The October 2016 issue of Vintage Metal slotted neatly in between events in the VSCC calendar, which meant that it shrunk to 24 pages from the 32 of the previous issues.

A promotional story about the upcoming Goomalling Vintage Car Sprint provided an opportunity to showcase historic photographs from the days of true round the houses racing along with a selection of photographs from the most recent event at Goomalling in 2013.

Along with the regular features of the magazine, there was a reprint of the RAC Road Patrol report on the then new Mazda MX-5 from the February/March issue of 1990. The story was written by Editor Bob Campbell, who was then editor of Road Patrol. It is fascinating to read of how the little Mazda was received more than 26 years ago.

Frequent congtributor Bill Buys supplied the story of a Costin-Nathan GT that was auctioned at Chateau Impney, Warwickshire a few months ago. This remarkable lightweight coupé has a monocoque tub largely built from plywood, taking advantage of plywood’s high strength to weight ratio.

Book reviews were interesting, with Brian Redman’s Daring Drivers, Deadly Tracks, the author’s memoir of a dangerous decade, 1965-1975, and Flat-Out Racing  by D Randy Riggs taking up the From the Library spot.

Please click on the titles and illustrations to see the iMagazine of this issue or to pinpoint the story you wish to read.