Engine Punk

The beast at bay I am currently researching Vincent motorcycles because Nick Hob, the Horsepower Whisperer and central character in my book of that name, rides a highly modified one. The reputation of the Vincent stands head and shoulders above any of its contemporaries. When introduced, it was the fastest production roadster on two, three or four wheels - and that probably includes some aircraft as they take off and land. This is an example of the very first Vincent V-twin, the series A Vincent-HRD Rapide. Legend has it that the two Phils, Phil Vincent and Phil Irving, were in the drawing office one day when a breeze caused two blueprints of their recently introduced 500cc single to land one upon another in a vee formation. The potential was obvious and, once Phil Irving had designed a new crankcase, the machine became an awe-inspiring reality. By adopting an angle of 47 degrees between the cylinder barrels, the same tooling for the single cylinder versions could be used. ...

I took me ages to get hold of this little book again I've got a stack of post-Christmas reading to get through but this slim volume is what is currently receiving my attention at the moment. I first encountered Alfred Hitchcock's The Monster Museum in the library of Goonhavern County Primary school. I would have been no more than eleven. However, some of the short stories have stayed with me over the years and while I was researching something else on Amazon, I stumbled across this little beauty for sale at a penny. How can they trade at that sort of price? So here it is, in my hands again, after all this time. My favourites still are (in order of merit) The Microscopic Giants by Paul Ernst, Slime by Joseph Payne Brennan, The Day of the Dragon by Guy Endore and The King of the Cats by Stephen Vincent Benet. I was searching for The King of the Cats and although the King of the Cats is not really a monster it's a good yarn. I was interested to see that a children...