Philip Porter writes:
"Dr" Porter advises & Brian Johnson remembers Stirling Moss
What you need, if I may suggest, is a good book. Whether you have time on your hands or need to escape from all the current stress, there is nothing as relaxing, informative and enjoyable as a good book - a treasure to own. You will also be doing your bit to help an endangered species - motoring book publishers.
It is always exciting when a new book arrives from the printers. Today we are excited about our latest Exceptional Cars book - number 9 - on a true red-blooded Ferrari sports racer - more info below.
I’d like to thank our authors and friends (including Brian Johnson) who have contributed to this issue: Ian Wagstaff continues his account of BRP at Indy, Mark Cole starts his two-part story of James Garner and the film Grand Prix, Chas Parker writes about the amazing Pedro Rodriguez, Richard Heseltine has another splendid column for us and Serge Vanbockryck commences his fascinating technical history of Le Mans.
 Our good friends at the Classic Motor Hub kindly sent out our Tribute to Stirling issue and have some great blogs on their site. The standard, though, has just dropped as they have persuaded me to write The Confessions of a Motoring Writer!
Hope you enjoy this issue - thank you for your support - please stay safe.
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Brian Johnson’s Fond Memories of Stirling
By Brian Johnson
I first met the legendary rock star Brian Johnson when he visited us to film an edition of his TV series Cars That Rock on the Jaguar E-type and drove 9600 HP, my Geneva launch Press car, and we have kept in touch. We occasionally meet in our mutual London local pub. Brian spends most of his time in Florida but has a place in Chelsea.
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Maverick the car thief, part 1
Mark Cole on actor/racer James Garner and the making of the the iconic motor racing move - Grand Prix
Hollywood actor James Garner had always been one of my boyhood heroes through his Maverick TV series, then later as Pete Aron, the 1966 F1 world champion in John Frankenheimer’s classic movie Grand Prix.
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BRP’s Indianapolis Swan Song, part 2
By Ian Wagstaff
‘Indy fever is even visible in London as the BRP mechanics under Tony Robinson are building a couple of very nice semi-monocoque cars for Masten Gregory and Friend,’ wrote Henry N Manney in the influential US magazine, Road and Track. The cars, said the American, ‘looked very neat and solid, unlike some racing cars I could mention.’
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The Richard Heseltine Column - Road Trips: the fun and frustration
The lesson drawn from the exchange was simple – don’t ask. The question was: “Whose Lada is this?” It is May 2006 and all is not well. On reflection, agreeing to a road trip in Russia wasn’t such a sound idea. The substitution of a Soviet grotbox for our equally rubbish Toyota soft-roader may have had something to do with a bar, a bet and maybe even a gun. To tell the truth it’s all a bit fuzzy. Waking up in a strange car in a strange town – and having picked up some strange new ‘friends’ along the way – only bolstered the opinion that this was the worst road trip ever. Or perhaps the best. It’s all relative.
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A very brave little driver
By Chas Parker
April 12 this year marked the 50th anniversary of one of the most outstanding displays of wet-weather driving ever seen. Chas Parker recalls the 1970 BOAC 1000 kms.
A blue car pierces its way out of the gloom, slithering, sliding, dancing as if on ice. Water streams off, kicked up in mountainous plumes from the rear tyres. The windscreen wipers fight a losing battle. The engine note rises as the driver applies more power, the car twitches, still barely under control, then surges past in a mist of spray and is gone. It seems inconceivable that it will make it around the lap without mishap, yet the scene is re-enacted time and time again.
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Première Night, part 1
By Serge Vanbockryck
For the first time in some years, the 2020 Le Mans 24-Hours will again feature a ‘Garage 56’ entry featuring ‘innovative technology’. But the routes nationales of La Sarthe have always been a non-stop automotive proving ground for over 90 years.
Almost a century ago, in 1923, Le Mans had been conceived first and foremost as a 24-hour challenge for automobile manufacturers to showcase their products and put them to the ultimate test...
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Porter Press Books Update
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 As mentioned above, our Ferrari 857S book in the Exceptional Cars series has been delivered today, so is still warm! Packed with superb, atmospheric period photos, with stunning studio photography and written by Ian Wagstaff (his fourth book for us - he’s currently working on the next one), this is a delightful book. The fact that this car was driven by Hawthorn, Maglioli, Phil Hill, Castelotti, de Portago and Gendebien illustrates that the featured car had a long and illustrious history.
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We are getting seriously excited about the next in our Ultimate series on the McLaren F1 GTRs. Mark Cole has completed writing the two volumes, Mark Hughes is well advanced with editing and Martin Port is making excellent progress designing Vol 1. The period photography is breathtaking. As far as one can tell in these difficult times, they will be available in July, but we will be opening pre-orders for these limited edition sets before then.
All being well, our book by the great Doug Nye on the stunning ROFGO collection of Gulf-sponsored cars will be launched in June.
 Our book on the great Briggs Cunningham is with the printers but there is a slight delay with obtaining the very special paper. Due May 19 - pre-orders are now open.
We are waiting for permission from the owner of Land Rover chassis number 1 to launch the books which are printed and sitting in our barn. Unfortunately the high profile reveal of the restored vehicle was delayed by the pandemic.
Living the Goode Life - at full throttle, the autobiography of Richard Goode, is going to print shortly. Richard has had a remarkable life that includes being Britain’s top aerobatic pilot, selling over 450 Russian aircraft, owning over 80 cars, hiking 6,000 miles across Africa as a teenager and much, much more.
In the pipeline: Ferrari Breadvan, Alfa T33/3, Ultimate Ferrari 250 GTO, XK 120 Profile, JCB Scrapbook, Ultimate Works Porsche 962s and more! We’re excited; hope you are.
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Choose from a range of our superb top-quality motoring books. With each purchase, 25% of the full retail price will be donated to the Response Fund, and customers will also receive 25% off the full retail price (while stocks last).
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The books on offer range from titles on famous ‘50s racing cars to the highly-acclaimed Derek Bell Porsche book, from sexy Italian sports racers to the amazing three-volume Le Mans Model Car Collection set. Prices range from £30 to £200. Free copy of the XK Files (superb children’s book) with every purchase while stocks last.
Simply use the discount code CHARITY at checkout
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Congratulations to last month's winner, Michael Cookson, who correctly answered 'Hans Herrmann'. Michael will be receiving his copy of one of the books in our Exceptional Cars series, GT40 Mk II - The remarkable history of 1016.
For your chance to win a copy of Great Cars book number 10: Lotus 18 - The autobiography of Stirling Moss's 912, please send the correct answer to the question below to sales@porterpress.co.uk by 29 May
What made the 1961 Monaco Grand Prix winning Lotus 18, driven by Stirling to one of his greatest victories, instantly recognisable?
A. It was painted bright orange.
B. The exhaust pipes exited vertically.
C. The sides of the bodywork were removed.
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Who doesn't love a quiz?
For those of you who like quizzes, we will be running a weekly quiz on our Porter Press website and you will also be able to find a link to our latest quiz in all future newsletters. We hope you like them. We do appreciate feedback, so if you have any suggestions of how we could improve our quizzes or you would like to submit some questions, please feel free. We would like to build on our newsletters bringing like-minded people together and having fun at the same time.
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