British Drag Racing – The Early Years
By Nick Pettitt in Paperback • 20.5x19cm • 96 pages • 100 pictures
£ 14.99 + Postage
Features
• Fully researched history of British drag racing in the 1960s
• 100 previously unpublished dramatic colour pictures
• A pictorial history of British drag racing from 1960-1969
• How the sport of drag racing began in the UK
• A perfect complement to the growing nostalgia drag racing scene
• Ingenuity in action as racers develop their own speed equipment
• Pictures include action shots and scenes from the pits
• Period support vehicles feature in the pictures
• Check out the period dress code of the fans and racers
• All researched from primary sources
Description
A detailed look at the first ten years of drag racing in Britain from 1960-1969, complemented by 100 dramatic colour pictures. It includes the visits by American dragsters, and the running of drag races on RAF airstrips by a growing band of enthusiasts with home-built machines. 1966 saw the opening of Santa Pod Raceway, Britain's first permanent drag strip; this book takes a look at the first four seasons racing there, and the development of the facility as entries and performances increased.
Synopsis
Born in America in the late 1940s, drag racing soon spread across the world, reaching Britain in 1960 when some local hot rod clubs joined forces to form the British Hot Rod Association.
At the same time, Sydney Allard saw drag racing as a new challenge, and began building an American style-dragster in the Allard workshops. Sydney also brought over teams of American dragsters to show the British what drag racing was all about, while the British Hot Rod Association was holding meetings on RAF runways with a growing number of enthusiasts who were building their own dragsters based on the American machine designs. John Bennett realised that for drag racing to grow in Britain a permanent facility needed to be found, and at the end of 1965, he announced that Podington airfield was to become Santa Pod Raceway, opening for business in 1966. This book takes a detailed look at the burgeoning British drag racing of the 1960s, complemented by rare colour photos. It follows the development of Santa Pod Raceway, and the ever increasing fields of competitors that ran there up to 1969. A fascinating, nostalgic study of one of the fastest, loudest, most powerful motor sports in the world.
Independent Reviews
"Nick's book is excellent and a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the sport. The quality of the reproduction of the pictures is outstanding: some are of sufficient clarity and colour to appear to be 3D which is doubly impressive given their age." – eurodragster.com
"This is great stuff. The text is well-researched but it's the pics that count … with a wealth of images from the original Drag Fests to early meetings at Santa Pod." – Octane
"Nobody can fail to be impressed by the photos. Pettitt has compiled the most amazing, amusing, evocative and downright period-perfect collection of photographs yet assembled. It's a beautiful time capsule for an era we'll not see the likes of again. For any true drag racing fan, this little softback is quite possibly the best £15 you'll spend this year." – American Car
Additional Information
Period covered:
1960-1969
Models covered:
Dragsters - which are custom built all out machines from bike engined karts to nitro burning blown 8litre V8 powered 210inch wheelbase projectiles.
Altereds - which are home built frames fitted with various engines and modified production bodies from Model T Fords to Falcon sports cars.
Street legal cars - from production Minis to modified American muscle cars.
Bikes - with home built frames and various engines from 49cc to 5litre injected Chevy V8s.
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