71st YEAR – First published in 1951 – The longest running motor racing yearbook. Independent and authoritative editorial combined with the sport’s finest photography Despite the pandemic, AUTOCOURSE celebrated its 70th year of publication in 2020, a year turned on its head by Covid-19. Thanks to the FIA and racing’s management, F1 was rescued, with a compelling 17-race championship spanning Europe and the Middle East. For 2021 a record 22-race schedule was planned, and despite changes to venues, the F1 championship was very much up and running by March 2021. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton – now the winningest driver in history – broke more records. The Briton smashed through the 100 pole-position barrier, and moved inexorably toward a century of Grand Prix wins in the face of a real championship challenge from Max Verstappen. Red Bull Racing and Honda seemed to have all but matched Mercedes to provide the fans with a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle, which would end up with some controversial collisions as the season reached boiling point. Authors Tony Dodgins and Maurice Hamilton, combining almost 80 years of F1 expertise, examine each round in depth. Full race reports are backed by detailed results, including lap charts and tyre strategies. The nuances of F1’s designs and development are analysed team by team by the much-respected Mark Hughes, enhanced by Adrian Dean’s handsome F1 car illustrations. Motor racing’s other major categories are also fully covered: Toyota’s WEC and Le Mans sports car successes; the closely-fought F2 and Formula 3 championships, featuring emerging young talent from around all continents the world; and Nick de Vries emerging victorious in the tight fought Formula E series for electric powered single seaters. AUTOCOURSE includes all the hectic action from the top Touring Car series – the World Touring Car Cup and the British Touring Car Championships as well as the reconfigured DTM Series now running GT cars from Audi, Mercedes, BMW and Ferrari. From America, Gordon Kirby recounts a thrilling Indycar series, featuring a mix of youthful talent such as Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward, both of who were vying to overturn the established veterans who have dominated proceedings over the past decade. In an emotional return, Helio Castroneves took record equalling fourth Indy 500 victory, whilst an appreciation is made to paid to the legendary three-time Indy 500 winner the late Bobby Unser. The ever-popular NASCAR stock car series ran from February to November with barely a weekend’s break, to feature more than forty races before the final championship play-off round at Phoenix, Arizona. In a single essential volume, AUTOCOURSE provides the most comprehensive record of world motor sport, complete with full results not found anywhere in a single volume. It is required reading for all motor sport fans worldwide
A rare and extremely important early motor racing book by the Englishman, Charles Jarrott, who was a very successful competitor in many of the major early international racing events in Great Britain and Europe from 1895-1906. The book has many black ad white photos and illustrations and a wonderful appendix that identifies the winners of each of the early competitions from 1895-1906, (by date, vehicle and race)! This is the personal story of a man who participated in the earliest days of motoring and the first international motor races including the: – the famous city-to-city races ( 1901 Paris-Berlin, 1902 Circuit Du Nord, 1902 Paris-Vienna, 1902 Circuit Des Ardennes, etc.), – and Gordon Bennett Cup events (1900-1904). The first English Edition was published in 1906 by E. Grant Richards in London.
This edition is a modern re-print.
Following the book Lancia Rally Group B, Sergio Remondino has returned to the rallying world with a book examining the golden age of Lancia in the World Rally Championship. We start in the early 1960s, when a numerous group of enthusiasts began using Lancia cars – Appia, Flavias and even Flaminias – for the road races of the time, the forerunners of the rallies that were to come.
The creation of HF at the behest of Cesare Fiorio, together with the advent of the Fulvia, created an authentic watershed and the definitive consecration of the Lancia marque on a global level.
Between 1962 and 1982, Lancias conquered one Constructors’ title and four European Championships, three Constructors’ World Championships and two FIA Drivers’ cups, writing indelible chapters in the history of the sport, thanks to drivers and cars of absolute excellence, all of which relive in this invaluable book.
Selwyn Francis Edge, invariably known simply as ‘SF’, was a highly significant pioneer of motoring in Britain. When, in 1902, he drove a Napier to victory in the Gordon Bennett Cup, a mighty event on public roads between Paris in France and Innsbruck in Austria, he initiated serious British endeavour in motor racing.
He was deeply involved in the birth of Brooklands, setting a 24-hour solo driving record there when the circuit opened in 1907. As a towering industry figure most closely associated with Napier and AC Cars, he played an important role in the growth of car manufacture in Britain. In the words of ‘Bentley Boy’ S.C.H. ‘Sammy’ Davis, ‘His keen grey eyes, the bushy eyebrows and the hawk-like face… made him a notable figure in any assembly.’
- Dedicated cyclist: SF’s early interest in cycles led to racing achievement on two wheels and three, including setting records for round trips between London and Brighton, and taking
- Introducing the motor car to Britain: from his first driving experience, in 1897 with a De Dion-Bouton, SF quickly became an influential advocate of all things automotive in a country that initially lagged far behind France.
- Motor racing pioneer: after early competitions on motor tricycles, SF became a regular competitor in the heroic long-distance races of mainland Europe, famously winning the 1902 Gordon Bennett Cup in a Napier and becoming a national celebrity.
- Growth of Napier: with SF as a guiding force, this long-established engineering company evolved into the manufacturer of some of the finest cars of the Edwardian era.
- Brooklands: upon the circuit’s opening in 1907, SF drove a Napier solo for 24 hours at an average speed of just over 65mph, establishing a record that stood for 18 years.
- AC Cars: after the First World War, SF helped to develop AC Cars into an important manufacturer of sporting cars, with more attempts at speed records along the way.
This biography uncovers the life of an extraordinary man whose achievements deserve to be far more widely recognised.
Many books have been written about the French racing team Matra, detailing the cars and the races it competed in, yet falling to divulge what really went on behind the scenes. One day the team was winning, the toast of France – the next it had vanished, gone without a trace.
I resolved to find out for myself. The story I uncovered was more complex, more surprising and more thrilling than I could have imagined. Little did I expect the destiny of Matra to be so interconnected with the stories of Alpine and Ligier, let alone a range of topics as diverse as the introduction of colour television, the fate of truck company Berliet, the consequences of wartime occupation, the rivalry between Simca, Citroën and Renault, illegal political party funding, the films of Jean-Luc Godard, unfathomable goings-on at the FIA (motor sport’s governing body), the beginnings of the European Economic Community, the unsavoury activities of the French security services, the influence of the ENA, the significance of the cars used by the Gendarmerie, the dirigiste economy, ministerial corruption, unsolved murders, attempted assassinations – and lots of motor racing. But we are getting ahead of ourselves…
in 1966, Fiat introduced the 124 Spider and, in the space of 50 years, in 2016 proposed the same model revised with current stylistic and technical standards.
In 1966, the Fiat 124 Sport Spider burst strongly into the sports car market with a very elegant line and the world’s first twin-cam engine driven by a toothed belt. Private drivers immediately appreciate the great road qualities and employ it both in speed racing and in rallies. In 1970 the private Alcide Paganelli and Ninni Russo won the Italian Rally Championship; in 1972 the private Lele Pinto and Gino Macaluso, assisted by the House, conquered the Central European Championship (Mitropa Cup). In the same year the Abarth prepares the absolute weapon for the Squadra Corse, which becomes official. In three years of rallying at the highest level the Fiat Abarth 124 Rally enters the legend catching numerous statements and winning the European Championship in 1975 and the Italian Rally Championship in 1974 and 1975. In 2016 the model long regretted by fans returns in a guise all new, very modern and technological, which in any case draws from the great tradition of the past. The book tells the evolution of the 124 Sport Spider in the various displacements and the 124 Abarth Rally and summarizes in seven chapters their competitive events. Finally, it follows the genesis of the new Abarth 124 from design to competitive debut. The texts are supported by over 300 current and current images, many of which are unpublished, detailed technical data sheets, lists of “racing” plates and other documents important for the knowledge and correct conservation of the models.
The authors Elvio Deganello and Roberto Valentini have divided the competences: Deganello – besides being a respected journalist, a competent ASI technical commissioner – has oversaw the historical part; Valentini, who had the opportunity to follow step by step the development of the 2016 model, tells about this exciting new adventure in the world of rallies. The photographs of the Actualfoto archive are essential, allowing to relive the competitions of the past.
Important is the role of Ruben Wainberg, designer of today’s Abarth 124, who has worked on this book with passion, devoting himself to his graphic design, in collaboration with Patrizia Bisa, art director of La Manovella magazine. To follow the chapter of the stylistic transition between the old and the new Fiat 124 model, which is due to the clever pen and inventiveness of Roberto Giolito, already author of a cult model like the new 500. Today Giolito is responsible for the Heritage sector of FCA and therefore represents the relationship between the great history of the brands that are part of the group and its present.
Text in English and Italian
Traction Avant coupé, cabriolet, découvrable : Le charme à l’état pur
Among the biggest myths of the automobile, the Citroën Traction Avant with two doors, cabriolets and coupes (roadsters and faux-cabriolets according to the period names) occupy a place of choice. Indeed, endowed with a capital of seduction intense and enigmatic, but especially absolutely intact, this car with indisputable charm struts proudly alongside machines much more luxurious or more powerful. Even at a time when a 11 HP Traction was trading for a handful of cherries, the roadster inevitably earned respect. Its image and its harmonious forms remain associated with the countless black-and-white smiles displayed on the French or European coasts, the elegance contests or the carefree escapades of the late 1930s. This book deals with the phenomenon by a chronological approach to through four key periods of its history: the time of production, the time of forgetting, then the rebirth and finally the dedication that enthusiastic collectors give it today. Reference tool, this book provides unpublished production figures and precise elements of restoration by scratching the universe of replicas in passing. It goes through all the variants of versions 7 and 11, not to mention the 15 or the mysterious cabriolet 22. The models produced or sold abroad are also highlighted. A full chapter is devoted to derivatives and special bodies. Olivier de Serres knows his subject at his fingertips and can rely on knowledge acquired over the years in both design office and workshop. The reader thus has the assurance of reliable information where the feeling is authentic.
French text
1963 NASSAU SPEED WEEKS
Top drivers from the US and Europe, including Roger Penske, Phil Hill, Innes Ireland, Bob Grossman, Lance Reventlow, Lorenzo Bandini and Masten Gregory compete in the 10 day ‘Carnival of Speed’ on the 4 1/2 mile Oakes Field airport circuit carved out of the jungle outside Nassau.
The film begins with the arrival of the cars and competitors by ship and plane followed by coverage of some of Speed Weeks’ featured races: The Pan American Formula Junior race, the Bahamas Cup, the Nassau Tourist Race, the Nassau Trophy race featuring a dramatic 63 car ‘LeMans Start’ – and the annual Ladies Race.
The Ferrari 250 GTO dominated sports car racing in the early 60’s and plenty of them made the trip to Nassau to compete against the best sports cars of the day. one of the most unusual cars ive seen on film a fast back Falcon!!! also Porsches, Corvettes, Lotus, Alfa Romeos, early Cobras, Scarab and Lotus .
One of the interesting elements of this film are segments on the social side of Speed Weeks as parties and nightclubs are featured showing the elite participants.
The Nassau Speed Weeks, held from 1954 thru 1966,
RACE TO THE CLOUDS
Pikes’s Peak: A challenge to men and machines
Drivers: Paul Goldsmith
Parnelli Jone’s, Indy winner & Hill Climb winner
7-time winner Bobby Unser
Nick Sandbourne Dave Pearson “hotdog of the hill”
Mack Miller, father of drag racing
Louie Unser, age 65, won more times on this hill than any other driver
12 1/2 mile course climbs over 5,000 feet
and twists through 154 turns. Winner’s Circle or “glory alley” is 14,110 feet up
Stock cars, Sports cars, corvettes, cobras, sprint cars,
NO MARGIN FOR ERROR
promo films of the late 60’s show casing All the fun of driving sports cars
On a bright October morning in 1904, thousands of people flocked to Nassau County on rural Long Island to witness the first international motor sports competition in America: the newly created Vanderbilt Cup. By 1906, the number of spectators multiplied to a quarter million and America s place in motor racing history was assured. In 1908, the Vanderbilt Cup was joined by a second international competition, the International Grand Prize, the first grand prix held outside France. By 1913, the Indianapolis 500 would supplant the Vanderbilt Cup and Grand Prize as America’s preeminent race, forever turning mainstream America’s attention away from road racing and toward the oval tracks then proliferating around the country. Concentrating on the years between 1904 and 1916 and featuring a wealth of photographs, this book examines the early and relatively unknown history of American motor racing. Beginning with an overview of motor racing history, it covers the French origins of the sport and the first international competitions such as the annual Gordon Bennett Cup and the ill-fated Paris to Madrid race. The primary focus is on America’s first three races of international stature: the Vanderbilt Cup, the International Grand Prize and the Indianapolis 500. Compiled in great part from contemporary sources such as newspaper accounts and automotive journals, the book covers not only these races, but also the ways in which each spurred development of the American automobile industry, making it at last a true competitor for that of Europe.
During World War II, there was a famed B-17 aircraft named Hell’s Angels. The men who worked together to keep the plane flying over Hitler’s occupied Europe, those of the U.S. Army Air Force’s 303rd Bombardment Group, were the first in the 8th Air Force to complete twenty-five missions from their base in Molesworth, England. These men, or “Hell’s Angels” as they became known, went on to complete forty missions without ever turning back to base for mechanical failure of the plane. In The Original Hell’s Angels: 303rd Bombardment Group of World War II, you will take an exciting historical journey to meet these men and to experience the total forty-eight missions they flew without having a member wounded or killed before the plane and members of its crew were commissioned to return to America for a war-bond tour. Also, you will learn how the entire 303rd became known as Hell’s Angels, the first heavy bombardment group to complete three hundred missions from American air force bases in England.
The mighty machines of the Can-Am Championship must surely be leading candidates for the title of ‘most awesome racing cars ever built’…
Some forty years ago they put out over 1000 horsepower in their most-developed form and hit speeds of up to 220mph despite aerodynamics that were experimental at best and highly dangerous at worst! They made the Grand Prix F1 cars of the day look tame by comparison.
And even today, the ‘Can-Am thunder’ still rumbles as huge crowds flock to historic race meetings wherever these incredible cars appear.
Porsche, McLaren, Lola and Shadow were the Championship-winning cars, with Chaparral, Bryant Ti22, March, BRM and Ferrari as the challengers. We focus in depth upon all of these as they rumble and roar around tracks like Laguna Seca with its legendary downhill ‘corkscrew’ turn. We even recall the days of the ‘Interserie’ – Europe’s Can-Am equivalent – by filming at the Nurburgring round of the current Orwell Supersports Cup series for historic Can-Am cars.
In making this up-close examination of the mighty machines of the Can-Am, we use a great combination of modern action footage, rare archive film and almost 100 superb pictures from the best photographers of the day.
We hear reminiscences from the three Can-Am champions still with us – John Surtees, George Follmer and Jackie Oliver – as well as from Jim Hall – the designer of the incredible Chaparral ‘fan car’ – and its driver, Vic Elford.
In addition, Hurley Haywood tells us what it was like to wrestle with the mighty turbocharged Porsche 917/10 in the heat of Can-Am competition. He is one of the world’s best-ever sports car drivers with three wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, five in the Daytona 24 Hours and two in the Sebring 12 Hours to his credit!
Finally, Peter Bryant, creator of the successful Bryant Ti22 and Shadow Mk2 cars, recalls what it was like trying to design a 220mph racer without the aid of computers or wind tunnels!
All of this is woven into reminiscences by the world’s acknowledged ‘number one’ Can-Am guru. Author and photographer, Pete Lyons recalls the stories that led to his best-selling books on the series and delves into his photo archives to take us back to the Can-Am era. In this he is joined by another award-winning author and photographer focusing on those awesome days, Dave Friedman.
Up until now the definitive documentary on the cars of the Can-Am has never been made. This is it!
Bonus features:
Peter Bryant, Can-Am Challenger – He was a self-taught designer responsible for two of the most successful Can-Am challengers. Here’s the inside story by Peter Bryant.
Pete Lyons Looks Back – Acknowledged as the world’s leading expert on the Can-Am series, Pete Lyons recalls some personal memories from the day.
While automobile races had been held in Europe earlier, it was not until after 1900 that organized races were held in the United States. These contests took the form of road races―usually over a series of connected links of the best roads available. The most important of the early races were held on Long Island, New York.
As a result of the efforts of the Savannah Automobile Club, the International Grand Prize Race of the Automobile Club of America was held in Savannah, Georgia, for the first time in November of 1908 and was enormously successful. In 1910 and again in 1911 the most famous drivers and the finest racing cars from all over the world returned to the city for the Grand Prize Race. The 1911 event attracted thousands more who came to witness the famous Vanderbilt Cup Race, the fastest race of this length up to that time (291 miles in 3 hours and 56 minutes).
Julian K. Quattlebaum was among those who lined the Savannah race course for a glimpse of the big Fiats, Loziers, and Mercedes that roared around the turns, across the finish line, and into auto racing history. He has written a new introduction to this edition and has gone through his collection of early photographs of the cars, the drivers, and the races to add to the generous selection of illustrations in the original edition.
Grand Prix racing in the late 1920s through the early 1930s was “owned” by the powerful, state-backed Italian teams with drivers like Nuvolari and Varzi, but by the end of the Thirties, the Germans dominated. Driving Forces by Peter Stevenson tells the human story of the men, their women, and their machines that made the German dominance possible. It is the classic story of daring individuals facing the ultimate challenge both physically and morally as these racing drivers drove under the Nazi swastika, but for themselves.
Driving Forces focuses on the lives of two of the world’s greatest racing drivers: Rudolph “Rudi the Rain Master” Caracciola and Bernd Rosemeyer. The cast of characters reads like the European roll call of the Grand Prix greats: Louis Chiron (France), Achille Varzi (Italy), Giuseppe Campari (Italy), Dick Seaman (Great Britain), Hans Stuck (Germany), and, the greatest of them all, the Maestro Tazio Nuvolari (Italy). Peter Stevenson follows the career of Rudi Caracciola from his youthful “great escape” from the occupying Belgian forces to his first ride with Mercedes and then on to greatness as the top driver for that German team. Caracciola’s life is intertwined with that of his greatest rival Bernd Rosemeyer of the Auto Union team. Rosemeyer’s story is a tragic one of a youthful, talented, and well-loved racer whose love affair with racing and Germany’s outstanding aviatrix, Elly Beinhorn (the Amelia Earhart of Germany), led to his death in 1938.
Driving Forces is also the story of the rivalry between Mercedes Benz and Auto Union, led by the brilliant designs of Dr. Porsche, for the Grand Prix championship of Germany and the world. The ultra-sophisticated supercharged machines of Mercedes, Germany’s premier automaker, faced Porsche’s ingeniously designed rear-engined V-12 and V-16 behemoths. Capable of between 500 and 600 horsepower, the cars easily reached speeds of over 200 miles an hour and in 1938, at speed record attempts on the Autobahn in Germany, the German cars reached speeds of over 270 miles per hour on a regular paved road.
But this is not merely a story about race cars. It is primarily a tale of individual courage – the drivers and their wives and lovers who faced death on and off the race course, for this was a time in Europe when fascism was on the rise sweeping up a continent and then the world. These racing drivers and their loved ones dealt with the risks of racing such powerful machines and of dealing with one of history’s most terrifying dictators – Adolf Hitler. That they survived either of these challenges is a testament to their courage and fortitude – some, however, did not. Driving Forces is the story of those challenges, those successes, and those losses. It is a human story, brilliantly told against the exciting background of international Grand Prix racing and the growing maelstrom of the Third Reich.
