Blogs

The Self-Porter Press Society, by Matthew Field

When Philip Porter and I first sat down to chat about the possibility of producing a book to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Italian Job – neither of us could  have imagined the incredible jo...

BRP’s Indianapolis Swan Song, part 1

BRP’s Indianapolis Swan Song by Ian Wagstaff ‘I like to be in America’ – Leonard Bernstein, West Side Story The British Racing Partnership can be recalled as an equipe of historical significance. I...

The Richard Heseltine Column - The Joys of being a Motoring Writer

He was a bear of a man – half grizzly, half teddy. “What seems to be the trouble?” he asked, we’re guessing rhetorically. “You picked a great place to stop,” he blithely continued, as though we’d ...

Surface to Air to Surface Missile

Porter Press author Ian Wagstaff has revealed there are depths to his character of which even his colleagues know nothing. Here we plumb the punning depths to reveal all. We begin this in-depth inv...

'Le Mans '66' reminiscent of Steve McQueen's 1971 movie about the race

The premiere this month of the movie Le Mans ’66 (titled Ford v Ferrari in the United States) brings the startling realisation that it’s almost half-a-century since the release of Steve McQueen's f...

Matthew Field: My life with 'The Italian Job'

Above: Matthew Field speaking at the Royal Automobile Club during The Self Preservation book launch. Photo by Mark Lewis Photography. Throughout the summer I have been busy promoting my new book T...

Behind-the-scenes skullduggery with Porsche’s Group C racers

Did teams racing Porsche’s 956 sports-prototype step the wrong side of the line between technical ingenuity and cheating? And while the 956 and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, appeared to...

A Mini Italian Job Celebration in Cowley

Opening with a filmed message from Sir Michael Caine himself, the Italian Job evening at the MINI plant at Cowley got off to a cracking start. Sir Michael even revealed that he learnt to drive at t...

You're only supposed to sign the bloody books!

On the evening of May 30, a very distinguished panel of personalities assembled at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall to launch The Self Preservation Society - 50 Years of the Italian Job, the...

Falling-out with Ron Dennis led to Gordon Murray’s greatest design

Annoyance at decisions made by McLaren chief Ron Dennis was enough, in the end, for designer Gordon Murray to walk away from the world-famous company in Woking and establish his own enterprise. Se...