It's been a long hot day up here in Brisbane, so I thought I'd share this piece written by the late John Sprinzel, which gives an idea of the business that he ran in London. Full of topical things, even Facel Vegas, but an indication of what life was like there in the swinging' sixties and seventies. Memories by John Sprinzel from Molokai Island, Hawaii We started our tuning business – John Sprinzel Racing Ltd, in 1960 in the old stable on the ground floor of 32 Lancaster Mews. Many famous names connected with racing cars had been there at some time or other, all overlooked by the headquarters of England’s Football Association. There were also three brothels, the Stables drinking club, and two Members of Parliament; Conservative Jeffrey Archer and Socialist Les Huckfield. The brothels closed quite soon after our arrival, and the house of one, which was bought by a stockbroker acquaintance, still had a cupboard full of whips and chains, though I suspect this is more information than you want to hear. Gulio Ramponi tuned Alfa Romeos with skills learned as race car driver Tazio Nuvolari’s riding mechanic, Alf Brown, laboured over many of London’s elegant Alvis cars, while Bill Moss roared up and down the Mews in one or other of his ex Prince Bira’s vintage ERA racers. From another lock-up, Malcolm Clube seemed to be selling most of the very evil looking Porsche Speedsters in town. There was also an American voice coach, Chuck Mallet, who lived opposite to our workshops, and the steady flow of film and stage stars getting training for an upcoming role which involved singing, certainly added some flavour to this unusual place. The character of the mews even appealed to Brian Robbins who ran that wonderful BBC motoring programme ‘Wheelbase’ and got me to interview the automotive element of this motoring Mecca to fill an entire half hour of one of his shows.