Brm - a Mechanic‘s Tale

The Mechanic’s Tale is the story as told by a man who was both a devoted fan and a loyal team member of British Racing Motors. He saw firsthand the repeated failures and humiliating times of the 1950_x0019_s, from the gradual progress of winning minor races, to Jo Bonnier winning the first World Championship Grand Prix in Holland in 1959. The team gained the ultimate honour in 1962, when, in East London, South Africa, Graham Hill drove the BRM to victory to win both the Drivers’ World Championship and the Constructors’ Championship for the BRM team, thereby making a considerable contribution to British motor racing history. Probably for the first time, criticism is levelled at both Louis Stanley and the introduction of the H16 engine as contributory factors to the failure of British Racing Motors – Louis Stanley for his freeloading extravagance, and the rather foolish decision by the management to specify such a complicated and bulky power unit. This book is a fascinating insight into the British motor racing industry of the ’50s and ’60s.

About the Author :
Richard Salmon was born in the small village of Irnham, in Lincolnshire, where his parents kept the Post Office and village store. After attending the village school and Grantham Boys Central School, he served an apprenticeship in a local garage. He was conscripted into the Royal Engineers in 1944, serving in South Iraq, and was demobilised in 1947. He later applied successfully for a vacancy at British Racing Motors, where he worked in the racing team for 17 years. After being made redundant in 1967, he took a job at Lotus cars for 3 years. Another redundancy was followed by a job at Perkins diesel engines, and then, due to his wife’s illness, he went to work at the local factory of Fiat-Allis. This factory was eventually closed down by Fiat, coinciding with closure of BRM, and Richard was then recruited to rebuild BRM cars for sale by Christies at Earls Court in 1981. He subsequently went into partnership restoring historic cars until his retirement.

Review :
This the BRM story told by a man who was both a devoted fan and a loyal member of the British Racing Motors team. Seen purely from a mechanic's point of view this account of BM is complimentary. The book reads as a personal account of Dick Salmon's life with BRM in a scrap book style format packed with photos from the workshops, back rooms and candid pics of paddock life in the 50s and early 60s. Not all of it being glory and good times! But all the same it is a fascinating read and insight from the era through good times and bad! - Autoaddicts.co.uk. This book is candidly written from the heart, showing the author's lifetime's passion inside the sport. And illustrated with many photographs showing life in the road and mementos picked up along the way, like programmes fronts, armbands and even a payslip of the time. All adds to the feel of the by-gone era and the story represents. - Chequered Flag Services. This is a book best described as delightful and charming. A different world. A good read. - www.silhouet.com. An inherently fascinating and impressively informative read from beginning to end. - Midwest Book Review. This is a very readable 'mechanic's eye view' which, despite its already well documented subject, manages to shed new light on one of the major F1 teams of an often turbulent period. – Speedscene.