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
Superbike racing is a global business built on decades of dedicated partnerships among manufacturers, promoters and teams resulting in successful domestic and international championships. In the mid-1970s, however, this popular category of production-based four-stroke competition was in its infancy.
In “Superbike: An Illustrated Early History,” renowned technical writer Kevin Cameron and
acclaimed photographer John Owens chronicle the transition from the twin-cylinder BMWs,
Ducatis and Moto Guzzis set against wobbling and weaving first-generation Japanese fours to a
second wave of more raceworthy machines that ultimately led to the sportbike revolution.
Owens shot the black-and-white photographs published in this beautifully designed and
produced 192-page hardcover book at five of the tracks that dotted the U.S. motorcycle
road-racing landscape at the time: Daytona International Speedway, Bryar Motorsports Park,
Laguna Seca Raceway, Pocono International Raceway and Road America.
Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey and Freddie Spencer—three Americans who went on to win a
combined 10 250cc and 500cc Grand Prix world titles—figured prominently in the “sit-up” era of
AMA Superbike. Throughout the book, Cameron and Owens provide insights and images of
riders, crew members and machines difficult to replicate in today’s veiled paddocks.
“The desire to go fast, brake, turn and accelerate isn’t that complicated,” Cameron writes in the
opening pages. Yet this book clearly illustrates and uniquely explains the challenges that all
involved—from the manufacturers, to the teams and, ultimately, to the riders—faced in their
attempts to achieve those goals.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Kevin Cameron is a former tuner specializing in racing two-strokes and is widely recognized for
his ability to reduce deeply technical subjects to their elemental form. Kevin has written for
numerous publications. He has also authored several books on engineering and performance.
John Owens has photographed automotive and motorcycle competitions since 1975. John has
covered a range of events in the U.S., Europe and Japan, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans,
Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500, as well as the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy races.
‘If a Buick Special ever got a fierce ambition to become a Ferrari – and tried hard enough – it would be likely to end up just about like this.”
Car and Driver magazine – September, 1963
Such prophetic words from Car and Driver magazine back in 1963 underscore the goal of three California twenty somethings who sought to build a world-class grand touring sports car. And, for a while, found themselves on equal ground with Europe’s best.
Their concept: A marriage of Italian style and the mechanical excellence of a premier American manufacturer – Buick – to create a true gran turismo sports car with head-turning looks, outstanding performance and comfort, and something that, up to then, was not common among European exotics: Reliability!
Their challenges were legion: A complex product combining hand-crafted bodies with mass-produced engines and transmissions on an assembly line spanning two continents and an ocean. A limited capability for product development and testing. And the need to create a marketing program to promote the car to an enthusiast public as well as develop a distribution channel to get the car into their hands. All this with limited operating capital.
The result? The Apollo was highly praised by both road testers and owners alike. “Workmanship is of the highest quality…comparable to cars costing twice that of the Apollo” crowed one magazine report. “…the Apollo handles as well or better than a 2+2 Ferrari, an Aston Martin DB4 or a Sting Ray Corvette,” exclaimed another. High praise indeed from the critical press!
And the owners? “I dearly love my Apollo!” enthused singer Pat Boone. And this from another owner: “It’s a wonderful work of art. You can see the quality. You can feel the excitement they felt when they were hammering it out, putting it together and driving it for the first time. It is a milestone, a one-of-a-kind car and no one can really compare anything to it. It stands on its own.”
This is the story of the Apollo GT. The American Ferrari.
Details: 8.5″ x 11″, 138 pages. 87 color and black & white photos and illustrations.
In 1954, an American family set out on a tour of Europe in a Jaguar. What happened to them? The tour and their lives are described in this exciting and amusing story.
• Also features appearances by J.F.K., George Ball, Lyndon B. Johnson, the Chicago Seven, and Tom Hanks
• This beautifully designed collectors’ edition was produced using the methods of the 1950s
• Limited to 500 copies, each one signed
An American family of five toured Europe for six weeks in their Jaguar. It wouldn’t be a big deal, had it not happened in 1954 when Europe was just in a phase of self-discovery, less than ten years after the end of World War II. Amos Ball and his family were not discouraged by the turmoil and took a tour through England, France, Italy and Switzerland. Their vehicle: a grand Jaguar Mark II, at that time the fastest four-door limousine in Europe. Amos Ball captured all their experiences in his Travels with a Jaguar, which also served to illustrate a fascinating portrait of post-war Europe. In addition, Ball wrote the first ever book in which the Jaguar was the theme.
Jaguar-lover and publisher Christoph Meier-Siem rediscovered this travel journey, which today is a rare, sought-after piece of literature: – the complete travel story from 1954, newly translated, and including an added booklet ‘What to Drive?’. This collectors’ edition, limited to 500 copies, has been numbered by hand.
Porsche AG, today the most profitable car company in the world, was in 1975 a small but headstrong German automaker on the verge of its most significant development. New national laws were changing the way manufacturers designed their products, but the auto consumer was also craving more exciting and innovative design. That innovation came in 1975 with the release of the revolutionary Porsche 924.
This book begins its analysis with the creation of the Porsche 924 and the impact it made on the automotive world. During the 1980s, Porsche honed earlier 924 designs to create the 944 and its Turbo and convertible variants, and later the 968, completing a line that has produced some of the most respected sports cars of the modern era. The text also follows in detail the long production life and development of Porsche’s V-8 powered high performance grand tourer, the 928–introduced in 1977, named the 1978 European Car of the Year and culminating in the 350 bhp 928 GTS of the 1990s. This history of the dynamic Porsche family gives a full account of each model and reveals the unique contributions each has made to a constantly evolving automotive world.
