Rennie Scaysbrook | January 23, 2024
There are two things the modern-day MotoGP gods and those who buckled leather straps for helmets on their heads a century ago have in common: a love of sheer, unbridled speed.
The heady mix of going way too fast for any normal human being binds these people, the utter joy of reaching terminal velocity far outweighing the very real risk of mortality.
However, unlike the boys, we watch every second Sunday, covered in kangaroo leather with airbags and helmets that shear impact forces when you hit the ground, the subjects in the latest book, Racing Hitler, by renowned MotoGP journalist Mat Oxley, were covered by mere dressing gowns by comparison as they endeavored to go faster on two wheels than anyone thought possible.
This was the 1930s and while the world was gearing up for yet another damned war, a select few from England, Italy and Germany were determined to outdo each other in an ever more dangerous race of land speed record breaking.
Racing Hitler dictates how one “skint, plucky Brit,” as Oxley calls him, by the name of Eric Crudgington Fernihough (has there ever been a more British name?) took on Germany’s Ernst Henne, who had direct backing from Hitler’s Nazi Motor Corps, and Italy’s Pierro Taruffi, himself enjoying the backing of Mussolini’s National Fascist Party, swapping the land speed record between themselves over a decade.
Unlike his European counterparts, the British political hierarchy could not have been less interested in Fernihough’s attempts to claim the land speed record for England, a sentiment that has sadly reverberated through history almost to the present day.
Racing Hitler provides a look not just into a time when the term “live fast and die young” meant even more than it does today but also a time when the world was just recovering from the bloodiest conflict in human history, the insane inflation that followed where the price of your meal would change as you ate it, and the camaraderie between nations tentative and soon would be again at each other’s throats.
Lowdown | Racing Hitler, by Mat Oxley
Standout Feature: Oxley’s ability to tell a story quickly and succinctly so well that the book is hard to put down.
List Price: $35.60
An engrossing read about the forefathers of speed
Paints a sobering picture of life post-World War I
The early examples of streamlining really are terrifying
There are a lot more photos of Henne and Taruffi during their actual speed runs, but they had camera crews paid for by political parties at their disposal. Poor Fernihough didn’t have that luxury.
Reader Analysis of Racing Hitler, by Mat Oxley
One has to admire people such as Fernihough, Henne, and Taruffi. Regardless of their political alliances (forced or not), they are the forefathers of every person who strapped on a helmet and dreamed of winding the throttle to the stop to see just how fast they could go.
These guys knew what they were doing was incredibly dangerous, but that still didn’t stop them as throngs of people lined the roads of Europe to see the madness unfolding before their eyes.
Oxley’s account of happenings, told mainly from the British side of things (as one would expect, given the title of the book), gives a brief insight into life on the speed trail for Fernihough. The former Isle of Man TT racer became obsessed with breaking whatever the new record was at the time. From his workshop right next to the famed Brookland’s circuit in Surrey, Fernihough would modify his London-built JAP V-twin to within an inch of its life as he chased Henne and Taruffi across the continent.
Some of the machines, especially the early examples of streamlined machines, are truly terrifying. Henne’s BMW looks at times like a high-speed coffin, yet the German somehow always managed to bring the machine home on two wheels despite engaging in such violent tank slappers it would leave its rider’s nerves shot to bits.
Yet despite the political tit-for-tat between Germany, England, and Italy, given the horrors that would befall the world a few years later, it’s nice to read that Fernihough, Henne and Taruffi had a genuine care for each other. The love of speed crossed political and social boundaries. These were the chosen few doing something special, paving the way for future generations of speed freaks.
Racing Hitler is only 123 pages long and so engrossing that you’ll probably finish it in one sitting. While not as immediately engrossing as Oxley’s (in my opinion) piece de resistance Stealing Speed, Racing Hitler does an excellent job of showing what real mean these guys were, and how with a bit of good old-fashioned hard work and graft, you don’t need a Nazi or Fascist party behind you to become a legend.CN
For ordering info and more about the book, visit https://matoxley.bigcartel.com