I finally saved up and bought the Mike Hawthorn book Golden Boy and there were some great photos of the Riley Imp which he got from his father ('Crasher' Hawthorn). My dad was a massive fan of Freddie Dixon, so the Riley photos bring back great memories
HI G.
My interest in the Brooklands Riley came from an old business colleague, Harry Rea of Donaghadee in NI who sadly passed away last year at a young age. Harry, a collector of vintage cars, was the proud owner of the car in the pics below once driven by the famouse SCH (Sammy) Davis, past editor of Autocar. Harry's proudest moment was managing to track down Sammy before he died and spending an afternoon reminising about racing and particularly the nearby Ards TT races.
Next, I was chatting to a Lady Antique dealer who's son dealt in Car Racing painting. Through our conversation, she sent me two copies of a wonderful book by Irishman Brenden Lynch called Green Dust which covers Ireland's Unique Motor Racing History 1900-1939. The book features many famous mames from those heady days including Freddy Dixon who won the last two Ards TT's in 1935 & 36.
Sammy Davis driving the Car Harry Bought.
A photo copy of a poor pencil drawing I did and gave to Harry.
I forgot to mention earlier another Business collegue and good friend of Harry who has also sadly past away. In his youth he was a Riley works racing driver but then went on to run the Leeds based family Clothing Industry Supplies business, One Robert(Sideways)Staples.
