Subject: [TR] A new book with an interesting Standard-Triumph flavour

From: JOHN MACARTNEY <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 6 Apr 2026 20:53:02 +0200

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<html><head></head><body><div style=3D"font-family: Verdana;font-size: 12=
=2E0px;"><div>A week or so ago, I was laid low in bed for a few days with a=
n oddball infection and urgently needed something &#39;interesting&#39; to =
read=2E Fortuitously on the same day I took to my pad of moss and leaves, a=
 copy of a book written by my great friend and former Standard-Triumph coll=
eague arrived in the mail=2E I knew it was imminent and it could not have c=
ome at a better time=2E I read it in one hit=2E Then I read it again and th=
oroughly enjoyed it just as much the second time around=2E</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>The author is one Peter D=2E Cole who I first &#39;met&#39; when I wa=
s working at the Coventry plant and Peter had just come into central London=
 from the company&#39;s main Service Division in the west London suburbs=2E=
 I was then moved from Coventry to the London showroom in 1967 and Peter an=
d I became close friends and colleagues, sharing a mews cottage with anothe=
r colleague, Roger Maingot, who later went on to work for Ferrari and after=
 that as Managing Director for Rolex watches=2E It&#39;s unusual for three =
guys to be happy and&nbsp; fulfilled when working together, let alone livin=
g together as well - but the three of us &#39;had a ball&#39; in the London=
 of the swinging sixties=2E The early part of Peter&#39;s book, called <str=
ong>&quot;Driving Success&quot;</strong>, addresses some aspects of Standar=
d-Triumph life (he mentions both Roger and myself) but the main guts of it =
is the development of his career selling Bentley and Rolls Royce cars from =
prestigeous showrooms in London&#39;s West End=2E Peter has truly amused me=
 on many occasions during our long friendship and his sometimes outrageous =
observations of people comes through in very carefully worded sentences in =
what he has written=2E I so vividly recall him once describing to me a cust=
omer who came in to buy a TR5 who was very shabbily dressed, in urgent need=
 of a shower and deodorant as <em><strong>&quot;looking and smelling rather=
 like an out of work Greek goatherd!&quot;</strong></em> On another occasio=
n, his&nbsp;description of a potential customer with chronic acne on his fa=
ce was <em><strong>&quot;rather like talking to someone with a facial compl=
exion&nbsp;akin to a paper bag full of burst plums!&quot;</strong></em></di=
v>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>All that to one side, this is a charming and fascinating book that ce=
rtainly opened my eyes to the somewhat eye-watering inefficiencies of Rolls=
 Royce and Bentley products before the companies came under BMW and VW cont=
rol=2E You&#39;ll enjoy it because it&#39;s Peter&#39;s very successful&nbs=
p; career, while giving exposure to some of the hurts and problems that lif=
e threw at him - as it does to all of us from time to time=2E The details o=
f the book if you decide on a copy (and I recommend you do) are as follows:=
</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Title: <strong>DRIVING SUCCESS</strong></div>

<div>Author: <strong>Peter D=2E Cole</strong></div>

<div>ISBN #: <strong>978-1-9193807-4-2</strong></div>

<div>Publisher: <strong>MEREO BOOKS</strong></div>

<div>Web URLs: <strong>www=2Ememoirsbooks=2Eco=2Euk</strong> AND <strong>w=
ww=2Emereobooks=2Ecom</strong></div>

<div>Book type: <strong>Paperback, 145 pages</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>It retails in the UK for GBP9=2E99 (US&#36;14=2E50 approx @ GBP1 =3D =
USD1=2E45) but I&#39;m not sure if its available yet via Amazon=2E If you c=
an&#39;t find it listed for the US and Canada, I suggest an email to <stron=
g>info@mereobooks=2Ecom</strong></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Absolutely no financial interest on my part in any accruing sales and=
 I&#39;m just so pleased that my dear friend has (yet again) recounted stor=
ies of his very successful automotive life and made me laugh - as he did so=
 often in the past, bless him=2E The story of Peter and Roger Maingot joint=
ly driving and delivering a Mk3 Spitfire in fully de-toxed condition from L=
ondon to Athens in Greece (which journey took about a week just to get ther=
e) for a customer who was usually smashed out of his head on booze at any t=
ime of the day, is worth the book price in itself=2E Buy a copy for your au=
to library=2E You won&#39;t be disappointed=2E Sorry for the length but <st=
rong>DRIVING SUCCESS</strong> deserves a much wider readership than I feel =
the publisher has fully taken on board=2E</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Enjoy</div>

<div>&nbsp;</div>

<div>Jonmac</div></div></body></html>

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