ABOUT
ANGEL
How we started
Johnny Angel had a passion for speed from an early age. Although it was not until he reached the age of 21 that he decided to achieve his dream and become a motorcycle racer.
He raced for just 2 and a half years with TEAM ANGEL RACING but in that time managed to win 2 championships
and achieve 64 podiums out of 70 races in total, winning 37 of them!
The highlight of his short career being his race win at Snetterton in the British Superbike paddock in front of 40,000 spectators!
Sadly 2007 brought an end to his racing career but not his passion for wheels, both 2 and 4.
The best thing to come out of the short time Johnny spent racing he said, was to become friends with alot of great people including Mick Walker and his wife Sue. Johnny was humbled & very grateful for the fantastic comments Mick Walker wrote in his autobiography "The Ride Of My Life", completed before his death sadly in 2012 but published a few days after. Many of Walker's books were motorcycle marque histories, although Mick also wrote restoration guides and biographies of a number of racing stars, including Giacomo Agostini, Geoff Duke, Bob McIntyre, Sammy Miller and John Surtees.
Mick Walker, Johnny's mentor who wrote over 130 books, starting with Ducati Singles in 1985 and ending with his autobiography Mick Walker the Ride of My Life, was a personal friend of many motorcycle stars of the era including Mike Hailwood, Barry Sheene, and Arthur Wheeler. Later, after he became a motorcycle dealer, Walker sponsored other riders. Following the death of his son Gary in a start line incident at Brands Hatch in 1994, he set up the Mick Walker Racing team to mentor young British talent. Among its pupils were Darren North, Ollie Bridewell, Dijon Compton, Steven Neate, James Toseland, Tom Tunstall, Dean Johnson and Johnny Angel.
Mick wrote about Johnny in his book with a two page spread which starts with 'Johnny Angel potential superstar' (Mick's words not his), and said 'of all the young racers I coached, the one that ticked most of the boxes was the last. Johnny Angel's short, but very successful racing career revealed a great potential that was never fully realised.' Mick went on to say the following in an article about John Surtees, where Mick agreed with his comment about racers who 'have the talent and ambition but don't have the support, touched on the difficulty for the extremely talented rider who doesn't have the private funds to get him up to the level where he can attract a big league sponsor - which I feel sure was the chief difficulty for the extremely talented Johnny Angel who I wrote about in chapter 11.
I am sure this is the reason for the lack of British World Champions.'
If you are into motorcycles especially Ducati go to www.redlinebooks.co.uk
where you can purchase Mick's book - Mick Walker the Ride of my Life.
A couple of years after Johnny gave up racing he went on to building custom motorcycles with his father and produced a great collection-
THE GODFATHER XS650 Yamaha Bobber
THE JOHNNY ANGEL CUSTOMS SPECIAL XS650 Yamaha Bobber
GARA AL CAFE BMW R80 Cafe Racer
PETER GODDARD BENELLI 1000cc World Super Bike Race Replica
EL TORO Harley Davidson Custom Iron Sportster
DAYTONA EDITION Harley Davison Night Rod Special 2007
LORIS CAPIROSSI Full Moto GP Replica Ducati GP3 Race Bike
The future looks bright for Johnny Angel Customs, with some TWO & FOUR WHEELS radical machines already in production,
watch this space for more custom vehicles with a racing pedigree!
Johnny Angel Customs specializes in the design, development, and distribution of aerodynamic high quality Dureflex FRP body kits,
exclusive alloy wheels, interiors and high quality exhaust systems for most makes of cars.
Johnny Angel Customs is now hoping to tick all your boxes!