My Life in Motorsport: His Final Autobiography

Very good book

A must for any enthusiast's bookshelf

"Cars Cars Cars Cars" published by Hamlyn in 1967 was one of those prized volumes that any car-crazed youth would have had on his bookshelf a few decades ago. Not many would have appreciated that exactly 40 years earlier the author, S C H Davis, had driven a damaged 3-litre Bentley to victory in the Le Mans 24hr race."My Lifetime in Motorsport" charts Davis's long and adventure-filled career not only in motor-racing and rallying, but also as a journalist, author, illustrator, and vehicle tester. The manuscript of the autobiography was left unpublished on his death in 1981 on his 94th birthday.Painstakingly edited by Peter Heilbron, it presents a unique portrait of a man obsessed with speed and the mechanics of propulsion.Educated at Westminster and the Slade School of Art, Davis's first job in 1907 was on the shop floor at the Daimler Motor Co. where he learnt how cars were put together and was given the sobriquet "Sammy". He was then employed by The Automobile Engineer as an illustrator before joining The Autocar in 1919 where he remained as an editor until 1950.He saw active service in both world wars, the first which left him wounded and contemptuous of high command, while the second prompted him to lie about his age in order to join the advance into Germany.Throughout his life he continued his motor-racing and international rallying activities. He was a founder of the Veteran Car Club of Great Britain and the Aston Martin Owners Club. Apart from Derek Bell, he is the only Englishman to be made an honorary citzen of Le Mans where a street still bears his name.He is characteristically self-deprecating concerning his achievements and touchingly frank over his failures, mainly in his personal life: a broken engagement, a marriage ending in divorce but which produced a son, Colin, himself a racing driver.The account is liberally spiced with amusing anecdotes, including an unwelcome homosexual advance. There are also some more poignant and reflective passages, especially those concerning his second wife, Susie, fifty years his junior, and his religious doubts.The autobiography is complemented by the inclusion of Davis's vehicle test Log Book beginning in 1913 and ending the following year with the outbreak of the war. In those days, to be an expert driver meant being an expert mechanic as well. The cars, their ailments and the running repairs are all meticulously documented in this appendix.The book includes a copious collection of previously unpublished black and white photographs as well as a selection of Davis's own cartoons and sketches.