The Legends of Bob Gerard

An inquisition into one of the funniest and most original racing books ever written

All hell is about to break loose at the Gerard residence. Young Julian is attempting to make up a model grid of the British Grand Prix, circa 1952, with his collection of Dinky Toys. Not having enough red F1 cars to fill the grid, Julian paints a spare Cooper-Bristol in the Italian racing color and pretends it’s a Maserati.

But Uncle Bob, who always refused to drive or race anything other than British cars, seriously objects to Julian’s new color scheme. “Explain to me why it is in red. And not British Racing Green as God intended.”

Julian objects, bravely, “That Cooper-Bristol is one of eight Cooper-Bristols you have given me since year dot. I didn’t think you’d mind me painting just one in red.”

Aunty Joan enters. “For God’s sake Bob, are you still chuntering on about that bloody Cooper-Bristol,” she said in a sort of a ‘here we go again’ taunt.

Thus, in the first few pages, Julian Gerard and co-author (and famed composer) Pip Greasley capture the essence of the three main protagonists of Not Another Pit Stop, Uncle Bob and Me as Recalled by Julian Gerard, Age 7 7/8. * One gets hooked immediately.

We received the book from VeloceToday subscriber Ed Hull, who thought that we might enjoy reading it. Strangely, is was a two-sided softback, one half upside down from the other, a hint of things to come. So I began reading, only to be reprimanded by my wife Mary who told me I was reading the book upside down. Shades of Aunty Joan. “Only the first half,” I replied.

Fact, Fiction, or both?
There are three things one should keep in mind when approaching this work:
1. One side of the book is devoted to the early years of Julian Gerard, who via Pip Greasley, weaves a hilarious, very British, semi-fictional narrative of life with Uncle Bob and Aunty Joan circa 1946-1955 as Bob campaigns a now vintage ERA against Maserati and Alfa Grand Prix cars. The other side (upside down) is a factual autobiography by Julian Gerard at age 77 7/8 and covers the later years of his life and his own involvement with motorsports.
2. The first half, call it 7 7/8, is very, very funny, in a genre not known for outstanding humor.
3. Reading it will immediately drive one to find out much more about the subject, Bob Gerard, and you will seek out a copy of Mr. Bob, the life and times of Bob Gerard by Porter Press.

VeloceToday readers are generally fact-obsessed and rarely interested in racing fiction but this is in a class of its own. According to co-author Pip Greasley, “I would say that over 80% of the content was based around things that actually happened and many of the references were included more as a literary device to capture the flavour of the era.”

Writes Julian Gerard, “The early years section was written by Pip and is largely fiction. What it does do though is portray the different approach to motorsport just after WW2. Most of them had endured a horrid time and those who could afford it were determined to enjoy it no matter what risks were.”

As Julian and Pip begin to relate the story of his ‘Uncle’ Bob and ‘Aunty’ Joan, we learn they were not actually his Uncle and Aunt; Uncle Bob was his Dad’s cousin, not brother. But that was a small point as Julian was spending a good deal of time with the childless Bob and Aunt Joan on racing weekends and travels in the UK and the continent as they participate in the British Grand Prix (with Bob placing second with the ERA against Ferraris, Talbots and Alfas). The scene shifts to Monte Carlo, where the effervescent Joan would travel with her Bristol and stop at ritzy hotels and fashion shops. She was described as:

“Aunty Joan, a glamorous, complex and high maintenance woman without whom Uncle Bob would have been the poorer…or richer? Aunty, bless her, was always at the trackside supporting Bob in his ventures around Europe. And she was a fairly fast mover in her own right.”

Writes Greasley, “The key to telling this Uncle Bob story is in Aunty Joan’s relationship with the young Julian. Whether Julian is aged three, five or seven is irrelevant as his presence is there purely as a story telling device and has to be viewed in that context. It’s that generation gap from the boy’s perception that matters. It enables us to explore events like the Nice Grand Prix of 1947, the 1948 Prix de Nation, and the British Grand Prix of 1950 from a boy’s viewpoint.”

Julian and Pip conjured up special nicknames for a large cast of characters. Some were obvious, others not, and few were ever clarified. Who was Swerving Moth, Susie Sausage, Lord What What, Ron Flashart? Got to be pretty keen on postwar British racing history to get them all. The text is a series of short vignettes, character sketches, anecdotes and always humorous even if fictional. But the descriptions of “Amazing Ray” (presumably Raymond Mays) are probably right on the mark, as were comments on Cross Moss.

Now at 77 7/8
The second half of the book (s) is in Julian’s own write and tells us more about Julian himself, and how he established his own racing career, running a team of Renault Clios with a good bit of success. There is an encounter with Steve McQueen, and a love-hate affair with a Bright Run veteran, an AC Sociable tricar which was steered from the rear seat, resulting in more hilarious adventures.

The art by Laura Jeffcote is as unique and colorful as the author, and is fitting for a work of semi-fiction. She can be found at:

Home

For hundreds of illuminating photos of Bob and his entourage, one must turn to yet another book about Bob Gerard.

Mr. Bob, The Life and Times of Bob Gerard

I was hooked. Who were these characters, what did they look like, and what was the real story? The more I read the more compelling and interesting they became.

I knew a bit about Bob Gerard in general. But encouraged by 7/78, I hastily found a copy of Mr. Bob, a great book done with the help of Gerard’s relatives, Peter Vale and his sister Sue, who felt that Bob deserved a good biography, and asked Graham Gauld to help. I devoured the book. Unlike Julian’s it was chock full of photos, Swerving Moth, Amazing Ray, Susie Sausage, Aunty Joan, and every car Uncle Bob ever set his beloved Bunty in. And every race, every event, every finish with a complete index and an appendix with results. Thorough, a complete biography. Suddenly most of the mysteries presented in Julian’s book were solved. And, most of the text was credited to ‘our own’ Graham Gauld, while the good guys at Porter Press contributed greatly.

Mr. Bob not only tells of the life of Bob Gerard and his many race victories (and dramatic second places), but traces the history of the four ERAs Gerard bought and raced. For Bob Gerard, far from being just a happy go lucky independent, was a very serious race driver, team manager, and engineer, who ran the family business, Parr’s, which was a center for the repair and sale of trucks in Leicester, UK. Recounted in great detail are the preparations made to the aging ERAs before and after every race, which resulted in very few retirements. This and a well-planned race meant that Gerard could run the ERA longer if not faster than the Maseratis and Ferraris of those early post war years. Once totally out-classed, Gerard outfitted a Cooper with a Bristol engine and continued to do well in major events. The rear engine revolution was a bit of a sticky wicket though, and he never really got the hang of rear engined race cars.

Can’t have one without the other…

While Mr. Bob is fact-filled, with hundreds of very impressive photos and complete statistics, the first half of NAPS, while often inaccurate, is a fascinating perspective that adds so much to the legend of Bob Gerard.

Get them both if you can. I guarantee that you will not be able to put either one down.

Order Not Another Pitstop here:

Mr. Bob is out of print but can be found at Amazon.

*The title is a reference to the ability of the Gerard ERA…a prewar car…to soldier on through postwar Grand Prix races, being very reliable and despite being supercharged, very good on fuel. Gerard could keep going while others stopped for fuel or tires or mechanical ills or oil. And if he could keep pit stops to a minimum, he could place well or even win, defeating the dreaded Maseratis and Alfas.

But, apparently, there was a bit of a bladder issue. Writes Julian, “Unlike other drivers who came into the pits to take on exotic fuels, Uncle Bob would do the exact opposite. ‘Without those blasted piss stops I’d be World Champion,’ he once lamented.”

This obstacle resulted in the invention of a hot water bottle named ‘Bunty,’ an in-car device for relieving himself while in motion. Bunty would feature hilariously throughout Julian’s travels with his Aunt Joan. We’ll let our readers determine whether or not this is fact or fiction!