Author: Racing Daydreams
Colin Johnston is a complex case investigator who brings his professional skills to bear, together with his 40 years of study, in his role as motorsport historian and storyteller. Whether it is writing on this website & elsewhere, fact-checking & identifying historical events, curating social media, appearing on TV & podcasts, or acting as a consultant or advisor; Colin strives to share his experience & knowledge in the spirit of good-humour and generosity
Observe the Sons of Ulster: Paris-Madrid 1903
County Down, Ireland: September 1916 Responding to deft touch, the Sopwith Strutter prescribes a shallow arc from Carnalea. Barely above the telegraph wires. No conscious check of bearing – instinctively the pilot dips a wing, and there… K and the children are at the homestead. Waves, and kisses blown. Banking right over Helen’s Bay. Swinging […]
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Race to Disaster – The Ards TT
The phone vibrated on my office desk. A glance to see the notification… email… subject line, “TT Film”. Curious, I locked the work laptop and read the message… it was about the Ards TT. Dear Colin, I came across your website in the course of doing some research for a film I am making for the BBC […]
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Elliott Zborowski – Death on the Corniche
1 April 1903, the motoring greats were set for the literal high-point of Nice Week – the hillclimb from Nice to La Turbie. 1903 was planned and expected to be a huge year for the sport, and Mercédès in particular. There were 12 of their 60hp machines in Nice, including a brand-new one for Count […]
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Avenues & Alleyways – The 1903 Mercédès Limousine
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then what value a location? To stand on a street corner and watch the world scurry past. To stop and smile at the thought of the excitement, innovation, history that once filled a space, so mundane today. The Mercedes-Benz entry for the 1952 Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo […]
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Ici Repose Jean Behra
Follow tramline 1 in Nice towards its northern extremity – until it is just you and some shoppers heading to Saint-Sylvestre. Hop off at Gorbella – walk past Lidl & Monoprix. Take a left, up the hill – to Mont Claire Virenque – and there opposite the lycée you will find Cimetière Saint Barthélémy… and […]
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Friderich, Père et Fille – Bugatti, Nice
It’s 24 February 1932 – the event is the Rally Paris-St Raphaël Féminin – the woman is Renée Friderich. She is 20 years-old, and today – as her friend & mentor Hellé Nice sets fastest time – she will lose her life at the wheel of this Delage D8-S. It was a bad accident, perhaps […]
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Bill Mason’s Finest – Racing Mercedes
How lucky we are that film-maker Bill Mason shared our passion, and used his talent & time to leave a legacy for future generations. From the outset, that first Shell film of the 1949 British Grand Prix, Bill’s work attracted & inspired followers of motor racing. Increasingly, as the decades have passed, the films have […]
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25 Good Fridays
Early morning, car packed with coats, and boots, and maps. “Any word?” CB turned down to hear the morning news No word. Laughs, and songs, and cigarettes And roads, and friends, and craic. Tape, and crowds, and whistles And the cars. King Fisher Blue. No word. Break it down, pack it up and enroute, FAST […]
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The Road to Ballyshannon – Gordon Bennett
It’s not so much raining as there’s more humidity than the sky can bear. It pattered down most of the night. Now it hangs in the air – spritzes as you walk. I quietly leave the rooms, grab a cap from the car, and walk to the town square. Past the Gordon Bennett memorial plaque, […]
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Chasing the Ghosts – Gordon Bennett
I’ve always considered ‘Racing Daydreams’ to be an attitude. The willingness to look beyond presented information, armed with some knowledge and an empathy for times & people past. How better to explore and take joy from our sport? Similarly approached, locations too can rattle the senses. Standing in silence at the top of Dundrod. Inhale […]
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