This impressive, large format book tells the inside story of the ‘Lightweight’ E-types. Built just in 1963, they are now amongst the rarest and most desirable of the race cars which came from Jaguar’s famous Competition Department – to which indeed there was ‘Strictly No Admittance’ for ordinary mortals! The book covers the evolution, design and development of Jaguar’s G.T. challenger and its XK racing engine. It is written by automotive engineer Peter Wilson who himself worked in the Competition Department throughout the period, where, together with his colleagues, helped build, and develop the production E-type through to its final form – the highly competitive and successful ‘Lightweight’ E-type. Peter’s remarkable recall of those events 60 or more years ago is reinforced by the hundreds of hours he spent in the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust’s impressive archives, and by many conversations with his former colleagues at Jaguar. The result is a book of astonishing detail (every single engine ever used by the factory in Lightweight E-types is, for example, identified and fully documented), while Peter’s account of how the car evolved from previous models, and the technicalities of how the engine, transmissions, brakes and bodywork were built and developed, are recorded in unprecedented detail. “The Lightweight E-type was created under the aegis of Jaguar’s founder, Sir William Lyons, and his engineering director William Heynes CBE”, writes publisher Paul Skilleter. “But the cars needed to be built and maintained, and Peter takes us into that ‘holy of holies’ and introduces us to the men who created the Lightweight E-type ‘in the metal’. “However, in successfully persuading Peter Wilson to follow up his XJ13 book with one on the Lightweight E-type, I hadn’t realised what I had let myself in for… The sheer quantity of words, graphs, diagrams and pictures which Peter presented me with was breathtaking – as was also the huge depth of the research clearly
Based upon many hours of conversations taped exclusively for ‘Inside Track’, together with other material accumulated over many years of friendship with John Lamm, Doug Nye and others, The Racing Autobiography tells the story of Phil Hill’s life in his own words, from his childhood in 1930s California through his later years as co-owner of the highly successful Hill & Vaughn car restoration business, a respected motor sport writer and TV commentator, and much loved elder statesman of the American vintage and classic car movement with an unrivaled knowledge, in particular, of the Packard marque and its cars.
Illustrated by numerous photographs, letters, race posters and programmes, and other automobilia from the Hill Family archive, plus many other photographs of Phil’s racing career and beyond – including his last great victory in the charismatic Chaparral 2F at Brands Hatch in 1967 – the book offers an unrivaled view of this remarkable man.
The Racing Autobiography is hardbound with a cloth-covered case and inset photographs to match the two volumes of the Collector’s Edition, with the same page size and 428 pages, and is presented in its own cloth-covered slipcase.
Great collector cars are still out there–just waiting to be found!
Sadly, there is very little reality in reality TV. That wouldn’t be so bad except for the fact that these shows are the only TV shows for the barn-find collector car aficionado.
Barn Find Road Trip is the antidote to all the manufactured collector “reality” shows. It’s a real-world, barn-find banzai run in which auto archaeologist Tom Cotter, his car collector pal Brian Barr, and photographer Michael Alan Ross embarked on a 14-day collector-car-seeking adventure with no predetermined destinations. It’s barn-find freestyle! Roaming the Southeast, they documented their day-to-day car search in photos and through stories and interviews. This trip is absolutely real and the same kind of junket any gearhead with the skills, knowledge, and time can undertake.
Cotter and company hit the road in Cotter’s 1939 Ford Woody, the kind of car that opened doors and started the conversations that revealed where interesting cars were squirreled away. The result? The discovery of over 1,000 collector cars and some of the most amazing barn-find stories Cotter has yet unearthed, all accompanied by Ross’ evocative photography. If you love stories of automotive adventure, this is the book for you!
The Chrysler engineers went through every combination that was possible. Whether it was different springs, different shocks, different sway bars, different weights They had a book, it must have been about a two-by-three foot book! It was a heck of an engineering force.-Richard Petty Seven-time NASCAR champion Winner of 200 Grand National/Winston Cup racesAcross decades of thrilling competition, many of NASCAR’s greatest drivers-from Marvin Panch to Jim Paschal, Richard Petty to Buddy Baker, Bill Elliott to Ward Burton, Ryan Newman to Kasey Kahne-have thundered around America’s legendary racetracks at the wheel of Chrysler Corporation’s Dodge and Plymouth stock cars. Power, innovation, and design have characterized these remarkable vehicles, and NASCAR’s record books have been written in the wake of their no-holds-barred competition.Now, the full story of Chrysler’s conquest of stock car racing is told in TOP SPEED: Dodge and Plymouth Stock Car Racing. Written by award-winning motorsports journalist Frank Moriarty, this book begins with the corporation’s first sales and earliest laps, then marches through the years, arriving in the present-day world of the NASCAR “Car of Tomorrow.”Like Moriarty’s best-selling SUNDAY DRIVERS: NASCAR Winston Cup Stock Car Racing and the acclaimed SUPERCARS: The Story of the Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth SuperBird, this new book introduces you to all the machines that have made Chrysler’s racing efforts so successful. But equally important are the men behind the wheel, and you’ll meet them all-including a special section containing exclusive conversations with Richard Petty, Buddy Baker, Pete Hamilton, and the legendary crew chief Harry Hyde.
Lunches With Mr. Q is a story about automobiles and so much more. It is the funny, poignant, always compelling story of a series of lunchtime conversations and adventures between Kjell Qvale, a 92-year multimillionaire automobile entrepreneur and pioneer, and the author. A Norwegian immigrant with a passion for sports cars and speed, Qvale (pronounced Cavalli) shares a lifetime of wisdom on automobiles, business, the value of optimism and taking risks, and so much more. Told in a charming and entertaining way, this beautifully illustrated volume features 80 photographs and full color throughout. It is for anyone who loves cars and loves life, and who, like Mr. Q, has set out to achieve a dream and won’t stop until they do.
There have been over 200 books written about James Dean over the years since his tragic car crash. It seems everyone has remembered, reminisced, examined, re-examined, defied and worshipped James Dean. To one man, however, the modern interpretations of James Dean ring hollow. For him, James Dean is not a mythical figure, but a living memory. This one man has never shared his story – until now: Lew Bracker, James Dean’s closest friend. Jimmy And Me: A Personal Memoir of James Dean is a very personal narrative of a friendship that began with young men talking of girls, old movies and cool cars. Its abrupt interruption will break your heart. Many of the events and conversations in this book have never been shared or published before. You will laugh and you will cry. This book is not just a must-read for those having an interest in James Dean or for those curious about the real James Dean as told by the friend who knew him best. This is a compelling, brave and straightforward telling of a close friendship where the author paints a magnificent portrait of his friend, James Dean.
Tanner has the habit of stopping at every dilapidated garage, warehouse, or barn he comes across: What could possibly be lurking inside? A ’66 Shelby, ’32 Bugatti or clapped out ’77 Mercury Bobcat. An amazing friendship blossoms when a young car fanatic meets a seasoned collector after noticing his old BMW 2800CS parked at a local greasy spoon. Coffee turns into marathon conversations about amazing vintage cars, their colorful owners, and their own next chapters.