Last lap for Last-Lap Kavanagh
From our Old Bike Archives – Issue 85 – first published in 2019. Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: OBA archives, Elwyn Roberts, Alan Wallis, *Letter kindly provided by Joe Henry. With the death of Ken […]
Manx Norton
John Surtees: Il grande John
From our Old Bike Archives – Issue 65 – first published in 2017. Story: Jim Scaysbrook “Speed is not something you find, you’ve either got it or you haven’t.” – John Surtees The Italians called him “Il grande […]
A Manx for the road
Steve Tonkin has been building very special classic bikes to order for over 20 years, with around 100 different examples to date. Currently, his work is focussed on what is called the Tonkin Tornado – […]
Bert Flood: “Everything’s a fluke that happens to me”.
Story: Transcribed and edited from an interview with Peter Drakeford in 2007. Photos: Rob Lewis, Bob Cann, Flood archives, OBA archives. These days, monocularity (the state of having vision in only one eye) virtually debars anyone […]
Jack Findlay: Don’t call me Cyril
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Karel Zegers, OBA archives Mike Hailwood once told me that around the original 14 kilometre Spa Francorchamps circuit, there was no one better than Cyril John ‘Jack’ Findlay. That’s high praise […]
Tony McAlpine: The wild colonial boy
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Byron Gunther, Trevor Evans, Keith Bryen Wallace Anthony, or just plain ‘Tony’ McAlpine, died on the Queensland Gold Coast on September 26th 2005, aged 84. With his passing went perhaps […]
Tom Phillis: A bridge too far
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Charles Rice, Keith Ward, Tom Perry The feeling of disbelief that followed the death of Tom Phillis on the Isle of Man in 1962 was palpable. How could Tom, fast […]
Ron Robinson: Never a dull moment
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Keith Ward, Charles Rice, Ron Robinson, FoTTofinders. At the end of 1962, Ron Robinson was at the crossroads. He’d been racing in Australia since 1955, and had honed his skills to […]
Bryan Thomas: The Wizard of Feilding
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Thomas collection and Jim Scaysbrook If Bryan Thomas had not been such a brilliant engineer, he could have made a living playing character roles in film and television. Neat and dapper, […]
Goodwood Vincent – The bike that ate Goodwood
Story: Jim Scaysbrook • Photos: Bill Forsyth, Russell Colvin and Perspective Images. In Historic Racing terms, it doesn’t get any better or bigger than The Goodwood Revival. What makes Goodwood unique is that the venue itself […]
