Thousand Mile Trial, by Elizabeth Bennett. 376 pages, 450 illustrations, full colour throughout. 8.5 inches x 11 inches. ISBN 0-9537930-0-1. Published by Elizabeth Bennett, Heathfield, E. Sussex, U. K. Price: £35.

That great pioneer motorist, the Hon C S Rolls, recognised this in the very year when this epic and courageous undertaking took place, saying that while the people took no notice of bicycles passing them at 20 mph, the new motor vehicles shocked and alarmed them, as they were seen to be driven by curiously-garbed men at 30 mph, the cars propelled by a force they did not understand and raising clouds of dust and emitting a smell they disliked.

It was to try to dispel such prejudice that the drive round England and into Scotland was organised, a bold event indeed. So important was this event that you might think its story would be easy to find. Yet my experience has been otherwise. Articles in the motoring periodicals, yes, in later years, and some references to the Trial in the older motoring books. But hardly a full account of an absorbing piece of vital history. Enough was known of it to want one to seek more - how did each individual autocar fare, what were the problems of running such an elaborate and innovative happening? Now it has all been made clear, in Elizabeth's book.

Having said that, although this is a very beautiful publication with wonderful treatment of its vast quantity of very rare pictures in colour, and otherwise skilfully laid out so that it would not disgrace the finest of coffee-tables, it is vastly more important than that. The fascinating story it unfolds in those large pages is bound by intimate details of some of the cars which ventured on this great journey. The author reminds us that although the most recent Road Traffic Act had been reasonably kind - or kinder - to those who wished to travel without animal horse power, few autocarists had driven their primitive contraptions more than 100 miles in a day. The Automobile Club was now asking the Participants to subject their prized possessions to cover ten times that distance and endure the critical scrutiny of the aforesaid public, en route...

Given this situation, the number of entrants can be regarded as remarkable. Obviously there is a full list in this comprehensive book. But it is what became of the intrepid pioneers on the Trial which is the main appeal of the story. Before it is commenced the scene is set, with excellent pictures, of horse-drawn traffic, handsome cabs and omnibuses, redolent of Sherlock Holmes' London, and of the cars that preceded the Trial, from Argent Archer and Elizabeth Bennett photographs, the latter largely of cars taking part in "London to Brighton" Runs. Then we read of how Claude Johnson took on successfully the enormous task of organising the Trial, with the support of other motor pioneers and the Daily Mail. The route was to run from London to London via prominent towns around England and Scotland, turning at Edinburgh. Claude Johnson went off on a complete survey of the proposed route having borrowed a 5 ½ hp Critchley Daimler from its makers and accompanied by the young Montague Grahame-White.

Thus the opening of the book's real purpose is set, with remarkable documentation of the preparations required, both in text and pictures, leading to the theme of the rest of this quite irresistible history. What happened to each individual participant, how difficult developments were coped with, how many finished, and especially what effect did this ambitious Trial have on motor car technical advancement? With what I know must have been painstaking dedication, Elizabeth has set it all down, in such readable, exciting form, for those of us with a taste for how early motoring was conducted, in her own words and with extracts from the first motor books and magazines made to come alive in pictures, reproductions of documents, period postcards, the regulations, the route, the prizes, even the insurance policies - a complete look at a then, in 1900, quite unique happening.

I have thought it unfair to quote long extracts when reviewing books unless this is necessary to entice potential readers to buy the product. In the case of Elizabeth's monumental study this is not necessary, as the subject is clear. So I will content myself at a general look at the contents of what, when I received it, was a breathtaking experience, because of the high quality and stylish presentation of the 376 page volume, from the aspect of the very fine illustrations, top quality paper, and the aforesaid quotes and other inserts, which so well embellish this aged, but this ageless, topical subject. The modest price was another surprise. I want to say how flattered I am to have been asked to write this.

There are other surprises for the reader to enjoy. The extent of the prize-fund list, an unexpected colour picture of the supplies of Pratt's motor spirit awaiting the autocars at a point on the route, (some 250 gallons were required each day), the city of Lincoln stated in The Autocar that it hoped to be included and that its "roads are good" and, for example, praise for police in Gloucestershire, Manchester, Bradford and Berkshire, in contrast with those of some other districts. Part of the book is composed of reproductions of contemporary reports, some of which are amusingly contradictory, but 42 pages are devoted to a reproduction of the official 1900 Programme, and the sections following describe each day's run and the hill-climbs and tests incorporated. Altogether a magnificent tribute to those who took part, and the two-page picture-spreads I can only say are, in that overworked word, "terrific". Bringing things closer, a picture reminds us that Mr St John Nixon, who went on to the Trial at the age of 14 on the step of S. F. Edge's Napier, repeated the 1000-mile Trial in 1950, 1960 and 1970, driving an 1899 Wolseley, the one Herbert Austin used for the original event and which is now in the British Motor Industry Trust's Museum at Gaydon. I marshalled on one of Nixon's re-enactments, amused that some timeprior to his first he had pontificated, in a letter to the Press, that veteran cars were public heirlooms and should never, ever, be subjected to take rigours of further road running! I could not resist recalling his extreme view for the benefit of Motor Sport's followers but few, if any, today hold such ideas .... Which brings me to the happy point that Elizabeth Bennett's book is coming out at absolutely the right time, as the VCC HQ Event in Millennium Year is to be the impressive recall of the Trial of 1900.

So, warmest congratulations on an outstanding book, able to rank proudly alongside far more expensive motor-titles