I’m in awe of anyone who can just sit down and write a book. Where does the idea even come from, let alone the actual research and curation of the information? Don’t get me wrong, we all have unique skills, (even the Car-Chums), but the focus and dedication it must take to produce 240 pages – big pages in the case of the book I’m thinking about – is spectacular.
The book I’m pondering is Aero Dynamic – How Bristol Won at Le Mans. It won Publication of the Year for author Simon Charlesworth and he was a guest on Car-Chum (https://www.buzzsprout.com/1827733/12643009). If you’re not into Bristols (and yes, that joke gets airtime, obvs.) worry not; most of the time is invested elsewhere, with excellent instructionals on how to crash Mondeos and perfectly adjust gear linkages on an Alfa Alfetta. All jolly accessible and relatable stuff, don’t you think? We’ve all done both, I’m sure.
Simon – who has a great, dry sense of humour – spent years writing for the car mags before embarking on this project. It tells the story the title suggests – a good start, as having invested the better part of £500 in the book, you’d be pretty bothered to find a compendium of dried flowers within. And that’s the clever bit: picking a story no one knows and spinning a factual yarn from it. Simon says (I know) that he will come back to Car-Chum and, whilst we won’t talk about the award again, or probably even the book, I will ask how many hours it takes to get from beginning to end. I suspect if you divide up the earnings from it by the hours he spent, it’d make the average paperboy’s salary look Murdoch-esque.
In the meantime, it got me to thinking about Bristols – not something that’s ever really happened to me before; they’re rather awkward conveyances. To my eye, the later Blenheims look like massive Capris, but, as noted before on Car-Chum, you like what you like and what anyone else thinks about your steed is totally irrelevant. Except Car-Chum.
More wise words and uplifting sentiments courtesy of Car-Chum on the way…
https://boc.net/s/history-of-bristol-cars/
https://www.carandclassic.com/list/11/
https://www.butterfieldpress.co.uk/store/ruzys9h7lnc0ph52xai18w6ariroa9