Richard McCann

Exotics such as Bugatti, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Ferrari and Maserati mix it with Fords, Austins, MGs and many more in a roller-coaster of blow-ups, crashes, fixes, bodges, bleeding knuckles and speeding tickets This is a collection of often hilarious true stories from the 1920s to the present day, written by enthusiasts, for enthusiasts.Funny, informative, thrilling, inspiring and heart-warming. You can almost smell the 5-star fuel and the hot Castrol R During the past few decades the values of classic cars have skyrocketed. Many popular models are now priced well beyond the reach of most regular enthusiasts, unless they were fortunate enough to own - or have access to - classic cars when they were little more than cheap transport for youngsters and eccentrics This book brings together tales, not of investors and playboys, but of ordinary 'car people'. Call them what you will: Petrolheads, car guys (and gals), Gearheads... we all know what we are and we can recognise a fellow 'sufferer' in seconds.There are stories here of help from mums and dads, of winds fixed with filler, and engines botched together just well enough to survive another week's motoring. There are stories of intrepid foreign adventures, of racing, sprinting, rallying, and just plain getting down and oily with the machines we love.So fold down that main screen, adjust the little 'Aeros', stick on your goggles and join us for a high-octane ride from the past to the present Richard McCann has spent a lifetime collecting, restoring and racing many exciting vintage and classic sports cars and racing cars.In this book he brings together a collection of stories from the 1920s to the present day, involving the exploits of enthusiasts from all walks of life - but all 'car crazy' and each with a great tale to tell

Richard McCann's account of his childhood became a massive UK bestseller. In it he told the harrowing story of how he and his sisters were left motherless when the Yorkshire Ripper killed his first victim, Richard's mother Wilma McCann. Just A Boy was praised for its unflinching and unself-pitying account of a neglected childhood at the hands of an abusive father and uncaring authorities. The Boy Grows Up is an account of how Richard used the success of Just A Boy to try and save his sister, and of his attempts to make sense of his past whilst learning more about the effects of traumatic childhoods and loss.

In these ten interwoven stories, two adolescent brothers face a world in which their father has suddenly died, a world dominated by their beautiful and complicated mother. Thirty years later, one of the brothers-the only remaining survivor of a family he seeks both to leave behind and to preserve in words forever-narrates these precise and heartbreaking tales. Suffused with the beauty of Richard McCann's extraordinary language, Mother of Sorrows introduces us to an elegant writer like no other in contemporary fiction.

One October night in 1975 Richard, aged five, was alone in the house with his three sisters. It was 3am and their mother hadn't come home yet. Next morning, the police arrived to take the children away. Their mother had become the first victim of a serial killer soon to become known as the 'Yorkshire Ripper'. Passed from one violent home to another, the children were forgotten by all except the press. As the salacious headlines multiplied, Richard and his sisters were never able to recover from their mother's murder. Whilst Richard tried to handle the terror of his violent upbringing, his sister struggled to deal with memories of sexual abuse. Without love or support they spiralled away from help or happiness. Then one day Richard McCann, having reached suicidal rock bottom, decided no one was going to rescue their lives but him. It was the beginning of an inspirational transformation. Now he is able to tell the story of how the forgotten children of violence suffer, and how they can heal. A heartbreaking, uplifting story of survival and hope.