Motorsport Literature - Reccomendations

Malt_Vinegar

Malt_Vinegar

Malt_Vinegar

Don
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Thought I would kick this off in our new forum!

I stumbled across a book called "Unraced"

http://www.veloce.co.uk/shop/products/productDetail.php?prod_id=v4084&prod_group=Cars Vans & Trucks&

It was awesome, and I knew I had to have it as soon as I found it existed. It has some wonderful insight into the cars that were built, but never raced. With some fantastically interesting back stories, technical details, drawings and facts.

It is a bit short, and will probably only a single nights reading for an avid reader, but it is a nice resource to have with the detailed pictures.
 
Anyone who wants to read a few ripping yarns from back in the days when racing drivers were real men might want to check out :

Innes Ireland - All Arms And Elbows

A really good read that makes you yearn for days gone by. My only criticism is it is sprinkled with some truly horrendous typos and spelling mistakes which is very odd.
Anyone who has similar recommendations to the one above please post them up!
 
I'll add to this when I have time, got nearly 200 books on motorsport built up over the years, will pull out some of the highlights.
 
For tech books you could do well with either the International Race Engine Directory which gives some fascinating insight to a wide range of racing engines (not just F1) and its sister book the 1000bhp Grand Prix Cars.
 
Over the years I have been lucky enough to build up a rather big collection of Motorsport books so thought I would share some gems I have and point you in the direction of books you might want to seek out.

Pre-War

I got into pre-war after reading an article written by Nigel Roebuck in Autosport, I think in the late 80's, about Bernd Rosemeyer who I found fascinating and decided to seek out some more detailed stuff on the era. I urge those of you who are motorsport fans to seek out books on this era as it was epic. Cars that would top 260mph (YES THAT IS 260MPH) during their speed week runs and would top 200mph during races with drivers who were proper hero's from a different time. Add in the Hitler factor, death, intrigue and epic cars with over 600bhp on 30's tyres and how could you not be interested to know more.

So if this is of interest you need to know Chris Nixon and George Monkhouse who have written arugably the great books about the era, Chris Nixon has written some of the best books of any era actually, more on him later and Monkhouse was there at the time and captured much of the action with his camera.

I would start with:

RacingTheSilverArrowsR1.jpg


This is the original book cover which I have but it has been reprinted a few times since with different covers. It pretty much covers the entire era from the start of the 30's until the break out of war and is a great read covering all races and all of the details on who, what and where. A great starting point to get a full background and very compelling.

I would also advice other books of his:

ShootingStar.jpg


This book is about the British star of the era, the oddly named Dick Seaman who like so many ended up dead, but worth a read to get a feel for the people of the time.

I would also urge you to read his book about Bernd Rosemeyer, sadly I can't find an image for it but it was called Rosemeyer as he was the special talent of the time, his wife also being a hero, but like so many he was also killed during a speed run on an Autobahn when his car was blown off the road at over 240mph!

Another book that has some great images of the era is the one below. Not as detailed as the other works, by it's nature, it still has some great images of the era.

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Now this one is by George Monkhouse, very rare and very expensive. I think I paid £250 for it close nearly 20 years back and it is well out of print but if you do come across one in a book shop for less than £100 BUY IT!

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I know many of you can't see past the current era but you really should take the time to read about this era as I fail to see how any petrol head wouldn't have an appreciation for it. Incredible cars, driven by hero's with amazing backgrounds all wrapped up in the times before WW2. Add in some of the most amazing race circuits, hill climbs and speed trials and you have a fantastic era.

More to come, I have loads of other Chris Nixon books I will talk about and then LOADS of others but that will do for now.
 
When I was a kid I had a book called Grand Prix (or something like that) and it was basically a series of snippets from period articles and biographies. That's how I learned of Rosemeyer, Ireland, Nuvolari..... all very much worth reading about I can assure you!
 
Someone will help me out with remembering the title and author, but I once read a book called something like "how to build the perfect F1 car" and it was about how some race engineers or journalists got stuck in an airport somewhere and sat down to design the best car from bits throughout the history of F1. Fantastic book.
 
Skeeter said:
Someone will help me out with remembering the title and author, but I once read a book called something like "how to build the perfect F1 car" and it was about how some race engineers or journalists got stuck in an airport somewhere and sat down to design the best car from bits throughout the history of F1. Fantastic book.
Click to expand...

Didn't have anything to do with Gordon Murray did it?
 
GingerNinja1989 said:
Didn't have anything to do with Gordon Murray did it?
Click to expand...

I cant remember for the life of me.

All I can remember is it was back in about 2001 or 2002 or something. The guy in the book was waiting for a concorde flight and they talked about H16 engines and some trick exhaust in a McLaren that canceled out some lag, and lots of details about improved safety of monocoques through the metaphore of twisting a french stick.

God, its annoying me now that I cant remember it.
 
I'm about halfway through The Last Road Race - The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix

This is so much more than a book about one GP - it's full of anecdotes, mini-interviews, general overviews of the era (and the history of the sport)

A genuinely wonderful little book - even if you have no real interest in GP history (and if you are in this forum then to be honest, you should have) it gives an amazing insight into how things used to be.

A brilliant quote from Tony Brooks in one chapter:

"I never aimed to go off the road. An awful lot of people can drive well when they know they can go off the road and not hurt themselved. It's not the same challenge. That's what's wrong today. There's just no comparison with the sport in our day. I'm not against the idea of safety. But in becoming so safe, it's become a totally different sport. It's like comparing a tightrope walker in a circus with a safety net with a tightrop walker crossing a raving, above a great big drop. I think that's a totally valid comparison.
It's a sociological factor. You're not supposed to risk your life at all these days. It's more than fifty years, thank goodness, since we've been involved in what you might call a proper war, so people no longer understand that life can involve a high degree of risk. Think about what happened in London during the Blitz. There were bombs raining down constantly, every day you could be killed, and people took it in their stride. "It could happen," they thought, "but it probably won't"
Now, people think it's abhorrent to do anything that involves risk...."
 
Lopéz said:
When I was a kid I had a book called Grand Prix (or something like that) and it was basically a series of snippets from period articles and biographies. That's how I learned of Rosemeyer, Ireland, Nuvolari..... all very much worth reading about I can assure you!
Click to expand...

Grand Prix Greats by Nigel Roebuck perchance?
 
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