![]() ![]() But in the early years, would-be angels like Tommy Lee and Secondo Guasti bailed out, as they saw no future in the new magazine and were surprised it did survive at all! It competed with Motor Trend, Hot Rod and Car and Driver. It started with a monthly print volume 18,600 and grew to 64,000 in 1975 (a compound annual growth of 6.3%). In the time period from 1952 through 1972, Road & Track ranked in the top five among automotive titles that provided circulation details. He tracked down Bill Brehaut who was living in Palm Springs, California. “Many readers seem to think that Elaine and I founded Road and Track, that isn’t true, we merely kept it from foundering when we took it over in November of 1952.” No one ever seemed to ask who did, until in 1998, automotive historian and fact checker Jim Sitz decided to take the time and trouble to find out how it all began. Writing in R&T, June, 1972 Bond recalled those early years. They decided to take a huge risk.Īlthough the Bonds were always closely associated with the success of Road and Track, they didn’t establish the magazine. But staff members John and Elaine Bond were determined to save the magazine and were fully aware of its potential of a magazine devoted to the growing sports car movement. It had been offered to other magazine publishers but turned down, and one wouldn’t even take Road and Track (no ampersand in the early days the “&” in the title was introduced in 1954) for just the bills. In fact he was betting his family’s entire future on a sports car magazine that was deeply in hock. ![]() In 1952, while Groucho Marx was gambling his future on the new-fangled TV with a show called “You Bet Your Life”, a thirty-nine-year-old engineer in California with a bright, enthusiastic wife, a new son and a MGTC was betting that the sports car fad was here to stay. Any questions regarding these photos can be sent to the Editor at Bet Your Life We have not been able to determine who took these photos or under what circumstances. He also was in the possession of the rare photos taken at the Road & Track offices in 1951, obtained from the Billingsley collection in the early 1990s. ![]() ![]() note: Most of the information below was provided by historian Jim Sitz, who was a witness to the early years at the magazine, via emails to me over a period of weeks in 2020. Jerry Cheseborough is on the far left, that might be Oliver Billingsley on the other side of the MG. Road and Track, Hop Up, and Motor Trend staff members gather for the Bonneville Speed Week. ![]()
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