I was not de-Nyed as a Teenager !

Well I never.

I'm not much of a book gatherer (money that can be spent on a race car) and the bulk of my collection are all gifts over the years as far as I'm aware.

Some time in the 70's I got a nice litle book as a birthday present which I dug up today from the bottom of a tea chest that the bottom was falling out of..

"Leisureguides International Motor Racing - Doug Nye" circa 1974 I think.

So there you go, as a Teenager I was not de-Nyed !

alas i was de-nyed....however i did enjoy being throughly "manny'd" as often as possible!!!!!!!

I would have hated to be de-Jenk-ted...

Fortunately, from the German GP of 1962 I wasn't.

I took a Saturday job so I could afford to buy 'A History of the Grand Prix Car 1966-85'. When I got the book, and particularly now when I see the prices it commands, I did/do not regret all those lost mornings at all. (I kept the job long enough to start on the Sheldon books.)

Not my first exposure to Mr Nye - 'Motor Racing In Colour' published by Batsford was my first. Still look at it now for reference. For example, there is a nice pic of Elio de Angelis and Eje Elgh dicing at Monaco F3 which I have not seen elsewhere.

Blimey - this is like being accused of leading generations astray....

DCN

It was purchasing Doug Nye's "History of the Grand Prix Car 1945-1965" that led me to try Internet shopping for the first time. Given the price on Amazon.com at the time (£22!), I just had to risk it! (This was back around 1995/6).

I had to wash quite few cars and mow lawns for: McLaren: The Grand Prix, Can-Am and Indy cars by Doug Nye. And opening my 1987 Autocourse the other day revealed a nice technical story on active suspension; by Doug Nye.

Even though the lawnmower was the fastest thing I could get my hands on at the time, it was money well earned and spent!

Originally posted by ensign14
I took a Saturday job so I could afford to buy 'A History of the Grand Prix Car 1966-85'. When I got the book, and particularly now when I see the prices it commands, I did/do not regret all those lost mornings at all. (I kept the job long enough to start on the Sheldon books.)

Not my first exposure to Mr Nye - 'Motor Racing In Colour' published by Batsford was my first. Still look at it now for reference. For example, there is a nice pic of Elio de Angelis and Eje Elgh dicing at Monaco F3 which I have not seen elsewhere.

Sigh. For my sins, I gave my copy of 66-85 away to a now very ex lady friend after I got 66-91. (Also gave her the first ed. of Steve Small's Grand Prix Who's Who too...)

I think my first DCN read was The Grand Prix Tyrrells, brand new in my local library when I was about 7.

pete

Is that very ex-lady as in dead, or very ex-friend lady?

Originally posted by Darren Galpin
Is that very ex-lady as in dead, or very ex-friend lady?

Very ex-friend.

pete

At the risk of making Doug blush again, my favourite motor racing book is still Motor Racing Mavericks, published in 1974 and bought by me many years later at the Beaulieu Autojumble for an extortionate fee.

Doug's enthusiasm for his many subjects in that book really shows through.

Allen

Originally posted by Allen Brown
At the risk of making Doug blush again, my favourite motor racing book is still Motor Racing Mavericks, published in 1974 and bought by me many years later at the Beaulieu Autojumble for an extortionate fee.

Doug's enthusiasm for his many subjects in that book really shows through.

Allen

Sitting on my desk right now - bought it new for £3.50! Read it several times, refer to it often.

Originally posted by Allen Brown
At the risk of making Doug blush again, my favourite motor racing book is still Motor Racing Mavericks, published in 1974 and bought by me many years later at the Beaulieu Autojumble for an extortionate fee.

Doug's enthusiasm for his many subjects in that book really shows through.

Allen

Doug gets into my top 10, but I don't assign any ranks within that ten!
Limiting myself to one title per author/editor...

DCN, Cooper Cars - perhaps not as exhaustive as BRM but
there's slightly more laughs in this one!

Mike Lawrence, Four Guys and a Telephone, best of his "folk
histories" of the British racing industry.

LJK Setright, The Grand Prix Car 1954-1966 because it's superior
to Pomeroy and documents some of the most beautiful cars ever

William Court, Power And Glory vols 1&2 - beautiful.

Karl Ludvigsen, Quicksilver Century for the depth of engineering
insight.

David Gordon, Chevron: The Derek Bennett Story - beautiful cars,
odd people.

DSJ, The Racing Driver, a book about racers by a racer.

Georgano Encyclopedia of Motor Sport because it's there!

Ian Briggs, Endurance Racing 1982-91 - a true labour of love and
not afraid to be controversial. (Although it misses the Cheek C2 out!)

Brooklands Books Le Mans series - as much fun looking at how the
magazines changed as it is reading the history.

FYI, Nos. 11-20 are drawn from the following:

Pete Lyons, Can-Am - great photography, great cars, great
characters.

Weitmann & Cotton, Porsche Story - superb photography and
delightfully stilted translation of the German captions.

Mike Lang's Grand Prix series - excellent race-by-race accounts.

Robert Edwards' Archie and the Listers - more moving than his
Moss bio even though considerably less lavish.

Tommaso Tommasi, From Brands Hatch To Indianapolis mainly
because it was one of my first racing books - very well-illustrated book
on circuits of the early 70s including lap descriptions by drivers.

Smokey Yunick's epic three volume autobiography - although I think this may
get into the top 10 with repeated reading. Not for maiden aunts or
prudes.

Nick Brittain's How To Go Saloon Car Racing - my uncle never did
but I think I read the words off the pages of his copy!

Chris Mason's Uphill Racers a scholarly yet very enthusiastic
and readable history of hillclimbing in the UK.

Emerson Fittipaldi/Elizabeth Hayward Flying On The Ground - a
biography that actually explains a lot about how Emmo became the
driver and person he was.

Chris Nixon's Mon Ami Mate - another book that's superb at
capturing atmosphere and character.


pete

My copy of "McLaren: The Grand Prix, Can Am and Indy Cars" is adorned with the autographs of Emerson Fittipaldi, Johnny Rutherford, Dan Gurney, Jochen Mass, John Watson, David Hobbs and Roger Bailey.

Originally posted by JacnGille
My copy of "McLaren: The Grand Prix, Can Am and Indy Cars" is adorned with the autographs of Emerson Fittipaldi, Johnny Rutherford, Dan Gurney, Jochen Mass, John Watson, David Hobbs and Roger Bailey.

Almost forgot one; Stefan Johansson.

OK, OK, OK - all very ego-boosting but can we change the subject now before the other side crops up!!!?????????

DCN

Pomeroy, Setright, Lauda - excellent if you are in the mood to read a manual.

But for an enjoyable forage amongst things automotive, I have three favourite authors: Denis Jenkinson, Doug Nye and Ken Purdy.

Congratulations on being the sole survivor, Doug!

IMHO, Mr.Nye is one of the WORST motorsport authors I have ever had the unfortunate pleasure of reading.



Oh OK then, I'm only joking!

Originally posted by Bladrian
Pomeroy, Setright, Lauda - excellent if you are in the mood to read a manual.

But for an enjoyable forage amongst things automotive, I have three favourite authors: Denis Jenkinson, Doug Nye and Ken Purdy.

Congratulations on being the sole survivor, Doug!

Oh dear...

Just how do you want him to feel with a comment like this? A minute ago all that he was worried about was 'the other side'...

See what I mean...

You've driven him to drinking!

Careless people...

Ray,

I fear you may be too late.

"One quickly sits back with buzzing brain and shaking hands, and dependent upon conviction reaches for a stiff drink or turns up the Test Match commentary to recover some sense of perspective."

Doug Nye, Autosport, September 24th 1981
on deciphering the number of Maserati 250F's that carried the number 2523. "Yesterday's Cars, Maserati 250F", five page article.

And I don't recall Doug ever talking about Test Matches!
Twenty-One years ago next Tuesday.

Cheers Mate,
Barrie
PS. Favorate book(s)
In company with DSJ's "The Maserati 250F" 1975, an autographed copy of "Famous Racing Cars" by Doug Nye 1989.

No wonder he gets on well with Don...

No, the Maserati 250Fs, not the cricket!

For the record, I do have a book or two of Doug's... but for my purposes the Official 50 Race History of the Australian Grand Prix (Graham Howard, John Medley, Stewart Wilson, Des White, Noel Tuckey, Terry Walker and myself) is the book I consult the most, and Bathurst - Cradle of Australian Motor Racing (John Medley) is the next most important.

Look - this is all very chummy and schmoozie and nice BUT I hope you all appreciate that what one most recalls about books that have helped support one's family over the years is the balls-ups incorporated in them..which left the innards twisted in knots for days once discovered.

Any researcher/writer worth his salt will be more aware of his errors than of the things he might have got right, and he will be mortified and will grieve about them. Or at least in my view he should.

However many errors readers might spot, in my experience the writer will know of more.

Ones seared into my mind - just a few of the zillion - include the late Nigel Moores being heir to the Woolworths family (I meant Littlewoods), like a classic caption which ended up reading "the car is almost probably...blardy-blah", like a wrong date of death (muddled with date of funeral), like a muddle over Le Mans-winning years for Ecosse - 1957-58 instead of 1956-57, like Ferrari's 312PB prototype as crashed at Spa plainly being a different entity to the one then raced at Nurburgring (or somewhere similar) whereas in fact it was genuinely the same chassis rebuilt, like a Jim Hall Chaparral race which we completely omitted, like there only being one Ferrari 125 at the first outing in 1947, rather than two (I subsequently found the factory paperwork relating to Farina trying a second car and deciding it was unraceworthy) ... and so on, and so on, and so on. And then there's the celebrated case of the second John Roberts Lotus 16 frame which I'd only included as a replica in the proof register for the back of 'Theme Lotus', and then Jenks pitched-up at my door saying he'd just examined it, and he had absolutely NO doubt it was genuine. So I altered the entry on page-proof. Wrong!!! At least I was being led astray by well-qualified people, when my fevered brainbox wasn't doing the job unaided...

Tom Wheatcroft has a comfy dictum: "You show me the man who's never made a mistake, lad, and I'll show you a man who hasn't done much..."

In truth that's not much consolation...if you care. So thanks for all this luvvy stuff but let's not exaggerate....

DCN

Doug,

Nothing as awful as a writer telling you the book you wrote is a so&so job (to say it mildly) and could have been done better and then find out when that particular writer took on the subject for a book does that what he blamed you for!
I happen to know somebody who told me that experience and it is that I know this fellow rather well that I believe him because otherwise......
It wasn't you by the way with whom this person had that confrontation and I rather won't go in details if you don't mind but I tell you this: I rate some of your books to the most informative and pleasant reads within my library.

Henri Greuter

Originally posted by Barrie Hobkirk
And I don't recall Doug ever talking about Test Matches!

Does that mean we won't get to hear about whether Don Bradman's bat is original, when the willow has been replaced twice and the handle three times?

Originally posted by ensign14

Does that mean we won't get to hear about whether Don Bradman's bat is original, when the willow has been replaced twice and the handle three times?

No matter. As long as it's got the correct chassis number .....

In my youth I was "de-Nyed", but no more. Thanks Doug for all you've done!



Truly beautiful work. Right or wrong...

Doug - A question I've always wondered....

As a prolific author over many years, do you still have a copy of every book you have written? Are there any that you have lost track of and do not retain a copy of?

Mark

My first Doug Nye was the Autocourse/McLaren book, and a fine one it is, but my favorite is "Racers - The Inside Story of Williams Grand Prix Engineering", a book I've never seen here in the US. I discovered it in a wonderful little store in Brisbane called Drysdale Auto Books.

Originally posted by mark f1
Doug - A question I've always wondered.... ...do you still have a copy of every book you have written? Are there any that you have lost track of and do not retain a copy of?

Mark

There was a book on Carl Benz - or Karl Benz - which I didn't have a copy of for years until my paents passed away and their copy came back to us. Then there's the de luxe edition of the McLaren F1 book which Ron insisted I pay full whack for. On principle I desisted - I wouldn't have minded even a fiver off for the effort involved, but did he write? Did he send flowers? Nothing. On principle he stuck to his guns. No author's discount. So I don't have a copy of that one - in fact I have never yet even seen a copy of the finished edition. I'm devastated...

DCN

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Any researcher/writer worth his salt will be more aware of his errors than of the things he might have got right, and he will be mortified and will grieve about them. Or at least in my view he should.

However many errors readers might spot, in my experience the writer will know of more.

Ones seared into my mind - just a few of the zillion - include the late Nigel Moores being heir to the Woolworths family (I meant Littlewoods), like a classic caption which ended up reading "the car is almost probably...blardy-blah", like a wrong date of death (muddled with date of funeral), like a muddle over Le Mans-winning years for Ecosse - 1957-58 instead of 1956-57, like Ferrari's 312PB prototype as crashed at Spa plainly being a different entity to the one then raced at Nurburgring (or somewhere similar) whereas in fact it was genuinely the same chassis rebuilt, like a Jim Hall Chaparral race which we completely omitted, like there only being one Ferrari 125 at the first outing in 1947, rather than two (I subsequently found the factory paperwork relating to Farina trying a second car and deciding it was unraceworthy) ... and so on, and so on, and so on. And then there's the celebrated case of the second John Roberts Lotus 16 frame which I'd only included as a replica in the proof register for the back of 'Theme Lotus', and then Jenks pitched-up at my door saying he'd just examined it, and he had absolutely NO doubt it was genuine. So I altered the entry on page-proof. Wrong!!! At least I was being led astray by well-qualified people, when my fevered brainbox wasn't doing the job unaided...

Tom Wheatcroft has a comfy dictum: "You show me the man who's never made a mistake, lad, and I'll show you a man who hasn't done much..."

In truth that's not much consolation...if you care. So thanks for all this luvvy stuff but let's not exaggerate....

DCN

I can concur with Doug here. In every significant piece of writing, there are always a few errors even if they are typos,.missing words, etc. It is nearly impossible to write (and print) a perfect book. Some errors arise at the type-setting stage. Others may have been inaccurate information taken from a race report. I find this common for reasons for retirement of a car. I have had several people proof my Masten bio and I was happy that many of my errors have been found (some were pretty funny) but I pissed at myself for making or not catching them because want to produce quality in anything I do. I hate errors and mistakes, they drive me nuts.

Overall, I will say that I enjoy Doug's writings as well as many motorsbook writers. These people aren't breaking the bank writing about motorsports and we should appreciate their efforts.

Originally posted by Doug Nye
Look - this is all very chummy and schmoozie and nice BUT I hope you all appreciate that what one most recalls about books that have helped support one's family over the years is the balls-ups incorporated in them..which left the innards twisted in knots for days once discovered.

Any researcher/writer worth his salt will be more aware of his errors than of the things he might have got right, and he will be mortified and will grieve about them. Or at least in my view he should.

However many errors readers might spot, in my experience the writer will know of more.

Ones seared into my mind - just a few of the zillion - include the late Nigel Moores being heir to the Woolworths family (I meant Littlewoods), like a classic caption which ended up reading "the car is almost probably...blardy-blah", like a wrong date of death (muddled with date of funeral), like a muddle over Le Mans-winning years for Ecosse - 1957-58 instead of 1956-57, like Ferrari's 312PB prototype as crashed at Spa plainly being a different entity to the one then raced at Nurburgring (or somewhere similar) whereas in fact it was genuinely the same chassis rebuilt, like a Jim Hall Chaparral race which we completely omitted, like there only being one Ferrari 125 at the first outing in 1947, rather than two (I subsequently found the factory paperwork relating to Farina trying a second car and deciding it was unraceworthy) ... and so on, and so on, and so on. And then there's the celebrated case of the second John Roberts Lotus 16 frame which I'd only included as a replica in the proof register for the back of 'Theme Lotus', and then Jenks pitched-up at my door saying he'd just examined it, and he had absolutely NO doubt it was genuine. So I altered the entry on page-proof. Wrong!!! At least I was being led astray by well-qualified people, when my fevered brainbox wasn't doing the job unaided...

Tom Wheatcroft has a comfy dictum: "You show me the man who's never made a mistake, lad, and I'll show you a man who hasn't done much..."

In truth that's not much consolation...if you care. So thanks for all this luvvy stuff but let's not exaggerate....

DCN

Doug ;

There is a quote from the "Batman" movie where Michael Keaton says, "We live in an imperfect world." While he was referring to evil, the point remains: We are not perfect.

Doug, I find that your imperfections merely accentuate your humanity, personality and wonderful sense of humor.

You are a great role model for me!

Thanks!

Bobbo

BUT.. having seen Autosport a couple of weeks ago, he is to cricket what W G Grace is to motor racing history.

Bira - Don, can you provide one of these with a bigger head???!

Doug,
any chance you'll be attending the Petit LeMans in a couple of weeks so I can add your autograph to my McLaren book of your's?

Sorry pardon - absolutely none...

DCN

Oh well. Maybe our paths will cross on day. I've gotten several autographs that I never thought I'd get by happenstance and coincidence. Sir Jack Brabham showed up at Rd. Atlanta one year to watch David. He was just walking through the support racer paddock with absolutley no one paying any attention to him. JYS and Teddy Yip were at a CART race. Maston Gregory was managing a team when I saw him.
Anyway...

Let me add myself to this roster of those led astray...

I remember discovering a copy of "Racing Car Oddities" at the Concord (California) Library.

Actually Doug, I don't think you're totally to blame for leading me astray, as I was already well down that road. I mean as an 11 year old, I was plonking down quarters for used copies of 1950's era U.S. magazine SpeedAge to read coverage of AAA Champ Cars and early NASCAR racing.

But Doug, you did help me move on to the harder stuff


Jim Thurman

I have to admit to having one or two Doug Nye books in my library. And I wouldn't part with any of them.

AUTOCOURSE HISTORY OF THE GRAND PRIX CAR 1948-65
AUTOCOURSE HISTORY OF THE GRAND PRIX CAR 1966-85
B.R.M. - The Saga of British Racing Motors (No 263)
BRITISH GRAND PRIX 1926-1976
CHAPARRAL (with Richard Falconer)
CLASSIC RACING CARS
THE COLONEL'S FERRARIS
COOPER CARS
COOPER CARS - New Edition
DINO - The Little Ferrari
THE DONINGTON COLLECTION
DONINGTON COLLECTION OF SINGLE SEATER RACING CARS
F1 REPCO BRABHAMS - Cars in Profile No 3
FAMOUS RACING CARS
FANGIO - A Pirelli Album (with Stirling Moss)
FERRARI - Sixth Edition (with Hans Tanner)
FORMULA 1 LEGENDS
GRAND PRIX - THE CARS - THE DRIVERS - THE CIRCUITS (with Hodges & Roebuck)
THE GRAND PRIX TYRRELLS
GREAT CARS - SPORTS AND RACING
GREAT MOMENTS IN SPORT - MOTOR RACING
GREAT RACING CARS OF THE DONINGTON COLLECTION
GREAT RACING DRIVERS
INTERNATIONAL MOTOR RACING
McLAREN - The GP, Can-Am & Indy Cars - 2nd Edition
McLAREN - The Grand Prix, Can-Am and Indy Cars
MOTOR RACING IN COLOUR
MOTOR RACING MAVERICKS
POWERD BY JAGUAR
RACERS - The Inside Story of Williams GP Engineering
RACERS 1948 - 1968 - The Legends of Formula 1
RACING CARS
RACING DRIVERS MANUAL (with Frank Gardner)
SPORTS CARS
STIRLING MOSS - MY CARS, MY CAREER (with Stirling Moss)
THE STORY OF LOTUS 1961-1971
THEME LOTUS
THEME LOTUS 1956-1986
THE UNITED STATES GP & GRAND PRIZE RACES 1908-1977
WORLD SUPERCARS 1 - FERRARI 365 GTB/4 DAYTONA

What ... no Glory of Goodwood by Mike Lawrence, Simon Taylor & Doug Nye?

Not yet, but I've got a birthday coming up soon so I live in hope.

Sorry fellers...all those accumulated errors, but a girl's gotta live. Can we PLEASE end this thread????

DCN