It is so good, I offered to mention it here. In North America, it is available from Motorsport Publications.

Elsewhere, try the publisher, Panther Publications, Ltd

It was a great era. This book does it justice indeed.

Above: Italy's beautiful MotoCiclismo with a very nice story about my Hurricane and Bonneville TT designs for Triumph

Left: Motorcycle Classics current issue addressing Hurricane myths

Below: A masterpiece from Whitestar Publishers of Italy (in English) that belongs on everybody's coffee table

My first contact with Don was in April, 1969 when as Vice President, General Manager and Director BSA, he called, looking for an American designer he could hire to show the Brits what Americans wanted our motorcycles to look like. The result was the Triumph Hurricane. I knew it was a secret project, but I never realized until recently that it was so secret that only Don and I knew about it.* Don Brown was doing it on his own because management would not have understood or approved. The clandestine project cost him his job. He never complained… he just moved on.

Few outside his personal associates knew that in 1974, Don Brown became paralyzed in a freak get off. He never complained. He just moved on and became a respected analyst for the motorcycle industry.

Don Brown was a stickler for accuracy. Because of that, you could bank on his numbers. Often stories about our work together would contain some errors. Don was the first to let me know. The smallest inaccuracies had to be corrected.

As time passed and the Brits learned that Don Brown was indeed the “Father of their Hurricane”, they were keen to have him to attend their functions. But it was too late. Travel had become impossible for Don. It became harder and harder for him discuss “old times”.

Now Don Brown has moved on, again. His stories about Edward Turner, Steve McQueen, Marlon Brando and the Hurricane have been told for the last time.

I already miss him.

Craig Vetter

March 26, 2010 we did an episode about Don Brown on Hog Radio