One of the best interpretations of the rule book I ever heard was in bike racing.

At the time the premier class in the UK was for 750cc four strokes to superbike specs and the single 'works' Suzuki wasn't very competitive and the Yamahas were winning most of the races.

The championship turns up at Snetterton for the two national races on the Sunday which the Yamahas dominate. After the second race the bikes got a quick service, fresh rubber and in the Suzuki's case a fresh engine for the final race of the day, the 'Race of Aces' which was an annual event back then.

On the opening lap the works Suzuki is staying with the Yamahas before passing it down the back straight on the second lap. The race was stopped on the third lap so it was restarted at it's full length.

This time the single works Suzuki with a certain J Whitham on board is in the lead by the first corner and clears off into the distance for a very convincing win.

Post race back in the paddock the other team managers who had been hearing rumours of a big bore Suzuki all season launched a formal protest and demanded an engine strip. Sure enough the Suzuki measured up at 885cc a full 135cc over the permitted 750cc for superbikes. Vindicated, the team managers demanded a dis-qualification.

Mick Grant the Suzuki team manager enquired as to whether the other team managers or indeed the scrutineers had read the rule book? The reason he was asking was because the 'Race of Aces' was a 1300cc open class race and not 750cc Superbike race and if they had read the entry form in detail...

Ask your dad if it's true that the line was there at the insistance of Donald Stokes the then Chairman of Britsh Leyland. The story at the time was on one of his tours of inspection he saw a drawing of the side view of the new car, picked up a pencil and struck that line down the side announcing, "That's what you need, a bit of flair!"

This was the man who instigated customer input into BL's design. "Come in and tell us what you want from a car." The problem with the idea was that the public, by and large, aren't car designers and could only ask for things they were familiar with and nothing new would emerge. The car this customer input resulted in was the Allegro. Customers did not flock to buy it because other manufacturers were attracted by the new ideas offered by other car makers.

I like the way he thinks.

Clarkson tells the same story on his heaven and hell DVD (watched it yesterday), but i think he also says it was giugiaro

Another bike one: at the Isle of Man TT one year, one of the teams asked if there was any penalty for changing a fuel tank during a pit stop, and were told no.

During the pit stop, the team changed the tank, already full of fuel rather than carrying out the required refuelling, saving them a big chunk of time - the rule book was rewritten overnight, to say that if a tank was replaced, it must be empty, and refuelled

Its also a much recycled and untrue story.

In the old days, when I used to be interested in cars, the focus of my attention was Aston Martin so I apologise for the bulk of my stories being Aston related. The company celebrates the centenary of the first Aston Martin in 2015 so there's plenty of scope for anecdotes.

In the sixties David Brown was approached by a friend who asked if it would be possible to have an Aston at cost price. David Brown agreed at once, the car was built and delivered complete with a bill considerably in excess of list price. The buyer was horrified and enquired about the discrepancy. David Brown told him, "That's cost price. I make a loss on every car Aston Martin we build."

And another. Years ago an AML works test driver told me this story about a DB5. An owner was so pleased with his DB4 he ordered a DB5. When it was delivered he was backwards and forwards to works service repeatedly complaining about its performance; it wasn't as fast as his DB4. He would leave it with AML, they would test it, it would be fine, they'd give it back and then a week or so later the man would be back complaining. One day the test driver was asked to go out with the owner driving to see what was happening. The test driver suggested they went to Toddington Services, they drove to the M1 at a stately pace and then down the slip road with him changing up very early with each gear. On the motorway the car slowly gathered pace until in was sitting at 120mph. The owner said, triumphantly, "There! That's as fast as it goes! It's nothing like as fast as you claim." They got to the services, changed seats and the works driver drove back. His driving style was completely different. Down the slip road with lots of revs in each gear, joined the motorway at a hundred and powered out to the overtaking lane. At 120 he changed up into fifth and the car went easily up to its claimed top speed. The owner never complained again.


The DB4 had a David Brown four speed box whereas the DB5 used the ZF five speed.

At the time of Ford's Total Performance campaign that gave the world the Mustang and Capri, Henry Ford II was taken to an endurance race to see whether he could be persuaded to fund the development of a Ford capable of winning international motor races. He watched the cars going round and noticed how well the Ferraris were doing. Eventually he spoke.

"Why don't we just buy the little red cars?"

A former Chairman of the Aston Martin Owners Club, filling his immaculate DB Aston in the sticks in Wales, noticed the cashier was pressed against the glass of the office staring at him goggled eyed in wonder. Thinking the young man was clearly an aficianado of fine autombiles the Chairman stood taller, assumed a more dignified air, finished his fuelling with a flourish and strode purposefully across the forecourt to pay. The cashier greeted him with, "I had no idea they did those in diesel!"

What the Chairman said is not recorded but thought to be along the lines of, "Oh, fkity, fk, fk, st, bks." But we can't be sure.