Recommended reads

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For the vast majority of us, the ongoing worldwide pandemic means that riding is not really an option. So, time to settle in a comfy chair, pour a glass and open a good bookโ€ฆ Hereโ€™s few to get you started.

Words: JAMES ROBINSON

Colin Seeley
The machines,The magic, The man

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This new publication comes with an immediate disclaimer โ€“ I put it together, so while I have of course read it, I did it while I was collating it.

Colin Seeley died earlier this year, leaving behind a legacy as one of those people whoโ€™d done so much; heโ€™d been a racer, a dealer, a manufacturer, a team owner, plus all manner of non-motorcycling activities too, including running a Formula 1 team (for his teenage associate Bernie Ecclestone, no less) and superbly successful charity, in honour of his late first wife Joan.

This book doesnโ€™t pretend to be the definitive story of Colinโ€™s life, works and career; heโ€™d already done that himself, with his two-volume autobiography, published in 2006 (part one) and 2009.

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What we have here is a largely pictorial work, drawing on the fabulous Mortons Archive, especially some of the lovely Nick Nichollsโ€™ work โ€“ thereโ€™s some great colour action pictures, including Mike Hailwood in action on a Seeley G50 in the late 1960s and like-mounted Ron Chandler, also resplendent in colour, at the bottom of Bray Hill.

Thereโ€™s plenty more too โ€“ including the great-looking Seeley Hondas of the 1970s โ€“ and some more modern pictures of Colin too, including when he was reunited with his father Percyโ€™s Series A HRD Rapide at Stafford.

Having been fortunate to know Colin for the last decade and a half โ€“ during which we discovered weโ€™d attended the same primary school, coincidentally! โ€“ it was lovely to put together, looking through some great images and finding out some brilliant facts.

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Call 01507 529529 or www.mortonsbooks.co.uk to order; it costs ยฃ7.99.

Read more Reviews, Letters, Opinion, News and Features at www.classicmotorcyle.co.uk and in the June 2020 issue of The Classic Motorcycle โ€“ on sale now!

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