Encyclopaedia of Classic Motorcycles by Richard Rosenthal |
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 Back in the seventies Erwin Tragatsch published his Encyclopaedia listing over 2500 marques from around the world, many having disappeared as quickly as they arrived. Some never went further than producing a prototype or even just an advertisement, so an actual machine never made it to the road.It would have been an easy option for respected classic motorcycle journalist Richard Rosenthal to have recreated the above work with the help of Mortons world renowned archive and come out with perhaps an even more comprehensive work. While some extensive detective work may have uncovered a few more names to add to the list, none would have been accessible to the average rider and or collector. Instead what Richard has done is taken just over 850 marques that it would be possible to find an example of somewhere in the world. It may well be that only a single example exists, (such as one bike owned by the author) and the chances of owning some will rely on luck, or a lottery win, but these are bikes that exist in museums, private collections, or more importantly in regular use. Of course amongst the 400 plus pages of exotica and rarities, are more mundane marques that can bee seen at any classic gathering and are within the grasp of most of us. Like any such book there is only space to give a snapshot of the manufacturers existence, with the more prolific getting slightly more space in the well laid out pages, but that does not detract from the quality or accuracy of the information. As one might expect the quality of the presentation too is superb, both in the paper and the layout and the use of some fascinating images from the Mortons archive to back up the text. As a result of the combination of all these points and Richard’s knowledgeable text, this is not only a useful and important reference work it is also a good read and can quite happily sit by your favourite chair to dip in and out of. If you are a classic bike fan, live in the real world and have regularly read Richard each month in the Classic Motorcycle, this really is a must have book. ISBN 978 906167 27 1 Available directly from Mortons at £35.00 Call 01507 529529 or visit www.mortonsbooks.co.uk/eocm Review by Ian Kerr
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