Keith Campbell - Australia's First Grand Prix World Champion (Don Cox, signed)

The extraordinary life of a true champion.

 

Keith Campbell was Australia's first Grand Prix World Champion on two or four wheels. In 1951 he left Melbourne when he was 19 to ride at the Isle of Man, financed by welding vacuum-cleaner bodies. He joined the fabled Continental Circus in  1953 and became a dashing private entrant before winning the 1957 World 350 Championship with Moto Guzzi.

 

Campbell had made history with a take-on-the-world mentality coupled with colonial grit wrapped in a universe of determination. He planned to return to Melbourne at the end of 1958 but never made it home 

His epic story has now been told.

 

Don Cox

Long-serving Australian motorcycle race historian Don Cox wrote his first published work in 1976 after being inspired by the Australian TT at Laverton and Australian Grand Prix at Bathurst. He became a contributor to Two Wheels in 1978. and was still writing tor the title when it closed in 2017. He continues to contribute to Australian Motorcycle News and
Classic Bike UK .

Don spent 1979 in Europe reporting on Australian international racers. He later co-authored Australian Motorcycle Heroes 1949-89 with Will Hagon and wrote The Aussies and 2NZ Blokes in 1997. His widely acclaimed self-published book Circus Life: Australian Motorcycle Racers In Europe In The 1950s was released in 2012

He worked with Darryl Flack on Race Across The Great Divide, and has contributed to Australian Motorcycle Year Bike Year, CAMS The Official History, Motocourse 50 Years of Moto Grand Prix, Racing Together - The History of the World Championship and The Immortals of Australian Motorcycle Racing