Frank Gardner’s classic book, Drive to Survive, was first published in 1980 (and sponsored by Avis Rent A Car). Inside the ‘Dean of Driving’ told us mug punters how to drive safely and smoothly, with special reference to the muscle cars that were then widely available. At that stage Frank had retired from racing and was manager of the Allan Grice Craven Mild Racing Team and a performance driving instructor. Having raced everything from Ford GT40s to Formula 5000s to Camaros and Mustangs in Britain, he knew what he was talking about. He wrote as he spoke, with his famous dry wit.
“The next step is to convince your ego that maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to give yourself a few driving lessons,” he writes in the intro. “I will never cease to be amazed by the people who rolled up at the advanced driving school with their collars all turned up like someone out of the shadows in a James Bond film because they were dead scared of being spotted having a driving lesson.”
There was practical advice too. Gardner’s design for a simple left footrest that would help drivers maintain balance while cornering at speed was widely copied. It works too.
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