Miscellany, September 2001

I commented recently on how gaps are being filled in the one-make book field. Latest proof is Michael E. Keller’s The Graham Legacy: Graham-Paige to 1932. It is an enormous tome, packed with pictures and providing copious information about these and Jewett, Paige-Detroit and G-Boy cars and commercial vehicles, and the many personalities associated therewith. Did you know that Pope Pious XI rode in a model-837 Graham Paige and viewed its engine with approval? The book is a work of dedication, even if the author thinks Montlhery is in England and refers to some long-distance records as races. The fourth edition is published by Turner Publishing Co, PO BOX 3101, Paducah, Kentucky, 42002-3101, USA. ISBN: 1 56311 4704.

Tickets are now on sale for the three-day meeting on September 20-22, 2001, at Rockingham, described as “Britain’s first-ever all-seats, motorsports stadium”. The first-ever British ChampCar race will be run on the third day. Tickets cost £25 per person for practice day, £40 on qualifying day and from £80 to £100 on race day in the main grandstand, with a few seats in the Rockingham Building at £150 each. An unimpeded view of 90 per cent of the speedway from any seat, all seats under cover, is guaranteed. We are told that the racing will be “the most exciting to be seen in the UK in 2001”. Top drivers in the FedEx ChampCar World series are listed as competitors, “in 800hp 200mph cars”. Edwardian giants will be invited; but perhaps demonstrations by them would be better, at first, than racing on the 1.5-mile oval? Ticket booking is available on 08700 134044.