Mike Jackson writes:
It is my sad duty to report the death of Eddie Dow in mid-March. He was in his early nineties.
Born and raised in Derbyshire, young Eddie was a regular visitor to Donington Park race track which, ultimately, led to an apprenticeship with Rolls-Royce. He was an active Home Guardsman in the early part of the Second World War, joining the regular Army in 1945. His enthusiasm for motorcycles soon saw Lieutenant [and eventually Captain] Dow leading teams of military riders in civilian events.
Dow himself was a natural all-round competitor, reflected in some great results until a deliberate retirement from competition in 1956. Mounted exclusively on BSA Gold Stars the highlights include: three ISDT gold medals, a 1st class award in 1953’s Scottish Six Days Trial, first place in the 1956 Senior Clubman’s TT, followed one month later by victory at Thruxton’s nine-hour production machine race [on the same machine], partnered with Eddie Crooks.
Geoff Duke opened Banbury’s Taylor-Dow emporium in 1956. Given Eddie’s well-established links with BSA it was a logical step to specialise in the sale of Gold Stars, whereupon the shop became renowned for an extensive range of performance options. After the “Goldie” ceased production in 1959 Eddie created a Rocket Gold Star prototype, based on BSA’s 650cc twin. When the BSA factory finally awoke to its potential it was grabbed with open arms and became a huge sales success.
Taylor Dow later evolved into a dealership for Renault cars. In his retirement Eddie lived “relatively quietly” at Sulgrave in Northampton-shire.