built on that blurring of the edges of observer and observed.

'Hell's Angels' is required reading for anyone interested in the history of the biker cult. Check out, though, the video below of the author being dragged across the coals by a less-than-impressed Angel.

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God’s Speed: Bike Culture Documented

Monday, January 4th, 2010

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Ok, you're back at work and the bread and butter realities of everyday life are emerging from the frost of a new year. What better way to escape the humdrum, then, than to treat yourself to a visual feast and dream of open roads, clement weather and an enduring propensity for wearing aged leather?

The brainchild of New York-based photographer Cicero Deguzman JR GODSPEED 45/06 is a quarterly collection of photographs documenting bike builders, their work, and their workspaces. Independently photographed, designed, and published these brilliant photo books come in a hard bound, 8×10 Inch format and extend to 160 Pages.

Watch this space for further features from this passionate documentarian of the mechanical cult.

chop

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New Book on the Cult of Café Racer

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

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Of all the publishing houses dedicated to culture of cars and bikes, Veloce is surely the most prolific. This time, they've come up with something no bike obsessive and consumer of culture will be able to resist.

Alastair Walker's book is a look back at the glory days of the Café Racer, from Friday night gatherings on London's North Circular road, through the street specials craze of the Seventies, to the modern day revival.

From its roots in the ’59 Club, home-brewed specials and the creation of the Triton by Dave Degens, the Café Racer became the must-have Rockers’ motorbike. It then became the template for a new generation of fast road riders in the 1970s, with the rise of Dunstall, Rickman, Seeley and many more bespoke bike builders.

The big factories jumped on the bandwagon too. Machines like the Moto Guzzi Le Mans Mk I, Ducati 900SS and the MV Agusta 750S all captured the spirit of the Café Racer. Then the slick, super fast, Japanese sport bikes of the 80s came along, and looked set to consign the Café Racer special to the history books.

But a revival had to happen. The Ace Café London re-opened, bike builders as diverse as Wakan, Fred Krugger, Nick Gale and Roland Sands all began to create lean, back-to-basics motorcycles, but with their own unique twist on Café Racer heritage. From the Buell 1125 CR to the Guzzi V7 Sport, mainstream modern bikes have also re-discovered their street racing soul.

This is required reading for lovers of bikes with a beating heart.

image courtesy Deus Ex Machina.PAckshot

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Two Strokes and a Scandal

Friday, September 4th, 2009

twostroke

Anyone who has had the nerve-jangling, adrenalin inducing pleasure of twisting a fiery two stroke-driven bike through the power band will attest to the fact that the noble and threatened form is far superior to the relatively plodding four stroke.

Motorcyle writer Mat Oxley's recent book is in part homage to the beauty of the two stroke engine and in part the story of German engineer Walter Kaaden – the man Oxley reckons is responsible for the true performance two-stroke.

According to the author, Kaaden, one of the principle engineers behind Hitler's on V1 rockets during the war, was invited to join the space programme in the states – but chose to stay in East Germany and work for slightly less glamorous motorcycle manufacturer MZ.

Kaaden's two-stroke technology ruled GP racing through the sixties through his incredible ability to squeeze lots of power from small displacements. The 1961 MZ 125 was the first normally aspirated engine to make 200 horsepower per litre. The 1964 evolution of this (pictured below) was a beautiful little pocket rocket.

MZ_125

But just as he was on the verge of world title glory Kaaden's favourite rider Ernst Degner defected to the West and sold Kaaden's secrets to Suzuki – while Degner's wife and kids were smuggled through the newly built Berlin Wall.

Oxley goes on to tell how Degner and Suzuki copied Kaaden's know-how to win the world championship the very next year. The company went on to conquer the world while Degner suffered appalling injuries in a racing accident and died a morphine addict. Difficult not to read this as a cautionary tale of reaping what you sow.

It's a fascinating story and a beautifully illustrated book: perfect for the petrolhead with an eye for intrigue. Check it out.

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Degner (in second place) on the limit

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