The BritishV8 Pub

If you're a fan of BS Levy - columnist, novelist, humorist, and ride moocher - now might be a really good time to pull up his website and order one or two of his books.

Burt ("BS") Levy has a brand new book out! It's called The 200 MPH Steamroller. He self-publishes, so I'm sure he's probably out on a limb a bit with production costs. Steamroller is the FIFTH book in the series Burt built from "The Last Open Road" - which IMHO stands as a classic coming-of-age story. (MGs and Allards feature prominently in the earlier books. You'll love them. Buy extra copies for your friends. My wife Lisa loves these books and your wife will too.)

Burt has been having a tough week. In a remarkable turn of events, the SVRA (Sportscar Vintage Racing Association) has just black-listed him on the very thinnest of pretenses. That's remarkably stupid because... if you remember reading an article about a vintage race in North America in the last two decades it was almost certainly written by Burt Levy. (More about the SVRA carfuffle here.) I'd never imagined that anyone could be persona non grata at an SVRA event. Go figure! Anyhow, I'm sure Burt could use a little extra cash and a few words of support to help him along until the dust settles and cooler heads (at SVRA) prevail.

Curt,

I received Burt's email about the "carfuffle" (which is a much kinder word than he used) and agree. I can't imagine an organizer trying to prevent a writer from reporting what he saw during a race. It's just ridiculous. I'll be buying his latest book at Lime Rock next month, but would've done it anyway without this issue. Love his stuff!

read through the emails on Burt's site; that is some messed up stuff. I won't be spending my money on SVRA events until those cooler heads do prevail. And I'll be buying a couple copies of his book too. One for me and one for Drew.

200mph Steamroller part one was released a couple of years ago.

His newest epistle is a continuation of the book and will reportedly (well, we all know Burt) be the last of the LOR series.

Burt posted this on his Facebook page today (8/11):


Burt Levy
1 hr ·
Just want to thank everybody for their support. Glad it's over and I'm really overwhelmed by all the folks who rallied around & made their voices heard. It's kind of amazing what Public Opinion can do when it gets up off its fat, lazy ass. THANK YOU ALL!!!!!!!!

Pretty interesting and thought-provoking set of circumstances. In the years that I've been to the Hawk at Road America I've always been amazed at the wheel-to-wheel racing that almost never results in damage to any cars. Yes, once in awhile but it's the exception. I missed the year with the huge wreck on the front stretch. So, it's interesting that SVRA is pushing the pro-am angle with guest drivers. I know a lot of the Group 6 cars must be owned by deep-pocket types, but how many wrecks will happen before the owners tire of it? Not many, I'm guessing. It's one thing for a rich guy to wreck his own car, but to stand there and watch someone else wreck it has to be painful. End of the day, the Parella guy is trying to turn vintage racing into a big business, which in my mind changes the whole nature of what it was to start with. And honestly, makes me less interested in it.

Of course, Burt still makes a living writing for periodicals. I still plan to collect the set. I have the first four plus the Potside Companion (all autographed to me).