Overview
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.
Full Product Details
Author: Nicholas John Pettitt
Publisher: David & Charles
Imprint: Veloce
Dimensions:
Width: 20.50cm
, Height: 0.70cm
, Length: 19.00cm
Weight: 0.315kg
ISBN: 9781845843373
ISBN 10: 1845843371
Pages: 96
Publication Date: 15 March 2011
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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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 GBP15 you'll spend this year. - American Car A detailed look at the first ten years of drag racing in Britain from 1960-1969, complemented by 100 dramatic colour pictures. A fascinating, nostalgic study of one of the fastest, loudest, most powerful motor sports in the world. - Startline
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<br> 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<br>
Author Information
Nick Pettitt is a recognized expert on British drag racing history. He has produced over 70 DVDs on the subject, using cine film and video footage combined with his own researched narration. From 1995-2000 he raced a Chevy-powered nostalgia slingshot dragster at various drag strips in the UK, and currently drives a Ford Popular hot rod on the street. Nick has written two articles on British drag racing history for Custom Car magazine. In 2008 he was asked to join the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame, both as a board member and as their historian, and has been writing the profiles for the new inductees.
