Round Up
ROUND UP
JOE PARKHURST
"Gentlemen, this relentless quest for more and more speed has got to stop-and this seems as good a time as any."
MEET BROCKBANK
CYCLE WORLD has a new British import, new to us anyway. His name is Russell Brockbank. To millions of his fans in England, the name is simply Brockbank. Readers of England's Motor magazine weekly for more than 25 years have enjoyed the antic views of Major Upsett. The Major is the creation and sole property of artist/cartoonist Brockbank. His credits include the art directorship for Punch magazine from 1946 until 1960. An art school dropout, he earned his greatest degree of fame with automotive satire.
Now Brockbank has turned an eye to motorcycles. Bikes aren't new to him; he raced them on grass tracks many years ago, and still fondly remembers such personal possessions as a KTT Velocette that he wishes he still owned. To me his real greatness lies in his uncanny devotion to realism. If the cartoon depicts a 1939 Velocette, or a 1956 Rolls Royce, or whatever, the details are perfect in every respect. What he draws is true to life-with a humorous tweak here and there.
He was born in Ontario, Canada, of British parents in 1913. In 1929, they returned to England, where he remains today. He hasn't visited the U.S. or Canada since. One reason for his reluctance to journey to America is that he is deaf in his right ear. Mrs. Brockbank is deaf in her left ear. Driving in the U.S. would present serious problems. In England, she sits at his left while he drives, speaking into that side of his head. He, of course, speaks to her right side. Just think of the problem if they reversed positions, as they must if they switched to left-hand drive U.S. cars.
Brockbank's beautifully humorous automotive satires are published in the U.S. in Road & Track magazine, the best automotive journal around, in my far from humble opinion. Brockbank was asked several years ago why he never turned his creative attention to motorcycles. He replied simply that he had never been asked. Well, fans, I asked him and here you see the first of what I hope will be a long series of his works for us. Russell and my good friend Henry N. Manney are old buddies. Often they team up on editorial projects, which usually are designed to twist the tail of the establishment. They are working on one such effort for CYCLE WORLD.
STILL PASSING CROW
Last month I mentioned my grievous error when describing Saddleback Park's "unclimbable hill," and how it quite easily was climbed. We published a photograph of J.N. Roberts trying to make it up that hill, when we should have run a picture of Mel Hannah climbing it. So, here it is. The casual cat watching is Bill "Wheelo" Anderson, Saddleback's head patrolman, who positioned himself out there to help catch Hannah when he fell back in failure. Hah!
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Though it took several hours of patience and practice, Hannah can climb the hill as though it were his driveway at home. The Matterhorn has now been climbed again, by Bob Mayfield. Both he and Mel have their names on a plaque at the top. If any more names join them, I'll really have to stop making rash statements.
YAMAHA CHANGES
Since the death of Jimmy Jingu of Yamaha International, several important changes have taken place. For one, Don Gately, for several years Jingu's assistant advertising manager, now is advertising manager. Hideto Eguchi, vice president of Yamaha, is returning to Japan to assume his new position with the parent company, Nippon Gakki, as general sales manager. I must cast my vote for Eguchi because, though being Japanese born and raised, he ran the organization with a depth and understanding that is rare among men thrust into such alien surroundings as ours when compared with Japan.
Eguchi is being replaced by Hiroshi Kawashima, who brings with him a wealth of experience gained in several divisions of Nippon Gakki, where he has been a director since 1965. Eguchi announced the promotion of Donald Rubin to vice president of the motorized division. As vice president, Rubin will be in charge of the motorcycle, outboard motor, and snowmobile divisions. He has vast experience in sales and marketing on a national basis, and will bring many advantages to his functions at Yamaha. One of the first things he did was to make certain that Saddleback Park was properly outfitted with motorcycles for patrol riders.
In an unusual move, Rubin made one of his first appointments that of placing a new man in the position of director of public
relations, Roxy Rockwood. Roxy, a former Los Angeles police officer and veteran of 23 years in motorcycling, has held a virtual monopoly on announcing at American Motorcycle Association races at Ascot Park, Daytona, Houston, and other events throughout the U.S. He also held the off-duty position as public relations manager for J.C. Agajanian, the race promoter. Roxy will continue as "voice of the race track," carrying on a traditional association with Yamaha which dates from his early effort with Jimmy Jingu to prepare Yamaha's racing team. Roxy comes from Minnesota; he now lives near Yamaha in Gardena, Calif. ■
