Backfire

Alan Clark was passionate about cars from an early age. Tory MP for Plymouth Sutton from 1972-1992 and Kensington and Chelsea from 1997-99, he dealt in "classic" and vintage cars, and soon built up an impressive stable of his own. Back Fire, the title of a column he wrote in Thoroughbred and Classic Cars magazine, ran for three years until his death in September 1999. This is his story, complete with contributions from his elder son James, and widow Jane.

Alan Clark was passionate about cars from an early age. He bought his Eton without a driving licence. By the time he was 24 he had been banned from driving three times, not only for speeding but in one instance for driving an open Buick Roadster with a girl on his lap. He dealt in "classic" and vintage cars and soon built up an impressive stable of his own. One of his first published pieces of journalism appeared in the US magazine, "Road and Track", for which he was briefly UK correspondent. "Back Fire", the title of a column he wrote in "Thoroughbred and Classic Cars" magazine, ran for three years until his death in September 1999. Here Robert Coucher, former editor of the magazine, has collected Clark's motoring writings, among them previously untranscribed diary entries and some early memoirs, including driving his own R-R Silver Ghost in two Alpine rallies.