It’s me, Mark Stone, and in this episode of the Backseat Driver Podcast, I reflect on the extraordinary life of Alan Stacey, a racing driver who overcame immense adversity to compete at the highest level of motorsport.

I’m joined by Alan McGregor Stacey, who shares personal insights into his uncle’s life, character, and the lasting impact he had on the Stacey family. We explore Alan Stacey’s deep connection with Lotus Cars, his innovative mindset, and the determination that defined his racing career despite losing his right leg.

The conversation also touches on the tragic events of the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix, where Stacey lost his life, and how his story has been remembered within the family over the years. Through these reflections, a picture emerges of a driver whose courage and passion left a lasting mark on motorsport.

This episode is a tribute to a largely forgotten figure, ensuring that Alan Stacey’s story is recognised and continues to inspire future generations.

Mentioned in this episode:

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I'd like to welcome to the backseat driver Alan Stacey.

Or just to make sure we know who we're talking about or talking to Alan McGregor Stacey, because we're going to chat about his uncle, his racing driver, uncle Alan Stacey.

Just to add to the confusion a little bit.

Alan Stacey was probably the most unlikely racing driver.

He grew up on a farm, he had no money, and we all still know the feeling.

And he lost his right leg in an accident that wasn't his fault whilst riding a motorbike and went on to become a very, very successful racing driver, mainly for Lotus.

He had a passion for Lotus.

And nobody to this day really knows how the accident happened, but we may find out a little bit more because I'd like to now once again welcome Alan McGregor Stacey to the backseat driver.

Welcome, Alan.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Marcus.

A pleasure to be here.

Right.

I mean, it's like we were saying, a lot of racing drivers, once something happens, once you stop or once something happens, the memory of them fades very quickly at times, is a shame, but it is the nature of motor racing.

But I mean, what sort of influence did Alan Stacey, the racing driver, have on you and the rest of the family?

And when was it you realized who your uncle was?

Gosh, a good question.

It was just ubiquitous, that there was always a picture or a car or someone to talk to, people asking questions.

So I never really knew a time when he wasn't part of my life, whether it's a, you know, portrait hanging on a wall or.

Or someone asking questions or talking about him.

But I don't think, you know, when you're a child, you only have one reality.

So, yeah, I don't think it really kind of dawned on me until probably I was an adult.

And it started becoming a question that was asked more and more as I played around in motor racing and other things.

But my father was a successful powerboat racing driver, so a lot of the conversations tended to divert onto him when we were at race meetings.

Yeah.

But, you know, this is one of the huge advantages of having a professional publishing house do the book.

I was probably just far too close to the subject to have an objective, independent view of the story.

Yeah.

I mean, has Alan Stacey.

I mean, has his.

As the racing driver, Alan had a continuing influence on the Stacey family?

Yes, I think so.

Yes.

Probably subliminal sort of in the background, subjects that didn't want to get raised because obviously a tragic death at a young Age, it's something you want to probably bury a little bit but yeah, I think there was a background but it was never vocalized, there was never.

And you know he drove a car so you ought to or anything like that.

Yeah, but his memory was kept alive but you know it wasn't you know like a worshiping an idol or anything that was, it was a bit more low key than that.

Now the irony was Alan grew up in a age that was far more innocent in many ways.

I mean he came from a farming background and like we said before we went on air it was the accident that gave him the money to go and do it.

But he'd had a passion to want to race before that, hadn't he?

Yes.

Building up the speed wagon as it's shown in the book at such a young age, taking relatives and family round a racecourse on a farm with a bodged up.

Are the bits special made from the scrap yard on the farm.

I mean he was.

Well they're all speed man, the whole lot of them but he was especially keen and some of the pictures of their book show how young they were.

Barely able to reach the steering wheel.

The one thing that would have taught him of course subliminally would be handling, wouldn't it?

I mean if you start driving, I mean I did it when I was a kid, I used to get the keys to my grandfather's Land Rover and Range Rover given to me.

He owned a lot of land and off you go and play about and all of a sudden you suddenly you realize years later that it taught you the basics of handling a car.

Absolutely.

I was lucky enough to have a similar experience in an old Land Rover as a youngster and I think yeah, a muddy farm track with a bits for bits are special.

And the first version of the speed wagon didn't even have tires on the wheels.

So car control just probably got absorbed naturally as you say.

And then as they progressed the wagon I gu.

Engineering came in as well.

Yeah, self taught engineering before he went to De Havillands on the apprenticeship.

I mean that would have helped a lot because I mean how did he develop his passion for Lotus?

Because I mean Lotus at that time was a fledgling company.

Yeah, absolutely.

But that's a very good question and we're not sure we've got an exact answer to that.

I don't think there was an epiphany but if you look back at the magazines of the time Colin was starting to make a name for himself.

You know they were having some success with the Lotus 6.

Obviously the Lotus 11 became very successful, so that was a no brainer.

But I suspect the first car, the kit car, the Lotus 6 was a cheap way of getting into club sport and see how it went.

The Lotus eleven decision was probably, oh, Chapman's being quite successful now this looks quite radical, let's go for a much more competitive car.

Because the Lotus 60 only raced for one season.

Right.

Because I mean the beauty of the Lotus six was, and I've known one or two other people who started out with very similar Lotus, if you bought it as a kit, you avoided paying certain taxes on it.

So it was actually a cheap way of getting a sports car.

Absolutely.

And then you've got the flexibility of which gearbox and engine etc.

That you want to fit to your chassis.

And I mean did he build it on the farm?

He did.

There was another farm that my grandfather purchased for various reasons to expand the farm.

He actually built it in the workshop of that new acquisition.

There's some pictures in the book of Pete Ashdown using it to rebuild his car later on after an accident.

But yeah, it was built over the winter there with Michael.

My uncle, his brother helped him build the kit car and I think that's where they were both practical farming and engineering skills came to the fort and they put the Climax engine in and built a very competitive car.

Yeah, great way to go, you know, go racing.

And borrowed a trailer, had a trailer from the farm and then borrowed their father's car to get to the.

So even though he'd come into a bit of money, I don't think he was looking to spend it straight away, if you see what I mean.

But I mean, I conclude he, both Alan and the rest of the family realized that there was a talent there.

Yeah, I think that that was probably coming from some results and then as soon as he got into the Lotus eleven, that's when the consistency and the better results came along.

So I guess the, the six sowed the seed and the compensation check from the motorcycle accident allowed the funds and then Colin's success and support and then obviously later on becoming a team B Lotus driver where he had access to parts and etc.

So I guess it's stages, isn't it?

Any motor racing story starts with an opportunity.

See how it goes.

Success, breed success.

Now the one thing he became renowned for was, and it's something I've always admired is this because though in my career I drove very big, quite large engine cars, Alan achieved phenomenal success and a reputation racing and winning in small engined cars and I've always said if you can get a small engine car and you drive it right you will equal the performance and at times outperform far more powerful machinery.

There is something very satisfying about racing small engined cars and I conclude but I conclude for Alan it was a necessity that he draw small engine cars.

Yeah I guess that's where the opportunity came but yet you're absolutely right how he had the, the sort of the delicacy that you need to operate a low capacity car with a false leg.

I don't know.

I've interviewed a couple of people who've had injuries or had artificial limbs and raced and they just don't no idea how Aaron achieved it but I don't know.

Bill Basson was there with a false arm, Aaron there with a false leg.

He drove a car for.

You'll see in the book a car for a gentleman who had a false leg from the war.

I guess they were surrounded by people with handicaps and this, that and the other but yeah tremendous delicacy with a leg that didn't really work properly.

The other fascinating thing is as well he controlled the throttle on a.

More with a motorbikes twist grip attached to the gear lever and every time when I was reading the book I thought how the hell did he manage to achieve this?

Because ultimately he would have been driving one handed all the time.

Yeah I, I guess it's, it's.

It's hard to know.

I, I wish, I wish you still have to ask him but yeah we, we're mystified I think the Lotus six didn't even have that adaption so his first racing impossible to work out how on earth he controlled the throttle with a tin foot.

It's hard enough driving.

I've drive my pickup with walking boots on and it just feels very strange to have no sensation coming through the foot.

Must be hard to explain, hard to understand but somehow he adapted and I hoped so.

And I mean you often ponder as to what Chapman's reaction to this was or as I said Alan didn't regard his handicap as a handicap.

Now I said well I can only surmise that Chapman was of a similar mindset that he can drive we just have to put the throttle somewhere else.

Yeah I, I guess also there was some element of scrutineering in medical checks at certain events so I, we do suspect that the, the, the handicap was probably played down as much as possible simply because it would have been a problem at some of the international events and there are stories about how they tried to wangle that in the French events, but I guess so.

But I think the afterword that's ring written by Clive Chapman is just a perfect insight, I think is a section where he says, my father was never one known for his charitable gestures when it came to motor racing.

And I think that's right.

He must have looked on Alan's results and that's, that's all he really cared about.

Yeah, because it's like you said, Chapman was in many respects ruthless.

In a little bit like Enzo Ferrari, it was the car that was the thing and not the person driving it.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

And I should, you know, going back a little bit, we should recognize the talents of Bill Bass and his mechanic that really, you know, prepared the car with Alan and probably kept him alive because these were fragile vehicles and Alan didn't have many accidents from component failure during his earlier career.

The extraordinary talent and great commitment and.

As I said, driving these small engine cars, I mean the one thing you realize when he drove for Chapman that he would say like B team, he'd go to a circuit, go to an event and all of a sudden his car would be taken off him and given to somebody else.

So I conclude that the hand throttle was detachable or the hand throttle was there, as was the standard throttle.

Well, absolutely, and there's a great picture in the book of that someone else has taken and it shows the cockpit of the Le Bon car without the bodywork on it.

And that's also a shared vehicle.

They were racing in the same event with people with able bodied and then handicapped.

Yeah, so and we haven't quite got to the detail of how that was disabled, but I guess it wouldn't have been that hard.

Well, I mean his rise through Lotus and racing was quite impressive because I mean, as I said, he was actually.

He became a Formula One driver.

He drove Lotus's F1 cars.

What was the family's reaction to all this?

It's difficult.

I think my uncle, aunt and father sort of point out that, you know, they were all busy with their own lives.

They all had their own careers and racing programs and everything.

And Alan was sort of rising to the top, but they didn't see him so much.

He was just away a lot.

Racing, qualifying, practicing, traveling.

In those days, you know, Argentinian Grand Prix was, I think eight different plane journeys.

It was not like it is today.

So I guess again it was the reality.

They were busy with their own lives and Alan was becoming a bit of a star.

But that was just.

He was just still the brother.

To us, he looks like a star, but if you've been brought up with him, it's just.

Yeah, yeah, he's doing all right now.

Let's get on with things.

Yeah.

I mean, you were never fortunate enough to meet him, were you?

No.

I was born a few five years later.

So the reason I.

The reason I got his name is my grandmother wanted the first grandson to take on the name, and I was the first boy that was born after his death.

So sadly, no.

And I guess I wouldn't have remembered much if I'd only met him in the first few years anyway, but eternally grateful to my mum and dad and some other members of the family who've kept archives, photographic archives and paperwork, even right the way down to the compensation check.

So that.

That's the basis of the book.

The decades of material that were kept in boxes that Kevin is so fantastically put into a book.

I mean, that's the one thing the book is.

It heaves with photographs because, I mean, Alan was.

That's a great thing, especially the back of the book.

He traveled all over with a camera and he's taken photographs of other famous.

I mean, the thing is, they always say if you're taking the photograph, you're never in it, but, I mean, you realize, I mean, a great friend of his was Ennis Ireland and Christian Ireland.

His daughter's a friend of mine.

And from the sounds of it, Ennis was really deeply shaken when Alan was killed at Spa.

Yeah, yeah, that was a huge even.

I think I met some.

I interviewed someone and they met in his.

In the.

In the 80s, the late 80s, and he was in tears recounting the story then.

So, yeah, I think there are stories of inners disappearing because he was due to drive at Le Mans the following weekend and he just couldn't face it.

So, yeah, extraordinary for such a hard man.

Ex paratrooper, hard as nails, survived all sorts of accidents, but clearly they'd already created a fantastic bond between them.

So, yeah, tragedy, Absolute tragedy.

And how Ines carried on driving, I don't know, but they were tough people in those days.

Damn site tougher than the current crop.

I must come.

I always have to get the digging about the, shall we say, somewhat namby pamby nature of the bulk of the modern F1 drivers, because, I mean, somebody says, oh, he's nudged me off the track a bit.

You think?

Stroll on, pal.

In the good old days, you'd have been flying over the barriers.

Yeah, they did have to drive differently because they were such a perilous event.

And I should say I've got to just chip in here slightly.

But I was fortunate enough to start the research for the book about 15 years ago when Sir John with more and many other people are still alive.

So it was.

That was a wonderful way to get to know my uncle from people who were his friends and to record some interviews and pick up some more material that Kevin and BHP have put into the book.

So I was lucky, which I have one regret is wish I didn't done this.

The research tweeting even more people are available but.

And I'd love to have met Ines and all that sort of part.

We can't make regrets for ruin the opportunity so superbly.

My uncle and aunt, our father, mother, was superbly grateful to BHP for putting all this together and for them a chance to read it and contribute to the book as well.

So I get the feeling from that the book was your idea.

Yeah, I guess I was gathering information and I think I met lots of people and I was super excited by it.

But I, you know, looking back, I just don't have the talent.

I'm not an author and as I said earlier, I'm just too close to the subject, I think.

I don't think I could have put this book together in a million years.

Yeah.

So how did Kevin Guthrie come on board?

They've got another book that we've talked about earlier that examining drivers that have lost their lives far too soon.

Forever young.

Forever young, yeah, it's fantastic.

And my father picked up a comment on Facebook and said, oh, could you.

Alan's got some material on Alan's career.

Could we put it in the book?

And that's what Kevin was contacting, got in contact with my father and started understanding how much material we had and how much research had been happening and the interviews and the archives and the albums.

And he said, I'll tell you what, could we do a book on Alan on his own?

So we thought, fantastic.

Caught up with Kevin, came down to stay and the rest is history.

In a very short time, we managed.

To launch the book with Kevin writing it.

What was your role in it all?

I.

The simplest answer is I dumped.

We dumped Kevin a whole load of cardboard boxes with dusty archives and interviews and all that sort of stuff.

And he put that into a book.

Interviews I'd done with de Havilland ex colleagues and best men from Weddings and all that sort of stuff.

And he pieced that all together.

So really credit goes to Kevin for making something out of an absolute mess, really.

But, you know, also, Kevin looked at the photo albums completely differently and then highlighted, as you said earlier, Alan's ability behind the camera to take pictures.

And there's some wonderful.

Chris pictures of Chris Bristow and Phil Hill and.

And.

And the cars of that era have never been published before, but they were just.

It was just a hobby for him.

Yeah.

I mean, one thing I was going to say, I conclude a lot of these images have never been seen by the public before.

No, I can't remember the 260 images in there.

I think there's probably 220 that have never been published.

Yeah, something like that.

So, yeah, it's a remarkable achievement to get so many pictures.

But we did agree with Kevin earlier.

Kevin was on board, obviously, but we thought a pictorial book, once we had.

Once he saw how much information we had, a pictorial book rather than a dry racing history, was the way forward.

I mean, it's impressive that the Stacey family have retained this incredible archive.

Is there one particular person responsible for this?

Because I'm not being funny, lots of things like this would normally have been thrown away.

Yeah, sadly, quite a bit got.

My grandmother was a bit upset, obviously, and quite a lot of.

Bit of material and other things did get destroyed soon after his death, but my mum's probably the main one, she's.

Mum and dad have kept the archive and the meticulous.

Ridiculous about it.

Yeah.

So.

But then also my.

My cousin has inherited my uncle's photo album and we've been gifted a photo album by Mick Rowley's wife, widow and she.

She's got lots of pictures of Alan because they were great friends.

So once the word got out that I was looking into the subject, material started coming out of all sorts of places and.

And stuff is still coming out.

I mean, think since we've talked about launching the book, we've been contacted by a guy who shared a desk at school with Alan and was actually at Spa on the day of the tragedy.

So, yeah, incredible.

Well, what's still coming out at 92 is just with memories and little anecdotes.

I mean, besides the bits and pieces, I mean, what do you still have, like his trophies and things like that?

We have some.

His favorite trophies interred with him, but we have some early ones from Brands Hatch and this, that and the other.

And then the one he won at Nurburgring, it was a class victory that he shared the Elite with again, another car they had to adapt for shared drivers on a strange circuit.

But we have some but not all.

Yeah, for various reasons they got split up amongst the family and got lost or destroyed by various things.

But yeah, lucky to have an archive and lucky to have something at.

So that's now with the family and on the road and taken to events like Goodwood and Silverstone and stuff.

So a lovely little bit of history there still within the family and used.

Good.

I mean, do you ever get to drive it?

It's here, it's with me, it's in our car storage facility, so I get to see it every day as I go to work.

But no, lovely.

It's been to Goodwood 20 odd times and the Silverstone Classic as it was, and driving around the New Forest, it's quite fine.

Fly screen, drum brakes, cable operated, that's all you need, about 30 miles an hour, you feel like you're flying.

And I conclude it doesn't have a motorbike throttle anymore.

It'll be a conventional pedal car for.

Want a better term?

No.

And actually the pictures we've got show that he didn't adapt that car for some reason, which is even more of a mystery how we managed to race it.

But there are cockpit images that we've managed to track down and there isn't a twist grip adaption.

So maybe that's something that him and Bassin came up with when they got the first Lotus 11.

Yeah.

I mean, is the car more or less as Alan built it?

Yeah, dad.

Dad put a.

Not the original, but he got a Climax engine and cable operated drum brakes, as I say, and kept all the.

As many old panels that the previous owners had kept.

Some things had been modified, but they took it back to as original as possible and then the only concession was that they put a road cam in the engine rather than a race cam.

Yeah, because we're never going to race it.

So, yeah, no seat belts, no nothing.

It's back to its original as far as you can do it.

Have you ever had the urge to race or as any other member of the Stacey family, apart from your father of course, who was a Powerbolt racer.

Have any other members of the Stacey family ever had the urge to race?

Yeah, I think there was.

My uncle did some time trials and my godfather as well, they played around and I played around a little bit with Minis and Caterhams and go karts and power boats and stuff.

But Alan was the successful one.

Dad was very Successful in water and then Alan was successful on the road.

So I had all the motivation and everything, but I didn't really have the ability.

And also it's primingly expensive.

So.

Yes.

Now, the one thing is, like I said at the start where we started chatting, his accident at Spa has remained relatively unexplained, hasn't it?

Yes.

I think that's partly because of Moss accident during practice when the hub failed on his Lotus 18.

The organisers decided to ban spectating from the fast back.

Sick of Spa.

From then on, there weren't really many witnesses as to what could happen in any of the events.

Yeah.

Then obviously on top of that, no one ever analyzed an accident nowadays.

Obviously there'd be full analysis, but those days they swept everything up and got on to the next race.

Yeah.

I mean one strange explanation was.

And it does happen, he was.

His helmet or his head was struck by a bird.

It has happened.

I mean Jim Carr famously, French Grand Prix had to sit out, I think qualifying or something.

But it does happen.

I'm.

I always, in my research, I always felt that the bird explanation was very convenient.

Yeah.

Given all the other things that were going on with Taylor's accident and Moss's accident and the fragility of the 18.

Anyway, I felt.

And there's some other things that happened afterwards, I thought that doesn't really smell right, but I don't have any evidence for that.

So Kevin was very, very carefully and wisely worded that section and did his own investigations and uncovered other examples of accidents and also other explanations for the accident, which was from contemporary reports.

So even the reports on the day suspected or suggested that there may have been another cause.

Yeah, I mean the great thing about this book is, I mean until I saw it, I wasn't altogether sure who Alan Stacey was.

I knew he was a racing driver.

So it's not a driver.

I remember.

But has the book brought Alan Stacey back to.

Not that much the forefront, but as it suddenly made people realize who Alan Stacey was.

I absolutely, I. I hope so, but we'll have to.

I'm just fascinated with a lot of magazines and books that are about to.

Publications that are about to publish their reviews.

Yeah.

So I'll be very interested to see as what.

What they think.

Obviously I'm slightly biased, but I hope it's kept his memory alive and I'll introduce his name to some other people that of, you know, much younger.

Yeah, it is a fascinating story and hopefully somehow translates and into some positive messages for today.

Yeah, overcoming.

Overcoming adversity and making the most of life and all that good stuff.

Besides, I conclude that there are still younger still members of the Stacy family.

Are they aware of who he was?

Yeah, yeah, definitely the state.

Yeah, yes, definitely.

My cousins, nieces and nephews.

Yes, definitely.

It has been passed down, but I think this book will be the jigs or the joining bit for the next generation.

It was wonderful to see so many of my, the generation below thee, my stepchildren and nieces and nephews and everyone attending the book launch at Race Retro.

Yeah.

So hopefully they've got a book that will then, you know, maybe pass it on for another generation.

Yeah, if we're lucky.

So, yeah, wonder.

Wonderful.

Really, really happy.

It's, it's, it's.

Yeah, it's definitely something the whole family knew about, even cousins in Australia, etc.

So.

And form support.

You know, David Stacey, my cousin, has been great in giving us access to his father's photo albums and other material and trophies and goggles and stuff like that.

So, yeah, it has been a team effort, but once again pulled all together by bhp.

And you were saying about Colin Chapman's son, has it enhanced your relationship or rekindled your relationship with Lotus as such?

We've been super lucky to know Clive for a long time, been a great supporter of Classic Team Lotus and Clive's been very kind in other areas and so we did have a relationship with Clive and do meet him, you know, obviously at race events and things like that.

I think he's afterwards suggest that it's filled in a gap in his knowledge because obviously it's before his time.

But it's definitely, it's maybe rekindled is a bit too much, but it's certainly kept our context within the greater Lotus community.

Classic Team Lotus, Historic Lotus Register, et cetera.

I've been very supportive of this project and some people within it have been fantastic.

Malcolm Ricketts, who restored Alan's Lotus 11, was a great supporter of this book and really wanted Alan's story to be told.

In fact, yeah, he pushed me along a bit.

And besides the Lotus of Allen's that you own, do any of his other cars still exist?

Some do, yeah.

It's definitely the 16.

He didn't own the cars he was racing for the team, but definitely the 16.

Were in contact with the new owner for, for that one.

He's just contacted us last month and.

That's great to hear.

The 111 JVX we know who owns that now.

It's moved on and some of the other vehicles.

I think the 15 was for sale through one of the high end car dealers last month.

So yeah, it's a wonderful legacy.

The 18.

Yeah, that's a difficult one because that was obviously destroyed in the fire in the accident.

So probably just being diplomatic, I'm going to probably swerve that one.

But yeah, wonderful seeing his name.

I can open motorsport and find his name still there as a reference driver when someone's trying to sell a car.

So yeah, that's quite a nice little thing.

I mean have you ever thought of trying to get the cars that still exist all together to go on display or to show somewhere?

We did.

We have got JVX and one of the 11s and the 6 together at different times.

We've got the, the very first 18 that raced.

He raced the prototype at brands in, in Boxing Day.

We know where that lives and that's just been through classic ting Lotus for a restoration maybe.

We did think about getting two or three for the stand at Race Retro but the stand costs were so high that would maybe one day, maybe now the book's done, maybe we'll get some more.

Probably.

Yeah, maybe one day, yeah.

I mean it would be nice for it to say got them for the go on display maybe with the British Racing Drivers Club down at Silverstone or to have them on display together at Goodwood and maybe for them to actually go out on the circuit and just do some demonstration laps there.

Is that that.

Yes, Goodwood's a busy place but that would be absolutely wonderful because certainly three or four of the cars have been raced there or displayed there and yeah, that would be a real treat.

Maybe that's Mark.

You're selling another city, dear.

Maybe that's the next project.

Are we going to say what comes next in the Alan Stacey saga, for want of a better word?

Wow.

I think that the most exciting thing now is for the whole family to watch the reviews come in.

Yeah, and we've got a few more interviews to do and just probably see how that goes.

We have got a couple of ideas that we're bouncing around with bhp.

I think we chatted about Race Retro so just maybe watch this space.

Let's see how the reviews go first.

Yeah, we'll do something down the audio route.

I mean just out of interest, what's the family's reaction been to the book?

Oh, absolutely delighted.

Yeah.

Yeah, really, really great messages from family and friends and yeah, especially the direct siblings.

Yeah, really, really Excited.

Yeah.

And is he distributing books to their.

There's their siblings etc.

No, I've had some wonderful.

That's probably the.

That Excuse me get a bit tongue tied here but probably the most rewarding thing is seeing the, the siblings.

Yeah.

The response from them.

Yeah, yeah.

So I think that's probably.

That's been the highlight so far and.

I mean ultimately what's your father's reaction been?

Because I mean out of everybody he was the closest.

He was, yes, yes.

You see for the book.

Yeah.

They shared a broom together at the farmhouse and obviously there were, you know that says Dad's obviously said he was a hero to dad but slightly older brother.

Yeah, yeah he's.

He's absolutely delighted.

Yeah yeah really Gerald Prim and mom.

Dad can't say thank you often enough so.

And and to Kevin as well in the BHP team so they really brought him alive and it's a record, isn't it?

It's a. I think, I think, I think it's something that will outlive the siblings.

Yeah.

And possibly us.

I mean it's got to be one of those things really hasn't it?

I mean the States, it's brought the name back to the fore.

Ultimately though, you never knew him.

As your father passed a comment on what Alan himself would have thought about all this.

He said he wouldn't have necessarily.

Maybe in Dad, I can't remember he said it'd be.

Not sure why he wouldn't have quite understood what all the fuss was about just kind of got on with it but you know, I think as you get older you get into more a retrospective or perspective mode, don't you?

Yeah.

So maybe if he'd lived to what would it be?

92 Now.

I think he'd be pretty tough days.

I mean the one thing is, and I'll be quite honest, I am desperately trying to find it but at his funeral I quoted this to somebody the other day and they thought it was a strange thing to say but Alan Stacey, the racing driver, his life might have been reasonably brief in the great scheme of things but he lived a far more entertaining and packed far more into a life than most people do who reach old age.

Yeah 20.

He put a lot into 26 years especially when you look back through the photo albums.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think maybe, maybe that was a cruel thing to say.

I don't know but I think for me or for the Stacy family that just hit.

That's hit the right note.

Yeah.

So Alan Stacey or Alan McGregor Stacey.

It's been A pleasure chatting.

I mean, I'm delighted by the book.

It's a fantastic book.

I did one of my online reviews of it a few weeks ago.

It typifies the fact that drivers like this who until this book have more or less been forgotten apart from by the family.

But these guys need to be remembered, don't they?

And their life stories need to be told.

Yeah.

Before it's too late.

You know, I was lucky enough to interview people who were still alive and that goes into the book.

And obviously same with Kevin.

So you're absolutely right.

And then, and good luck to BHP doing even more of these and thanks Mark, for all your promotion and your support.

You've been an absolute star from the first moment we've met and thanks for promoting it.

Well, I know you're a little bit skeptical.

When we met at Race Retro, you were seen after our introduction by John Salt, instead old.

But I mean I hope it's.

I hope you've enjoyed this.

As I said, I thoroughly enjoyed them.

I get a lot of books given me for review.

Some are good, some are bad, some are bloody awful.

But this one, you sit down and you start reading, you think now how's this one going to run?

And it just is a fascinating book.

I mean it is worth buying purely, as I said, purely for the photographs and 35 quid.

It's very reasonably priced given the price of some books these days.

£35.

I'm flicking through it again here in front of me.

I mean it's absolutely fascinating.

I mean I'm looking at the picture of Alan stood with Colin Chapman costing Alan Innis Island, Graham Hill, John Ross, I mean they are just, these are.

I mean he was stood with the Legends and this book has ensured that in my opinion, Alan Stacey, he might not have been at the time, but Alan Stacey, this, he has now taken his position along with the Legends.

Oh, you're a star.

That's very kind words and I have to say you're coming at 35 pounds.

My dad's made that comment quite a few times.

It's ridiculously cheap.

No, there's a tribute to bhp.

They've done a grand job of doing a very high quality hardback book for what we think is a very reasonable price.

But that's what they want, they want it to be accessible.

Yeah.

So the book once again is Alan Stacey, his life and Lotus Career and it is truly fascinating.

It's just, it's a shame when any racing driver is killed but it makes you wonder what he would have gone on to achieve.

He would have probably achieved greater things.

And genuinely well he did do when he was racing.

He gave the big names a hard time for the simple reason I don't think he realized at the time but he was a big name.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Thank you very much.

And it's a fascinating story then and it's interesting reading the story as other careers developed like Clark and in his island, et cetera at the same sort of 30s at the same time.

But yeah, I should on a slight aside, we did have a discussion about the.

You just mentioned the title.

We did have a discussion.

We put it up a vote and Life on a Limb was the title that was suggested by a slim majority.

Alan Stacy's life and Lotus career were one over.

I must say I like the idea of that life on the limbo a life on one limb.

But yes, we play around with that but we felt that accomplishing reasons Lotus and and things like that need to be in the title.

Yeah.

But once again, Alan McGregor, Stacy, thanks very much for joining me on the backseat driver chatting about your uncle and chatting about this fantastic new book.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mark.

Once again.