Road Research 1964

Road Research 1964 (1964)
by Ministry of Transport (HMSO)
ISBN: none | Condition: Good (in the sense that a well-thumbed government report from 1964 can be good)
Sold by Crappy Old Books

Ah, the swinging sixties — when Britain was busy inventing roundabouts, laying tarmac with optimism, and pretending that the Morris Minor was the future of transport. Into this glamorous world rolled Road Research 1964, a publication so unflinchingly practical that it could only have come from the Ministry of Transport and the mighty presses of HMSO. This is where the Beatles meet bitumen — charts, graphs, and grainy photos documenting the heroic struggle to keep our roads from dissolving under lorries, rain, and misplaced enthusiasm.

Inside, you’ll find thrilling discussions of surface dressing trials, skid-resistance coefficients, and possibly the most understated excitement ever committed to paper about painted white lines. It’s the kind of book that smells faintly of paraffin and institutional tea — perfect for anyone who’s ever looked at a traffic island and thought, “How did we get here?”

Condition: Good, meaning it has survived several decades of office shelving, a filing cabinet cull, and at least one relocation to a garage. The pages are all present (a pleasant surprise), and while the cover may be more “vintage asphalt” than “mint”, it radiates that authentic mid-century bureaucratic charm you just can’t fake.

A must-have for road geeks, retro-infrastructure romantics, or anyone who enjoys the dry wit of government prose from a time when “research” meant clipboards, cigarettes, and a Morris van full of measuring sticks. Another forgotten treasure lovingly rescued by Crappy Old Books, where the titles are dusty, the irony is deliberate, and the stockroom smells faintly of damp optimism.

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