Sunday 26th March 2023

BOOK REVIEW  By Ken Davies 

Memory Lanes.… rally tales - Stories about rallying from the 1960s and 1970s 

The latest volume of Peter Robinson’s Memory Lanes…. rally tales series has just been released and the hexad of this popular double trilogy is possibly his best so far. Providing stories about rallying from the 1960s and 1970s, Peter’s latest high quality hard back provides 425 pages split into 53 fascinating chapters, each telling its own diverse rally tale and making it convenient for readers to dip in and out of the book at will. Packed with an impressive level of detail, the book also carries 570 atmospheric black and white images of cars, personalities and places, many not seen before.

Each story captures the true spirit of that iconic era with lots of ‘wing and a prayer’ and ‘David and Goliath’ stories, including the bog standard Peugeot 504 that successfully took on and beat the daunting RAC rally, the unlikely sport of caravan rallying, which perhaps mercifully enjoyed but a short life, and detailed biopics of some popular rally steeds of the period, such as  Healey 3000, Escort Mexico, RS 1800, MGB, Cortina, Corsair and Anglia, Clan Crusader, Datsun 240Z and the rare Messerschmitt 4-wheel bubble car.


Among star names profiled are the irrepressible Tony Fowkes, Colin Malkin, Peter Valentine, Kevin Gormley, Tony Pond, Don Barrow and Bill Gwynne, who began as a successful motorcycle protagonist. Also featured are the various journalists who wrote under the famous pseudonym Verglas in Motoring News and, of course Martin Holmes, an integral part of motorsport for over 60 years. John Bloxham gets a chapter, as the versatile Midlands driver with enough natural talent to take a standard Fiat 125 from the showroom, win a Motoring News rally and return it to the showroom. Cal Withers is featured too as the resourceful Winsford breakers yard proprietor and respected entrant and driver mentor.

Among the events spotlighted are the Cilwendeg, Bolton and Welsh Marches rallies, together with internationals such as the Tour de France, rallying in Oman and the infamous Gulf Rally, which offered competitors - and artful dodgers - free fuel. Then there’s a series of images dedicated to old school servicing and another to classic rally clothes, featuring some well-known snappy dressers.


I’d originally intended to read only a few chapters to get the flavour of the book but, on starting, I found the contents so compelling I eventually hoovered up every single word. I even discovered two of my images taken at service in Llandrindod Wells on 1967 Rally of the Vales with Pentax and flash; Roy Fidler’s Triumph 2000 (page 19) and Alun Rees’ Cooper S (page 209), although the latter caption referred to Alun’s stylish sponsor and team manager, Geoff Thomas. Geoff, the genial proprietor of Grand Prix motor accessories in Swansea, was resplendent in white shirt and braces while checking the oil of Alun’s battle-scarred Mini, while sublimely marketing the Duckhams 20/50 oil brand, for which he was an agent.

This fascinating cornucopia of rally stories has already received complimentary comments from a number of rallying luminaries, some of whom feature within its pages. This is an unmissable book covering an iconic period in rallying history as well as being a thoroughly absorbing and entertaining read.

Memory Lanes.… rally tales - Stories about rallying from the 1960s and 1970s
Written by Peter Robinson
ISBN 978-0-9558074-9-7
Self-published by Peter Robinson
Price £50.00