Petrol in My Blood – trade enquiries
Petrol in My Blood is selling so well! And we are starting to get enquiries (and orders!) from bookshops which is incredibly exciting. Originally, we had thought that the book would sell primarily online (that being the way of the world these days) but we didn’t realise that so many people prefer to browse in bookshops and buy from them. (This was such a mistake by me, the kid who used to be called a ‘bookworm’ by her mum!) And it’s not just bookstores that are...
Read MoreDavid Benson’s article about his arrest
In the article I wrote about the PR team from Ford Motor Company being arrested in Africa, I erroneously said that there was only one newspaper article about it. I was wrong. You’ll recall that one of the people arrested in the Congo was David Benson – then a reporter for the Daily Express. I believe that he was their motoring correspondent. I’ve found an article by him, written shortly after his release and return to the UK. You can see part of it above. As you can see,...
Read MorePress quotes from Eric Jackson and Ken Chambers
I have a book of press-cuttings collected by Ford Motor Company during the race between the Ford Corsair and the Windsor Castle. This was sent to my dad by Walter Hayes – hand written in the front of the collection it says “Well done! The best publicity ever. Kind regards, Walter.” Here are some of my favourite quotes from the cuttings: “We got very fed up of people pointing guns at us” Ken Chambers “For three days in the Congo, all we ate was a small tin of...
Read MoreThe pretty girl on the docks at Cape Town
I have a small cupboard which is full of Eric Jackson memorabilia including photographs, newspaper cuttings and the laboriously hand-written manuscript. Some of the photographs have my dad’s handwritten notes on them – and they make me laugh to say the least. What I’m doing on this site is telling you some stories that haven’t made it into the book so hopefully you’ll like this one. When I came to live in the USA in 1994 I went to see my brother in his office...
Read MoreGuns and tear gas
Thinking about it, guns are featured a great deal in Petrol in My Blood. After all, in the lawless wilds of the Congo, darkest Africa, wartime Berlin and Barnsley … yes, it was in Barnsley that my dad suffered his only serious gunshot wound … guns were definitely necessary. In 1968, it turned out that my dad even had a gun collection at home much to my mum’s horror a) because she didn’t even allow sharp kitchen knives in the house and b) it ruined a carefully...
Read MoreRosie’s Bar, Monte Carlo
In the mid sixties, my dad took us on holiday to Northern Italy. It’s quite possible that he’d just done a rally in Italy, they often used to determine our holidays. I’m not quite sure what his ‘system’ was but I do remember that when there was prize money involved in a rally, we’d usually go to that place for our annual holiday the next year. (Stash the loot in a local bank? Pre-pay the hotel? I’m not sure…) On that Italian holiday, he...
Read MoreHow’s the book going?
I’m glad you asked! This last Christmas, my dad received the proof copy of his book, Petrol in My Blood. Exciting! I have a copy in front of me and it’s fabulous. As you can see from this website, we have some great photographs – I think the first one was taken in 1931. That’s my dad, Eric Jackson, Marathon Man himself, on his horse, Flash. Bareback, notice. (Shameless plug – you can read about Flash in the book). Oh yes, the book. We are in the closing stages!...
Read MoreOuch
Did you see the accident that Anthony Davidson had at Le Mans yesterday? That was a scary one. It was good to see that he got out of the car unaided, that’s for sure. Today’s news though is that he has damaged vertebrae and my dad knows all about that particular injury. It wasn’t at Le Mans that Eric Jackson had what he calls ‘The Big One”. It was on the Chieftain Rally in 1973. Don Barrow was the navigator on that fateful rally. You can read about it here. Of...
Read MoreThe great meat pie race
Eric Jackson is a member of Ecurie Cod Fillet – an elite club composed of rally drivers from days gone by - or as he calls it ‘the old farts’ club’. Shortly after the success of the Corsair v Windsor Castle race, this was published in the Ecurie Cod Fillet Gazette. The Great Meat Pie Race To coincide with the opening of their new meat pie factory, Messrs. Warbuttons, the famous Chuckabutty manufacturers from Knotty Ash, decided to test the sales slogan of their...
Read MoreCortina d’Ampezzo
The Ford Cortina was named after a place called Cortina’d'Ampezzo in northern Italy. The town is in the Dolomites (wasn’t there also a car called the Dolomite many years ago?) In 1964, Ford Motor Company were enjoying huge success in many forms of motorsport, particularly with the Cortina. Eric Jackson had won the British Rally Championship (and of course had used a Cortina the previous year when he broke the London to Cape Town record), Henry Taylor was the British Touring Car...
Read MoreMud, glorious mud
Racing around the world, driving Cortinas round bobsleigh runs, competing in rallies, driving across the Sahara desert, racing ocean liners… you’d think that when Eric Jackson had a day off, he’d mow the lawn or something. But no. Eric’s idea of relaxation was yet another form of motorsport – trialling – a sport he considers one of the most difficult. Here’s a piece from Motoring News: When he’s not selling Fords in Barnsley – lots of...
Read MoreGeorge Hinchcliffe – London to Cape Town
Most people know that Eric Jackson and Ken Chambers broke the London to Cape Town record in 1963. Even those who weren’t born at the time have probably read about it on the internet, in one of Graham Robson’s excellent Ford books or in one of the many specialist Ford enthusiasts’ magazines or classic car magazines that retell the story every so often. Some people may also know that the record was broken – after 47 years – in 2010 by a three man team from...
Read MoreEdgy Fabris
As the public affairs manager for Ford Motor Company, Edgy (Edgill to be accurate) Fabris was closely involved in Eric Jackson’s marathon drives. Eric writes: Edgy Fabris was a colonial ‘Colonel Blimp’ – a very nice friendly guy. He had been brought up in one of our far-flung parts of the British Empire. This is written on a note attached to a letter, written on Ford notepaper, to Eric from Edgy dated 2 June 1967 – very soon afer his ordeal in the Congo when...
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