F W Dixon — "Flying Freddie", 1892-1956

This is the little booklet produced to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of the death of the famous racing driver and motorcyclist Freddie Dixon, in conjunction with an exhibition held in Preston Hall Museum this year. It contains excellent photographs, not only of Dixon racing but of family groups inducting his wedding in 1926, alongside a short resume of his racing achievements in text and tables. It would make a splendid present, especially for Riley enthusiasts and Brooklands fans.

The pictures cover Freddie on his 1912 TT Cleveland-Precision, the Harley-Davidsons he used at Saltburn and Sutton Bank in 1921 and in the only 500-mile motorcycle race at Brooklands that year (Dixon finished second despite a tyre blow-out), the TT Indians and later Douglas machines (notably with Freddie’s patented banking-sidecar), and the HRD on which he won the 1927 Junior TT in the Isle of Man.

As for his car racing exploits, here Rileys prevail. The only one missing seems to be the “Red Mongrel”; that classic photograph of Dixon and Ainsley flying over a bank during the 1932 Ulster TT is included , as are pictures of Freddie working on Tony Rolt’s Alfa Romeo with its six SU carburettors in 1947, and on the ERA-Delage. Even the Sunbeam “Silver Bullet”, with with Dixon tried to cope late in his career, is there.

Altogether a fine and most attractive tribute to one of our great racing drivers. WB