Looking For The Real Red Robbo is the latest book from celebrated author Rich Duisberg – he’s the guy who penned Looking For The Real Weasel and SUPER.
In this new book, Rich takes a deep dive into the real history behind Derek Robinson, the infamous British trade unionist who brought British Leyland to its knees, leading over 500 strikes.
In this new book, Rich takes a deep dive into the real history behind Derek Robinson (pictured here), the legendary British trade unionist who brought British Leyland to its knees, leading over 500 strikes.
Official Description: Looking For The Real Red Robbo
Once accused of leading over 500 strikes, trade unionist Derek Robinson eventually came to wear the Red Robbo name as a badge of honour, having been a dominant force at British Leyland in the 1970s. You probably know that much already.
But not is all as it seems. This is the story of author Rich Duisburg’s efforts to unpick the real life of the man who Thatcher described as a ‘notorious agitator’. A man who may, or may not, have once snapped the wipers off a manager’s Maxi.
In his research, the author finds strikes from Longbridge workers demanding Marks & Spencers underwear, evidence of a workers fatality by drowning in a paint bath, a strike over a dead cat, and a plant manager getting shot in the legs while attending a course on industrial relations. Working backwards though turbulent times we come to learn what made Robbo red, finding characters like The Mole, senior BL directors, and MI5 agent 910.
There are stories of shopfloor shenanigans aplenty and plenty of mis-management. The author (who once worked in Rover’s chaotic factories himself) uncovers a shadowy government-funded anti-communist movement, meets Marxists who vandalised TR7s for being bourgeoisie, and gets attacked by an ex-BL chairman’s pet duck – all in his pursuit of the man they called Red Robbo.
Looking For The Real Red Robbo
If there’s one thing you’re always guaranteed from a Rich Duisberg book, it’s a raucous ride through some unusual time in history – and a deep dive into a character (or characters) that helped shape the zeitgeist of their age, even though their names may now be largely forgotten.
Above Video: This is a BBC documentary about Derek Robinson and his time leading the charge against what he felt was mismanagement at British Leyland.
This book is a classic Duisberg outing, combining a series of remarkable and often humorous historic stories that will forever change the way you look back at the history of British Leyland, and the 1970s British car industry in general.
The book is now available to buy direct from Amazon here – the price will likely vary slightly based on your region, but I’m seeing it offered for the affordable MSRP of just over $16.00 USD.
Images courtesy of Rich Duisberg
Articles that Ben Branch has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
