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Books > Sport & Leisure > Sports & outdoor recreation > Motor sports > General
The Full Throttle Saga of NASCAR's First Family
This is the second volume in a series of three exploring the
history of sports car racing in the Southern United States. With
the exception of the Sebring 12 Hours, the meets were largely
ignored by the national press, and no comprehensive research
material is available for the numerous events organized between
Texas and Florida, when amateur competition surged in the late
1950s. Yet, the South offers a rich road racing history, often
fueled by wealthy oilmen from Texas and Oklahoma. Many of the
events were hosted on airport courses and featured the top echelon
of European sports cars. Late-model Ferraris, Maseratis, Jaguars,
Listers, Porsches, OSCAs and Climax-engined cars such as Lotus,
Cooper and Elva did battle with American V8-powered vehicles, both
Corvettes and homebuilt Specials. This book offers a race-by-race
account of all 1959 and 1960 Southern events, from Novice Races to
the weekend-ending Features competition. The author has scoured
local newspapers of the period for race reports and results and
interviewed many of the drivers, mechanics and owners that were
involved in the competitions. He provides an exhaustive report of
the time, vividly illustrated by period photographs, many from the
archives of Bob Jackson, the acclaimed press photographer.
The life story of James Edward (Ed) Hugus, a racing driver and car
dealer, with special emphasis on his relationship with Carroll
Shelby and the development of the first Shelby Cobra racing cars in
the early 1960s. Hugus provided the funding to jump-start the
project and in his capacity as a driver, piloted the first racing
Cobra (CSX 2001) in competition, and in 1963, the first Cobra (CSX
2142) to appear at Le Mans.Hugus was a remarkable man of great
integrity. He was a hero and survivor of World War II, a successful
businessman and at the height of his career, he operated three auto
dealerships in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As an amateur racer, he
actively competed alongside some of the world's greatest
professional drivers during the 1950s and 1960s and often finished
well ahead. He was a founding father of the Steel Cities Region of
the Sports Car Club of America and went on to participate at Le
Mans for ten consecutive years from 1956 to 1965. One of his most
important accomplishments was his involvement with Carroll Shelby
in creating the Cobra, for without Hugus, Shelby's dream may never
have seen the light of day.This book explains Hugus' version of the
beginnings of this famous car.
John Godfrey Parry Thomas - J.G Thomas - was by any standards an
extraordinary man, in both life and in his tragic death. From a
conventional upbringing as the son of the curate of Rhosddu in
Wales in 1884, he became a prominent figure in the developing world
of high-speed motor car racing and design. He became the chief
engineer at Leyland Motors, a company whose main products were
commercial vehicles. But J.G. Thomas was more interested in swifter
vehicles and in 1920, along with his assistant Reid Railton, he
designed the Leyland Eight, a luxury car which bristled with novel
features, such as torsion springs, anti-roll bars and
vacuum-assisted brakes. It was experience of driving this car
around Brooklands race track that persuaded him to give up his
career with Leyland to become a full-time motor-racing driver and
engineer. In the Leyland Eight, Thomas achieved some success,
winning thirty-eight races in five seasons and setting numerous
records, including World's Ten Mile record at 114.84 m.p.h., and,
in 1924, the Montihery Lap Record of 132.5 m.p.h. Thomas continued
to develop ever-faster cars and eventually he turned his attention
to the land speed record. He acquired the 27-litre Liberty-engine
Higham Special' and after re-modelling it and re-naming it _Babs_,
on 28 April 1926 at Pendine Sands, Wales, he achieved a speed of
more than 170 m.p.h., breaking Colin Campbell's record by almost 20
m.p.h. The following year, Campbell re-took the record, which drove
Thomas to attempt to regain his title, once again at Pendine Sands.
On 3 March 1927, _Babs_ crashed, and Thomas was killed. Thomas was
buried at Byfleet in Surrey and _Babs_ was interred in the dunes at
Pendine Sands. This biography by Hugh Tours, includes thirty-six
photographs and drawings, with an additional chapter in this new
edition which details the recovery and restoration of _Babs_.
Computer generated profiles of the most famous and legendary
Formula 1 single-seaters from 1966, the year when a new engine
capacity regulation was approved. This coincided with the most
important features we can still see in the cars of today, including
wings, sponsors, slick tires, and carbon-fiber chassis. All of them
are illustrated in this book, depicting milestones such as the
Lotuses 49, 72, 79, Renault RS01, winners like the Ferraris "T"
series, McLaren MP4 from 1988, Shumacher's Ferrari, original ideas
like the Tyrrell P34 and other curiosities. Despite being focused
on the cars, the book also examines the designers, team-managers
and drivers.
Michael Schumacher: the greatest of all time. A champion with a
reputation founded on records, the man who has brought most glory
to Ferrari in the modern era. With a dramatic coda to the story
that we like to think of as a pit stop before a return to the race,
to normality. Michael Schumacher enthralled a generation of fans,
but not all the episode in his remarkable career are widely known.
While it is true that it is in the nooks and crannies of life great
novels are born, in this book there is a search for that which in
the emphasis on celebration and success has gone unnoticed,
painting a picture of a Schumacher full of enthusiasm but with a
degree of fragility. The man behind the driver, with his loves, his
manias, his passion concealed behind a veil of stubborn reserve
that is by no means violated but rather observed from a certain
distance, over time, in all its guises and nuances.
A unique work revealing to readers for the first time the
aerodynamic evolution of the sports prototypes of the latest
"Golden Age of Endurance Racing", those with hybrid powerplants. A
painstaking exploration of the world of the enthralling sports
prototypes, the cars developed from the Group C period - in the
first half of the Eighties - through to the protagonists of the
current WEC and ELMS championships. Hundreds of colour drawings
document the technical evolution of the covered wheel racing cars
of the past 40 years. Cars of extraordinary appeal such as the
Porsche 956s, the XJ series Jaguars, the Series C Mercedes, the
Peugeot 905, through to the more recent Audis, great dominators of
Le Mans in the 2000s, the Toyotas and the Porsches. All this in a
technical overview introduced by historical-regulatory
contextualisation, indispensable for an understanding of a world
that, in recent years, has featured even greater technical
evolution and sporting excitement than Formula 1.
With nine victories, he holds the record for the most wins at the
Le Mans 24 Hours - and he has written motorsport history. The Book,
however, is more than just Tom Kristensen's chronicle of his
successes at Le Mans: it takes the reader on an exciting journey
through four decades full of emotions - from petrol pumps at his
parents' filling station in Denmark to champagne showers in front
of 250,000 fans at the world's greatest motor race. Private and
never-seen-before pictures, untold stories, new facts and personal
insights as told by Kristensen himself make The Book unique.
Published in a very large, sumptuous format to best display its
superb photographs, The Book will be treasured by the Danish hero's
legions of fans and all motorsport enthusiasts captivated by the Le
Mans 24 Hours.
A hybrid machine-powered at times by steam, electricity or internal
combustion-the motorcycle in its infancy was an innovation to help
bicycle racers go faster. As motor age technology advanced, the
quest for greater speed at the velodrome peaked, with riders
reaching speeds up to 100 kph on bikes and trikes without brakes,
suspensions or gear boxes. This book chronicles the individuals and
events at the turn of the 20th century that led to the development
of motor-powered two-wheelers.
This is the authorised biography of one of the best-liked bad boys
in British motorsport. John Chatham, driver, racer, repairer,
rebuilder, tuner, trader and lover of Austin-Healeys, was,
according to Geoffrey Healey, "uncontrollable" in his youth, and
has only mildly mellowed with age. Burly and genial, but formidably
competitive, and not above bending the rules when he thought he
could get away with it, to many he is the archetypal club racer.
John is so synonymous with Austin-Healeys that the most famous
racing Healey in the world, DD300, is so well-known mainly because
John campaigned it for decades, notching up tens of thousands of
racing miles. But his career embraces far more than one car, and
until this biography no-one had attempted to fill in the gaps. The
book is not a dry description of one club race after another. It
does include a list of John's principal sporting achievements, but
no complete record exists of the hundreds of events which made up
his competitive career, so the writer has not attempted to compile
one. Instead Norman Burr, who was himself acquainted with John in
his youth, has created a more rounded and personal account, full of
motoring and sporting anecdotes, but also telling the story of
John's family, his work, his business, his three wives and his
lovers. John has a comprehensive photo library from which the book
is generously illustrated, with cartoons added to illustrate some
of the moments that a camera was not around to record. Thoroughly
politically incorrect even by the standards of the 1960s, it's an
account which will strike a chord not only with admirers of Big
Healeys, but also with anyone who believes that independent
thinking, and the courage to apply and enjoy it, is the greatest
virtue of all. This book is now available in paperback format, due
to popular demand.
DRIVEN is John Aston's hugely entertaining motoring autobiography.
This ambitious and far ranging book begins with his early days as a
teenage car enthusiast and race marshal in the late Sixties before
covering the wide range of subjects close to his heart. These
include the best and worst of Formula One, the icon that is
Ferrari, the writer's NASCAR adventure and the delights of long
road trips in his beloved Caterham Seven. But that's not all, as
you can read about why the NSU Ro80 was a prophet without honour,
as well as what the writer thinks about the changing face of
motoring journalism. Yes, one J Clarkson is mentioned ... And
there's more still, as a major part of the book is a description of
a year in British motorsport. The writer's love of the lesser known
categories of motor sport illuminates the text, as does his insight
into the places, people and machinery making up the sport's
diversity. He describes the mood music of events ranging from a
round of the British Touring Car Championship to historic race
meetings for Cortinas and Minis, before venturing further from the
mainstream with drag racing at Santa Pod, speed hillclimbs,
autograss and rallying. Oh - he also doubled the average age at a
Time Attack meeting. Don't expect objective reporting, as he holds
strong opinions, but they are leavened by a tongue firmly lodged in
his cheek. Any reader, enthusiast or not, is guaranteed to enjoy
reading about these adventures as much as the writer enjoyed having
them.
*THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER* HOW DOES A PIT CREW CHANGE FOUR
WHEELS IN 1.9 SECONDS? AND WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR A COMPANY LIKE
BLACKBERRY? WHAT IS RON DENNIS' SECRET TO GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT? AND
HOW CAN THAT HELP TV PRODUCERS? WHY IS F1 THE PERFECT EXAMPLE FOR
LEADERSHIP, MOTIVATION AND STRATEGY? AND WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM IT?
In The Winning Formula, driver, commentator and entrepreneur David
Coulthard opens the doors to the secretive world of F1 and reveals
in simple, entertaining and utterly compelling terms how he has
been able to master this mind-boggling variety of disciplines by
applying the skills honed from his years at the top of the world's
most demanding motorsport. By recounting his own stories, and
combining them with first-hand experience of stellar individuals
such as Lewis Hamilton, Ron Dennis, Sir Frank Williams, Christian
Horner and Sebastian Vettel, Coulthard provides a fascinating
fly-on-the-wall insight into F1 but at the same time offers an
invaluable guide to the business of sport and the sport of
business.
Which racing motorcycles or sidecar outfits have made the strongest
contributions to the Isle of Man TT over the last century? If you
had to choose twenty-five individual machines for a fantasy museum,
which ones would they be? Matthew Richardson has made his choices,
and describes each one in vivid detail in this perceptive and
highly illustrated book. He takes into account extraordinary
achievements like lap records, race victories, technical
innovations and other milestones in TT and motorcycle history. His
selection highlights the engineering excellence and feats of riding
skill that have marked so many years of racing on the Mountain
Course. As well as examining the most significant machines, he
includes profiles of the exceptional men who built and rode them.
Modern bikes from BMW, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha are featured
alongside the machines that dominated the early years of the TT
such as Matchless, Norton and Velocette. The riders who took them
to victory include many of the best-known names from every era of
the sport-from Stanley Woods, Bob McIntyre and Mike Hailwood to
Carl Fogarty, Joey Dunlop, Dave Molyneux and John McGuinness.
Gathered together for the first time, here is a comprehensive
record of the motoring achievements and competition history of
Briggs Swift Cunningham II. He was a competitor, patron and
pioneering champion of road racing in the USA, and in addition to
the cars that bore his name with pride and competed against the
best in the world, the Cunningham team raced many other models in
the late 1950s and early 1960s in both the USA and Europe. Further,
during his long life, Cunningham owned a large variety of vehicles
ranging from the mundane to the spectacular. Richard Harman has
spent the past seven years researching this long overdue and
worthwhile tribute to the accomplishments of the great man. He was
granted unprecedented access to hitherto unpublished archive
material by the Cunningham family and the families of the team
members and has been able to trace the history of most of the
Cunningham-owned cars in great detail. This book has been awarded
the 2014 Cugnot Award by the Society of Motoring Historians and was
shortlisted for the RAC Book of the Year Award 2014. It was also
shortlisted for the 2013 International Historic Motoring Awards
Publication of the Year
The story returns, with new chapters and prospects about to unfold.
The agreement between Sauber and Alfa Romeo brings back to the
World Championship stage a name that for so long was an integral
part of Formula 1 series. Going back to the 1950 and 1951 seasons,
the championship was bathed in the red of the Portello's cars. Then
came the eras of Chiti, Autodelta, the partnership with Brabham and
then the Biscione marque's return to F1 with the Alfa-Alfa. This
book contains all this and much more, including the two seasons in
the early Seventies with McLaren and March, the premature implosion
of the agreement with Ligier, the sporadic appearances, especially
of South African drivers, at the wheel of cars powered by an Alfa
Romeo engine. The story is comprehensively illustrated with
hundreds of colour and black and white images, many previously
unpublished, and a list of all the results obtained by Alfa Romeo
in Formula 1.
Stirling Moss became established during this period as the greatest
racing driver in the world, bar none. He was quite simply in a
class of his own. Based entirely on Sir Stirling's own archives and
his personal scrapbooks, this is the story of his period of
absolute supremacy, the successes against the odds, the fightback
drives through the field, the frustrations of unreliable machinery,
the worst period for tragedies, the wide variety of iconic cars and
the ladies! Apart from stunning period photos, fascinating
cuttings, personal correspondence and general ephemera, over 100
pages from Moss' private diaries are reproduced for the first time
in this book. Uniquely, Kate Seiler, Sir Stirling's first wife, has
spoken candidly, to Philip Porter, about their marriage and the
dreadful strain that the many deaths imposed. This great era in
motor racing encompassed the changeover from traditional
front-engined Grand Prix cars to revolutionary rear-engined ones.
The former are represented here by Maserati 250Fs and Vanwalls, and
the latter by the ground-breaking Coopers and Lotuses. There are
landmark victories - the first GP for Vanwall; the first British GP
win by a British car and by British drivers; the first GP victory
for Cooper; the first for Lotus. Sports cars and sports racing cars
also feature very strongly, including Stirling's key role in Aston
Martin winning the World Sports Car Championship. The story of some
of Moss' more stirring, epic triumphs are recounted in detail with
such charismatic cars as the Maserati 300S, Aston Martin DB3S,
Bobtail Cooper, Maserati 450S, Mercedes-Benz 300SL, Porsche RSK,
Ferrari 290S, Lister-Jaguar, Aston Martin DBR1, DBR2 & DBR3,
Birdcage Maserati and Ferrari 250GT SWB. Much of the text is Sir
Stirling's own words. Combining with all the period material, this
book brings alive the colour, the atmosphere, the danger, the girls
and the fun of this wonderful period in motor sport.
Eighteen unforgettable routes along riverways and ridges, down
rustic roads and coulees, and over 1,800 miles of southern
Wisconsin's best rides
The incredible stunts featured in blockbuster movies and popular TV
adventure shows are exciting to watch but extremely hard to pull
off. Trained professionals perform elaborate routines that require
much planning for them to look effortless on screen. ""Stunt
Driving"" is a compelling new book that takes readers behind the
scenes of television shows and films to investigate what it really
takes to execute these jaw-dropping stunts.
This revised reprint of a classic title covers the history and
development of the racing Corvettes, from the car's beginnings in
the 1950s with just 250 horsepower, through the Corvette GTP of the
1980s, with over 1000 horsepower, and on to 1996, when 4th
generation cars give way to the 5th generation. Included are many
interviews with the drivers who raced these exciting, weighty and
always fast cars, including John Greenwood, Dick Gulstrand, Jerry
Grant and `Fast' Phil Curring, amongst others. The book is
illustrated with many quality photographs, supplied by General
Motors and well-known motoring photographers; it also contains
detailed specifications of the production cars, and road test
reports.
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