Brian Long has a long and distinguished career as an automotive writer, and has written many books published by Veloce. With several new titles coming up, we took the opportunity to find out more about his background, interests, and what fires his passion for cars and engines.
Brian started out as a mechanic, working alongside his uncle, who taught him the game. He says was a super engineer, who lost his first garage in a huge fire. He lost heart and worked on aero-engines for a bit but soon got bored. When Brian left school (he says hated the place!), he got back into the world of repairs and sales.
He moved into power transmissions and engineering trade supply before writing. This was an accident. He’d always been heavily involved in the classic car scene, and Andrew Whyte suggested the Jaguar-built Daimler guide he’d put together for his own reference should be published. He put him in touch with Rod Grainger (Veloce’s founder and publisher), and the rest is history.
Brian has written many books published by Veloce,
and we asked him to tell us a bit more about his forthcoming new books in
particular, the Lexus LF A Supercar (due to be published in 2027), and The Ultimate Book of the
Mercedes Benz Pagoda (due to be published in 2026).
The LFA book is being written with his good mate, Peter Lyon. It's a fascinating project, exposing the enthusiasm that exists in a company known for its conservatism.
The Pagoda book is based on an old title but heavily updated with a ton of new pictures. It's his wife's favourite car, so he joked that she might actually look at this one!
We asked how does/did his career help to define
what he writes.
Brian comes from a long line of engineers. His grandma's four brothers were aero-engine people, and his father's brother was a car and bike guy. Everyone in the family is a car or bike person - even his mother could strip a bike engine! In fact, she wanted to be an engineer, but grandad said it wasn't the done thing for a lady!
He trained as a mechanic, but he observes that you can only do a project properly if you love the subject - it's more important than formal qualifications. A thirst for knowledge will soon fill in gaps, and he loves everything mechanical, from watches at one end to old aeroplanes at the other.
Brian has written about many different cars, so
we asked if he has a favourite car and/or marque of car, and why?
Brian answered that he’s always been a Jaguar and Daimler guy but has always run old Mercedes models and Alfas alongside them. He’s had a lot of Mazdas and love the RE. Old Porsches and Maseratis - all a bit predictable, really, he jokes...!
If he had to choose the one car he regrets selling, it would have to be the 1988 XJ-S HE he had, as he thought it was a magnificent all-rounder. He remembers driving from Pau to Coventry in a day and felt like turning around and doing it again. For a more intense experience, the FD RX-7 was quite something.
We asked what Brian is most proud of in your
writing career to date?
He replied that there are quite a few books that spring to mind, mainly because of the relationships he’s made through them.
He says making the landmark 100th book would be his proudest moment. The subjects covered cars in the main (road/race/rally), but also motorcycles, bicycles and cameras. But there are other subjects he’d like to cover. We'll have to wait and see...
Does he have a target reader in mind when you
write?
Himself! He often tackles a book because what he wants isn't available - he tries to include as much information as possible, because he wants to know himself. Ultimately, he’s an enthusiast, no different to our readers, which is why he’s happy to put the hours in.
How does he
decide what car/s to write about next?
It must be something that interests him – he spends an incredible amount of time on these projects and needs a certain thing (whatever it may be) to keep him going. He couldn't work long hours every day otherwise.
He observes that it's getting harder to find new projects nowadays, with suggestions coming that he must turn down because either he can't get excited, or the manufacturer doesn't play the game (access to archive material is an absolute must). Likewise, some of the stuff he wants to do isn't commercial enough to be of interest to the publisher, which is fair comment! But we'll keep punting ideas back and forth, and see what happens.
Recently, he’s started doing a few joint-projects with friends - a shared passion for a certain subject helps fuel enthusiasm, and the different skills and contacts will hopefully provide readers with something a bit special. The LFA book he’s doing with Peter was actually a reader suggestion, so if you have any ideas, please feel free to send them in.
Does Brian have time for hobbies?
He’s really into history
(industrial and political), and something of a music anorak. He loves old
analogue stereos, to the point that he wants to write about them and finds
researching the bands from the 60s and 70s fascinating. He’s also into horses
in a big way (it's a DNA thing, duly passed onto his kids!), with single malts
and Port wine keeping him vaguely sane after a hard day in the office. Not forgetting keeping his Rottweiler happy, of course.
Brian Long's books are available from Veloce and other retailers.
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