A Life Awheel The ‘auto’ biography of W de Forte Book Historic Cars & Motorbikes

Description: Product Details288 PagesPaperbackColourPublished in 2016A Life Awheel - The ‘auto’ biography of W de Forte By Richard SkeltonFeatures• The autobiography of the extraordinary motoring journalist • A wonderful whimsical narrative, carrying us briskly through a century of motoring and motorcycling history • The forthright opinions and considered reflections of a key journalistic figure and veritable motoring sage • An engrossing, insightful book about the inestimable joy of motoring • A discursive narrative woven around hundreds of humorous anecdotes which together carry the reader joyously back through time • Historic motor cars and motorcycles, both iconic and everyday, are central to fascinating stories and period diary extracts • Written with brio, and more than a dash of period journalistic argot. Jam-packed with fascinating historical information • A brisk read; nostalgic, humorous, positive, and light – but with hidden depths to be appreciated by the knowledgeable automotive enthusiast and connoisseur • A fun book about classic cars and motoring from a truly unique point of view • A century of British life – in village, town, across England, and the world beyond – brought back to life through wonderful characters and places, and seen through the particular prism of a unique motoring life DescriptionA veteran motoring journalist’s extraordinary life, told through delightfully eccentric stories and charming diary extract. This unique book is packed with fascinating stories about classic cars and motorcycles, set in a bygone world, and properly fixed in time. SynopsisBorn in Shropshire soon after the end of the First World War, venerable motoring writer W de Forte has driven everything from his grandfather's first Daimler, to modern-day supercars … ridden everything from vertiginous Victorian penny farthings, to high velocity twenty-first century superbikes … travelled everywhere from the permafrost of the Arctic Circle to the baking sands of the Baja Peninsula … and met everyone from Tazio Nuvolari to Valentino Rossi. W de Forte enjoyed an eventful career as a top-level journalist, spanning 75 years, during which time he tested many thousands of cars and reported on countless automotive events around the world. This made him uniquely qualified to comment on all aspects of classic and vintage motoring and motorcycling. Relatively undimmed by age and ague, even in his mid-90s, de Forte had no plans to retire, but, in early 2011, a high-speed prang while testing a wayward Rudge Ulster at a racing circuit in Belgium brought him up with a jolt, both literally and metaphorically. After recuperating in hospital, he settled down to write his long-awaited and much requested autobiography. This unique and insightful book is the result. Packed with fascinating stories about classic cars and motorcycles, A Life Awheel – the ‘Auto’ Biography of W de Forte is an account of an extraordinary motoring life, and the story of motoring in the 20th century. Additional InformationWilberforce de Forte was born shortly after the end of the First World War, in the village of Bales, Shropshire, where he still lives. He is the son of Gordon Bennett Cup car racer Basil de Forte, and the grandson of Sir Cecil de Forte, a gentleman farmer who owned the first car in the county. As a young man, de Forte established himself as a successful independent motoring writer, working for a number of specialist automotive periodicals. During the Second World War, de Forte served with distinction throughout Europe in the Army Transport Corps, and he continued to write whenever his duties allowed. Subsequently, de Forte travelled the world as a motoring journalist, and his outpourings continued unabated until a high speed prang while testing a wayward Rudge Ulster, in 2011, brought him up with a jolt. Once back home in Bales, he removed himself to his study on a semi-permanent basis, wherein he started work on an autobiographical memoir, a work much requested over very many years, and now eagerly anticipated by friends and motoring historians alike. This is a vividly nostalgic book about classic and vintage cars and motorcycles, and an important work of social history. Reading W de Forte is the closest thing to a time machine for petrol-heads of all stripes.Table of Contents A Life Awheel - Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 7 INTRODUCTION 8 CHAPTER ONE 11 HAPPY DAYS 11 GORDON BENNETT! (First published Classic Auto –September 2006) 14 EARLY DAYS 18 HALCYON DAYS 21 MODEL T FORD 24 AN INFURIATING INSTRUMENT 28 RELIABILITY TRIAL 30 CHAPTER TWO 36 PRE-WAR ERA 36 TWO WHEELS GOOD 38 THREE WHEELS NOT BETTER 41 INDIGNATION MEETING 42 DRIVING TEST 47 BY GEORGE (First published Motorcycle Review – February 1990) 48 THE FAR FIELD 50 INTO THE FOLD 54 THREE WHEELS ON MY WAGON (First published Motorcycle Review – April 1975) 55 CHAPTER THREE 59 WAR TWO 59 VINTAGE BENTLEY 65 BEATTIE 69 DRIVING BEATTIE 70 BENTLEY PEOPLE 71 BENTLEY MARK VI (First published Classic Auto – June 2008) 73 CHAPTER FOUR 77 TIME OF CHANGE 77 ONE OF BRITAIN’S FINE IDEAS 78 NUVOLARI 80 PRIDE COMES BEFORE A FALL 85 MINOR REFLECTIONS (First published The Auto – January 1959) 86 RILEY RMB (First published Classic Auto – March 2010) 90 WOODIES (First published Classic Auto – November 2008) 92 JAGUAR MARK FIVE (First published Classic Auto – September 2002) 95 ROLLS-ROYCE SILVER CLOUD (First published Classic Auto – January 2009) 98 CHAPTER FIVE 102 CITROEN TRACTION AVANT (First published Classic Auto – June 2007) 102 NASCAR ADVENTURE 106 TAKING STOCK 114 DREAMING SPIRES (Diary extract – 13 November 1957) 115 BENTLEY ANTICS (Diary extract – 24 April 1958) 118 CHAPTER SIX 120 WHITE HEAT 120 MINI 121 MINI COOPER 127 BMW IN PERIL 128 ALEX 131 JAGUAR E-TYPE (First published Classic Auto – July 2004) 132 BRISTOL 407 135 CORTINA REFLECTIONS (First published The Auto – October 1962) 137 A WHITE CHRISTMAS (Diary extract – 25 December 1962) 141 LESS IS MORE 145 DODGY GEEZERS (First published Classic Auto – April 2002) 146 CHAPTER SEVEN 150 MOTORING TYPES IN THE 1950S AND 1960S (First published Classic Auto – May 2004) 150 FORD CORTINA AND MORRIS 1100 RETROSPECTIVE 152 ALVIS REMINISCENCES (First published Classic Auto – March 2007) 156 MGB MATTERS (First published Classic Auto – April 2007) 159 A HOLIDAY ADVENTURE! (Diary extract – 26 June 1966) 162 LAMBORGHINI 166 BMW 2002 172 JAGUAR COMPACT SALOONS – SAVING THE BEST UNTIL LAST (First published Classic Auto – June 2009) 176 CHAPTER EIGHT 180 HONDA CB750/4 FIRST IMPRESSIONS (First published Motorcycle Review – April 1970) 180 HONDA DREAMS 182 HONDA GL1000 – ON A WING AND A PLAYER (First published Motorcycle Review – August 1975) 187 FIZZERS! 190 ABOUT JOHN 193 BMW MOTORRAD 193 CHAPTER NINE 200 HISTORY LESSON 200 TRIUMPH STAG 201 MATTERS RELIANT 205 VEHICULAR METAMORPHOSIS 214 PORSCHE 911 TURBO 215 CHAPTER TEN 222 OLD BILL 222 FAREWELL TINA: THE END OF AN ERA (First published The Auto – October 1982) 228 ANYONE FOR GOLF? (First published The Auto – April 1984) 231 ROVER RETROSPECTIVE (First published The Auto – October 1987) 232 SPEN 239 ALFA ROMEO ALFASUD (First published The Auto – December 1992) 240 ALGY’S ALFASUD 243 A MINI MUSTANG FOR THE MASSES (First published Classic Auto – January 2002) 246 CHAPTER ELEVEN 250 A LOST DECADE 250 MAZDA MX-5 PART ONE (Diary extract – 14 May 1990) 251 CITROEN 2CV (First published Classic Auto – August 1990 255 MAZDA MX-5 PART TWO (Diary extract – 7 September 1995) 260 JAGUAR XK120 (Submitted to The Auto – September 1999) 263 CHAPTER TWELVE 269 A NEW BEGINNING 269 MAZDA MX-5 PART THREE (Diary extract – 5 May 2005) 270 CLASSIC SCENE (First published Classic Auto – February 2007) 271 INDUSTRY TYPES 273 GOOD DRIVING (First published Classic Auto – September 2010) 276 MAZDA MX-5 PART FOUR (Diary extract – 15 May 2015) 279 FINAL THOUGHTS 280 INDEX 287

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Location: North Shields

End Time: 2024-12-22T18:58:55.000Z

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