Speed Scene

The first ever edition of Speed Scene was produced by Richard Culverhouse in August 1979, but that series only lasted three editions before a lack of time and finance saw its demise. In 1982, at a time when coverage of sprints and hillclimbs in Autosport and Motoring News was declining, the Hillclimb & Sprint Association financed a new magazine called either Speedscene or Speed Scene interchangeably, and produced at first by Robin Boucher and George Hartley Smith. The first edition appeared in June 1982, and then proceeded bi-monthly during the racing season until Boucher, renowned for his long working days, found a way to produce it monthly in 1984. In 1987, Boucher enlarged the magazine from its original A5 format to an increasingly professional glossy A4 format, but the business pressures led to him handing over the editorship to Jerry Sturman in 1988, with Boucher focusing on production. At this point, Sturman and Boucher moved to producing one issue every two months right through the year, and the publication continued with this arrangement for many highly successful years.

In 2013, Sturman handed over the editorship to Chris Bennett, who was followed by Michael Calvert in 2018. Calvert, Bennett and Sturman were all still involved in the magazine in early 2020.

Autosport legend Marcus Pye generously donated 73 issues of Speed Scene to OldRacingCars.com in 2020, and these have been topped up by the purchase of another 50 from Simon Lewis, plus donations from Damon Milnes and longtime Speedscene reporter Steve Wilkinson. OldRacingCars.com now has a substantial archive, but is keen to fill the gaps. Anyone who can help us build a complete collection of Speed Scene by loaning or donating copies, or scanning reports would be most appreciated. Contact Allen if you can help.

Key:

MP - kindly donated by Marcus Pye

SL - from Simon Lewis Transport Bookshop July 2020

DM - kindly donated by Damon Milnes

SW - kindly provided by Steve Wilkinson

This list was last updated on 2 December, 2020 .