Reid Railton: Man of Speed

By Karl Ludvigsen

Foreword by Ronald Ayers MBE - Preface by Sally Railton Joslin - Design by Simon Loxley

'At last! Here is the biography of an automobile engineer. Motorsports literature is well served with biographies and autobiographies of drivers but the engineers 

who make the sport happen are seldom acknowledged. Reid Railton was not 

just a designer. He was the best of his generation and, in my opinion, the best automobile designer of any generation.'

Ronald Ayres MBE, Chief Aerodynamicist, Bloodhound SCC record car

Reid Antony Railton, Cheshire, England-born automotive engineer par excellence, created an extraordinary range of cars. He rose to renown during the 1930s as chief engineer at Thomson & Taylor, Brooklands-based racing-car builders. There he realized the dreams of that era's top men of speed, including Tim Birkin, Malcolm Campbell, Whitney Straight, John Cobb, Raymond Mays and Goldie Gardner. His great cars powered them all to sensational racing and record-breaking success.

EVRO Publishing is proud to present this magisterial two-volume work by one of the world's foremost automotive historians, who tells Reid Railton's personal and professional story in superb detail and fascinating depth. Set against the turbulent background of the 1930s and 1940s, its special focus is on Ludvigsen's interpretation of Reid's unique insights - amounting to genius - and technical accomplishments. All are illuminated in 1,000 images in the book's superb design by noted graphic artist Simon Loxley, a frequent collaborator with Ludvigsen.

Supported wholeheartedly by Railton's daughter Sally Railton Joslin, 'Man of Speed' is the first book dedicated to the life and career of automotive engineer Reid Railton and includes:

• Record-breaking on land by evolving Railton-designed Blue Bird cars for Sir Malcolm Campbell, smashing the 300mph barrier in 1935.
• Designing and building chassis and suspension for the celebrated ERA, working with Raymond Mays and Peter Berthon.
• Creating the great Napier-Railton, with which John Cobb achieved the fastest-ever lap at Brooklands in 1935 and set numerous long-distance records at Bonneville.
• Railton's supreme engineering achievement, John Cobb's land-speed record challenger, takes the record ever higher, culminating at Bonneville in 1947 with 394.2mph - which remained unbroken for 16 years - and a one-way speed of 403mph.
• Multiple outright world speed records in numerous classes with Goldie Gardner's Railton-revised MG EX.135 both sides of the war.
• The lure of speed on water: designing two successful record-breaking boats for Sir Malcolm Campbell and John Cobb's Crusader, which exceeded 200mph on Loch Ness in 1952 moments before imploding fatally. Reid guided Donald Campbell to racing success in prop-riding Bluebird K4.
• Road cars too: working with Parry Thomas on the Leyland Eight supercar of 1920-23, his own Arab sports cars of 1925-27, road-going Railton automobiles from 1933 to 1939 and a decade of top-level consulting for America's Hudson Motor Company.
• In WW2 working with America's Hall-Scott on high-powered engines for Britain's fast patrol boats.

Author: Karl Ludvigsen is respected as a close and knowledgeable observer of, and participant in, the world motor industry. In addition to his activities as an executive with GM, Fiat and Ford and head of a consulting company, he has been active for over 60 years as an author and historian. As an author, co-author or editor he has some five dozen books to his credit, most concerning cars, drivers, racing and technology, his life-long passion. Many have been garlanded for their high standard of writing and research. He and his wife Annette live in Suffolk, England.

Book specifications: Two hardback volumes in a slipcase * 280x235mm * 2 x 424 pages * Illustrations: 1,000 photographs, including color * Word count: 275,000