British Rally Drivers

British Rally Drivers — their Cars and Awards, by Donald Crowbourne. Smith Settle Ltd, Otley, £45.00

This very heavy, nicely presented book must have be a monumental research task for Mr Crowbourne and his wife, who embarked on it after tracing the rally history of their Alvis Firefly; when I was consulted about it I was staggered at the thought of the work involved. The book covers not only Monte Carlo and RAC, but also pre-war Bournmouth, Brighton, Welsh and Blackpool events, with lists of entrants, drivers, cars, numbers, and body styles, backed up by regs, routes, schedules and so on. This mass of statistics is interspersed with rally memorabilia and pictures, some in colour and some newly published.

Essentially a reference work, I suspect it will be consulted rather than read: indeed the only text is 19 pages describing Major Douglas-Morris’ experiences in Monte Carlo and RAC Rallies. So a formidable look-back, of limited appeal maybe but useful. I came upon some surprises, like S F Edge in an Armstrong-Siddeley in the 1931 RAC Rally, which makes me hope that this painstaking researcher will try a book on the MCC trials, in which so many odd car-and-driver combinations would be encountered. W B