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    Touch Wood: The Autobiography of the 1953 Le Mans Winner
    Unavailable
    Touch Wood: The Autobiography of the 1953 Le Mans Winner
    Unavailable
    Touch Wood: The Autobiography of the 1953 Le Mans Winner
    Ebook343 pages5 hours

    Touch Wood: The Autobiography of the 1953 Le Mans Winner

    By Duncan Hamilton

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    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Duncan Hamilton won the classic Le Mans 24-Hours race in 1953, co-driving his workcentered C-Type Jaguar with Tony Rolt. In 1954 the same pair finished second, losing to a much larger-engined V12 Ferrari and by the narrowest margin in years. In all, Duncan Hamilton competed in nine of those great Le Mans endurance classics. Having cut his racing teeth in such pre-war cars as the R-Type M.G and the Bugatti Type 35B, Duncan graduated to one of the immortal Lago- Talbot Grand Prix cars—which he subsequently mislaid in a French coal-hole. After a hugely eventful racing career—only Duncan could get himself fired by Jaguar for winning the Rheims 12-Hours race in 1956—he eventually hung up his racing helmet in 1958. As Earl Howe wrote in the original 1960 foreword to this book, though the drivers of this age were fiercely competitive, there were also "friends to meet, stories to tell and almost certainly a party to be enjoyed…" Duncan Hamilton was certainly a little larger than life, and this book tells the story of a man who wasn’t just one of the most successful drivers of the 1950s, but also the man who trespassed at Brooklands, who spent the war in the Fleet Air Arm accidentally trying to drown American Admirals, and who was once stopped for speeding on the Cromwell Road, rushing to take part in a TV program on road safety. It is a must for any classic car enthusiast’s bookshelf.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherJohn Blake
    Release dateSep 1, 2014
    ISBN9781784180812
    Unavailable
    Touch Wood: The Autobiography of the 1953 Le Mans Winner
    Author

    Duncan Hamilton

    Duncan Hamilton is one of only two authors to have won the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award twice, for Provided You Don’t Kiss Me, about Brian Clough, and Harold Larwood. He lives in Leeds.

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    Reviews for Touch Wood

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    • 3/5
      He joined the FAA in 1939 and after training was sent to Norway. His ship was sunk en route but he was rescued by Curlew and promptly sunk again. On reaching Norway he was soon wounded in action and returned to the UK for five months convalescence. Once recovered he went to 771 Squadron for communications and ferrying duties, followed by a base job at Hatston as Senior Air Engineering Officer for the Home Fleet. He later went to Port Reitz near Mombasa in a similar role. He tells an engaging tale of his incident-packed war, despite the backroom role. He went on to become a racing driver. Reprinted by Duncan Hamilton in 1990, with fuller retelling of his adventures. (ISBN: 0951694502).
    • 5/5
      One of the best memoirs I have ever read. A life well lived.