15 replies to this topic

[Lemnpiper]

I'm seeing reports that Mr Yates has died  due to complications  due to ahlzhiemers.

 

 

  Controversial at times  in his writing style , you gotta give him props for his ablility to point nout nuances in  the races he covered  many fans might not pick up on.

 

And he created the Cannonball .

[E1pix]

RIP Mr. Yates, your Legendry will last a very long time.

I reveled in his great commentaries (with the late Steve Evans) on The Nashville Network's show "American Sports Cavalcade." Whether covering sprint cars, motocross, drag racing, Trans-Am, boat racing, or mud boggers, Brock always did his homework and enticed viewers with diverse stories and deep insights that made one think he only covered the genre of that day and had been forever. He had a rare gift that displayed his love of sport and commitment to viewer education and entertainment.

Thank You, Sir, you will be sorely missed. :-(

[john aston]

By some of us over the pond too- people like David E Davis, Yates and Henry Manney had a huge influence on our motoring press , as a little  later on, , did the estimable Pete Lyons 

[2F-001]

Seems like a really sad way to ends one's days - and most distressing for his loved ones - especially for someone of such focus and depth of thought.

I only really discovered Yates's writing when, in the 80s, I began collecting 1960s Car and Driver magazine. Even then it took me a while to appreciate those transatlantic influences that John mentioned (above). I believe many readers in the UK thought the US motoring, racing and journalistic spheres to be wholly alien and unrelated to what happened over here.

(It's a shame the Car and Driver design ethos of that era didn't make it over here - even ten years late it might have wrought improvements!)

I have just dug out a 1966 copy of C&D to read a Yates piece. And then, doubtless, much of the rest of the issue. Work here is going to start a little late this morning...

[Sharman]

By some of us over the pond too- people like David E Davis, Yates and Henry Manney had a huge influence on our motoring press , as a little  later on, , did the estimable Pete Lyons 

Particularly Henri B. Gentilhomme and Brock "The Assassin" Yates

[RA Historian]

He was controversial, and many times a lot of people did not agree with him. But they read his material, which caused them to think in greater depth than they would have done otherwise. Mark of a good writer.

[D28]

Sorry to hear the news, Not only did he create the Cannonball, but won the first run with Dan Gurney in a Ferrari 365GTB/4. I enjoyed his writing on this story and many others over the years. He faced the terrible final disease with great courage and candor, writing his column as long as he was able. He will be missed wherever good automotive stories are.dreamed up and written about.

[Craven Morehead]

Rip Brock Yates. I grew up reading Yates and DED Jr in C & D. Both gone now, just underlines how we are all aging.

[fbarrett]

I, too grew up reading and admiring Brock's work. Eventually I met him, on my first-ever press trip in 1982, where I met many other writers whose work I had admired (Davis, Batchelor, Mandel, Hogg, Levine, et al). Somehow Brock learned that the airline had lost my suitcase, so he very kindly loaned me a sport coat for the imminent cocktail party and dinner. Underneath the blustery surface, he was a real gentleman.

 

Frank

Edited by fbarrett, 07 October 2016 - 16:47.

[B Squared]

Brock Yates also did the intro narrations for an old Speedvision series called "Faces of Victory" - a video history of the Speedway in the 1950s and '60s.

I especially enjoyed his Car & Driver write-up on he and Gurney's run in the Cannonball; my parents bought a 1971 Euro-spec 365GTB/4 a few years after their exploits, we often commented how neat the coast-to-coast run in such a machine would have been to do.

Respect and best wishes to family and friends.

[Jack-the-Lad]

Brock Yates was part of the finest writing team in the history of automotive journalism, in my opinion, during the David E. Davis, Jr., era at "Car and Driver"........Yates, Davis, Jan P. Norbye, Warren Weith, Jean Shepherd, Bruce McCall (who is the inspiration for my signature line) and others. They wrote about cars and car enthusiasts in new ways...clued in, irreverent, not beholden to advertisers. Together they simultaneously ignited my interest in great cars and great writing.

Yates, like Davis, did more than write about cars and car culture, though. He actually got out and did it.

He's sorely missed.

Edited by Jack-the-Lad, 06 October 2016 - 21:13.

[Doug Nye]

Sorry to hear this sad news.  I hardly knew Mr Yates, I never read much of his work, but we did correspond on occasion and spoke on the telephone.  Sincere condolences to his family and many friends.

 

DCN

[JacnGille]

Sad news

[Dave Ware]

My condolences to the family. 

 

I re-read "Sunday Driver" every few years, and would recommend it to everybody. 

[Glengavel]

My condolences to the family. 

 

I re-read "Sunday Driver" every few years, and would recommend it to everybody. 

 

I picked up a copy in a bargain bookshop many many years ago for 50p or so. Think it's in the big box of books in the garage, must dig it out.

[B Squared]

Robin Miller at Racer:

http://www.racer.com...k-yates-tribute