Our dearly departed scribe, Phil Llewellin, has a fabulous posthumous article on the 1941 Cadillac Sixty Special in our current (January) issue. Forty-two more of his greatest stories are printed in his 2004 book, The Road to Muckle Flugga: Great Drives in Five Continents.
I met Phil Llewellin, our legendary U.K. Bureau Chief, only once--during my second week on the job here at Automobile--but I'll never forget his keen wit, his kind heart and his strong affections for travel, cars and reveling. Most people know Phil through his writing, however, and our January issue includes a classic Llewellin drive story (page 88) on the 1941 Cadillac Sixty Special that belongs to his good friend from West Virginia, Dr. Bill Davis. Sadly, Phil passed away in the summer of 2005, just after he completed the Cadillac piece, so it's likely his last within our pages. (Incidentally, his first article for us--on the rejuvenation of Lotus--ran in June 1986, our third issue.) After reading Phil's Cadillac story, I craved more of his distinct style and voice, so I borrowed a signed copy of his book, The Road to Muckle Flugga, from our president, Jean Jennings. Since then, it's been hard to put the book down.
The 300-plus-page book contains forty-two of Phil's trademark travel stories and articles (many from Automobile Magazine) published between 1977 and 2003, with thirty-some pages of accompanying photos. The trips span from Nevada to Borneo, Pakistan to Quebec, Ireland to Argentina, and the clever quips are more prevalent than moose in northern Canada. About the 1520-mile Alaska Highway, Phil wrote: "... despite just about every sling and arrow in Mother Nature's arsenal when she is in her most bit.chy mood, ... the men of Canada and the USA created the Alaska Highway in just nine incredible months of toil in 1942 ... Peacetime planners would doubtless have spent years just discussing the project, but there is nothing quite like the threat of a full-scale invasion to oil the wheels."
The book, a great Christmas gift idea, is from Haynes Publishing and available at numerous online stores for about $30. Phil, we miss you, but we're thankful that we can revisit your wonderful journeys whenever we want.
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