Modifying the Aerodynamics of Your Road Car

Modifying the Aerodynamics of Your Road Car

Modifying the Aerodynamics of Your Road Car is a unique handbook that assumes no starting knowledge of vehicle aerodynamics. It begins with simple ideas and finishes with sophisticated and effective aerodynamic modifications that work.
Three major chapters cover on-road testing techniques that give you all the information you need to decide what modifications you should make – and, after you’ve made them, how well they work. Low-cost techniques allow you to visualize the patterns of airflow over your car so that you can actually see the problem areas that need improvement. Uniquely, you’re also shown how to measure aerodynamic pressures, so you can determine which body surfaces are creating lift, drag and downforce. Want to work out where a wing should be placed? On-road testing to find that out is covered as well. The book also shows you how to measure downforce to see if that wing is actually working!
If you wish to reduce drag, more than ten different areas are covered. Reducing frontal area, lowering cooling system drag, optimizing vehicle ride height and rake, reducing the strength of the wake, achieving clean airflow separation and optimizing wheel designs are all covered using the latest research findings. And if you’re a performance driver, there’s a major chapter devoted to reducing lift and improving stability. This chapter includes the design and development of undertrays and diffusers, wings and spoilers. The example car developed measurable downforce when fitted with an undertray and rear diffuser, something that transformed its on-road handling.
The author has been writing about the aerodynamics of road cars for more than 25 years. He is also an experienced and proficient car modifier who has performed numerous aerodynamic modifications and upgrades to his own cars. The book’s technical consultant, RH Barnard, is an acknowledged world leading automotive aerodynamicist.
If you want a practical, hands-on guide that demystifies and explains car aerodynamics, and shows you how to make effective aerodynamic modifications to your car, this book is for you.
The Tom Mix Cord: Saga of a Western Film Star’s Classic Motocar

The Tom Mix Cord: Saga of a Western Film Star’s Classic Motocar

The Tom Mix Cord: Saga of a Western Film Star’s Classic Motorcar, tells the story of this classic car from personalization to wreckage to restoration. Well documented at every stage, this book offers a look at Tom Mix’s unique history in the film industry, circus, and his love affair with a 1937 Super Charged Cord that has won nearly thirty awards. Tom Mix was the highest paid actor in Hollywood during the early part of the 20th Century mostly during the silent film era, being featured in 336 films and dubbed as the “King of Cowboys” until his untimely death in this very 1937 Cord. While Mix owned the Cord, he personalized it to make it a true show piece. The Tom Mix Award for the best Cord given at the West Coast Auburn Cord Duesenberg show is a coveted trophy. The car has won the award twice, along with being on the cover of Antique Automobile Car Club of America’s magazine. If you are a car buff, western film buff, or know one, this title is one not to miss. This book includes the ownership history of the car (with some surprises), the fully researched and documented additions made to the car by Mix, a history of the Auburn Cord Duesenberg Company, a history of Tom Mix’s other endeavors such as owning a circus featuring Wild West Shows, and a detail of the restoration of the Cord to its current show quality state. 11 x 8.5 inches, 144 pages, hardcover.

How to Give Your MGB V8 Power – Fourth Edition: Double Your MGB’s Power!

How to Give Your MGB V8 Power – Fourth Edition: Double Your MGB’s Power!

No one contemplating an MGB V8 engine conversion should start the project without reading this book, which is based on the real world experience of many owners and specialists who have re-engined MGBs in the past. Avoid expensive mistakes and pitfalls and end up with a car that performs, handle and brakes superbly by following the detailed advice compiled over many years by MGB expert, Roger Williams.

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

Bonhams is the world’s go-to source for classic race and sports cars. In this book, the auction house presents a selection of the most breathtaking models and tells their stories. It might only take a slight turn of the ignition, but firing up classic cars also makes great moments in automobile history come to life. Every page of Gentlemen, Start Your Engines! gives the reader a sense of the intensity of true automobile culture. Large-format images showcase sleek shapes and tactile vintage interiors in loving detail. The book was compiled by Jared Zaugg, a man who founded one of the coolest high-end motorcycle events in the world, the Legend of the Motorcycle: International Concours d’Elegance. Although Zaugg has mostly been associated with two-wheelers, in Gentlemen, Start Your Engines! he revels in his second passion–double the number of wheels and double the fun! In cooperation with Bonhams, the largest auction house for classic cars, Jared Zaugg reveals the undeniable icons of the scene. The book features a selection of models that go far beyond mere technical stats and gleaming chrome. Rather, they all offer something far more valuable: unique stories. These include the legendary Hurst Baja that Steve McQueen drove in an off-road race through the desert outside Las Vegas in 1968 until its axle broke. Or the famous Bugatti Brescia Type 22 from 2915 that lay on the bottom of Lake Maggiore for over 70 years before its remains were recovered in 2009. Then there are classic beauties such as the Aston Martin DB4GT, as well as a collection of historical vehicles that call to mind the origin of the word “horsepower” and the automobile’s humble beginning as a noble carriage. All the big names are included, but the focus is on what can be found behind the logos and the polished surfaces. With its striking photographs and compelling texts, Gentlemen, Start Your Engines! truly captures the feeling of these unique cars. As lovers of exclusive limited series, record-making vehicles, and legendary races themselves, Jared Zaugg and the team at Bonhams went all out in their efforts to collect the best of the best in this publication–and it shows. Gentlemen, Start Your Engines! is a book that celebrates cars. While it will inspire some to dream and fuel envy in others, it offers superb stories for everyone.

Motocourse 2022-23: The World’s Leading Grand Prix & Superbike Annual

Motocourse 2022-23: The World’s Leading Grand Prix & Superbike Annual

MOTOCOURSE 2022-23

47th YEAR OF PUBLICATION

For lovers of two-wheeled motorsport, Motocourse stands alone as the leading yearbook covering the sport.

Since its launch 1976 it has evolved through the decades into the most authoritative chronicle on the FIM motorcycling world and key national championships.

The 20-race MotoGP championship produced a fascinating mix of races which saw no fewer than five different riders take victories in the first eleven rounds, before the season climaxed in Valencia in November.

Leading the way was the young Frenchman Fabio Quartararo, who on his Yamaha, fought to keep a phalanx of Ducati riders at bay, led by “Pecco” Bagnaia, Jack Miller, Enea Bastinini and Jorge Martin.

Fascinating sub-stories abounded, with the multiple champion Marc Marquez having his season curtailed by recurring injuries and the abrupt decision of Suzuki to pull out of MotoGP competition at the end of the 2022 season, which left the rider market in disarray.

Aside from the premier class, Moto 2 and Moto3 are given ample coverage, where a three-rider tussle between Celestino Vietti, Augusto Fernandez and Ai Ogura were the front runners battling for the top prize. In Moto3 Aspar’s GASGAS team mates Sergio Garcia and Izan Guerara desputed proceedings as the season progressed.

Editor Michael Scott and Neil Morrison supply full reports on each Grand Prix, and Matt Birt brings us his usual run down on the comings and goings of each of the 11 squads in the Team-By-Team review, which has full personnel and technical specifications, the bikes being illustrated beautifully by Adrian Dean’s meticulously crafted drawings.

Full coverage is given of the 12-round World Superbike Series in which Kawasaki’s defending champion Jonathan Rea faced a stern challenge from Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu and Ducati’s Alvaro Bautista. All the races and the seasons bikes and riders are put under the microscope by Superbike top writer Gordon Ritchie who also covers the supporting World Supersport class.

Peter McLaren provides full race results and lap charts from every round of both MotoGP and World Superbikes as well as complete points tables from all the major championships.

The well of talent that eventually will become the cream of racing almost inevitably springs from the amazingly well-conceived Red Bull Rookies series, in which youngsters vie for supremacy on identical machines. The vastly experienced Peter Clifford charts the ups and downs of their close-fought battles.

After the continuing pandemic, the Isle of Man TT returned for the first time since 2019, and the well-funded and increasingly popular British BSB Superbike series continues to grow in prestige, with an ever-deepening field of talent competing across eight different classes throughout a weekend packed with action.

Motocourse also covers the racing in the USA, via the Moto America Superbike series which saw Yamaha’s Jake Gagne competing head-to-head with the experienced Ducati star Danilo Petrucci.

For 47 years, Motocourse has been the bible of motorcycle racing, written and illustrated by the world’s leading practitioners. The superlative reproduction of its brilliant photographs brings the drama and spectacle of a thrilling racing year to vibrant life.

Motocourse is the essential collectible, and the mainstay of every road racing fans bookshelf.

 

 

VW Classic Beetle – Maintenance and Upgrades Manual

VW Classic Beetle – Maintenance and Upgrades Manual

VW Classic Beetle is the latest in the Maintenance and Upgrades Manual series, which are based on real-life experience and written by expert authors. The original air-cooled VW Beetle is a hugely distinctive and popular classic car with over 21 million produced over a 65-year period. It is also an ideal starter classic for anyone looking to get their hands dirty. This new book includes an illustrated timeline to the various models produced and a useful buyers’ guide with a systematic approach. There is information on workshop tools and equipment and a service and maintenance schedule. How to maintain all aspects of the engine, transmission, brakes and bearings, suspension and electrics are covered. Information on modifications and upgrades for the engine, brakes and suspension including front beam, dropped spindles, spring plates, air ride, and wheels and tyres is included. Troubleshooting tips for when your car won’t start or won’t go into gear are given and, finally, tips on restoration of the paint and bodywork, or respray. There are useful chapters on fitting an ISOFIX base for a child safety seat, as well as fire suppression.

Birth of a Smile

Birth of a Smile

Having learned the nuances of fiberglass through boat building, Bruce gives you a background of the
people he was influenced by in the early 1960’s Newport Beach scene. He carries you through the
struggles, but carefree attitudes of designing and producing the Meyers Manx dune buggy, and once
he was finally established in the kit car world, the woes of being a businessman with all the trials and
tribulation it can bring. You will get a peek at the man who loved six wives, started an industry, and
invented several common-today items trying to save his failing company after he was bitterly copied
by the world. See how the forming of the Manx Dune Buggy Club in 1994, and the rebirth of Meyers
Manx in 1999, saved him, and how he continued to flourish until his death in 2021

Factory-Original Land Rover Series 1, 80-inch Models: Originality guide to Land Rover Series I, 80-inch models

Factory-Original Land Rover Series 1, 80-inch Models: Originality guide to Land Rover Series I, 80-inch models

It was back in 1996 that James Taylor’s book Original Land Rover Series I was first published, and it has been in print and in constant demand ever since. In recent years James has been engaged in further research and the gathering of new information for a much larger and more detailed work about the Series I, so this substantial new book is dedicated to the 80-inch models alone, with the Series I’s on other wheelbases to come in a later volume. The aim remains the same as it was for the 1996 book: to provide a detailed guide to correct factory specification and equipment for all models. The Land Rover was a huge success for its makers right from the start in 1948, when it was introduced as a product to keep the Rover factories busy in the difficult economic times that followed the Second World War. Developed with a speed that was remarkable even for the relatively unsophisticated vehicles of those days, it was regularly updated in both major and minor ways over the next five years as improvements became necessary or suggested themselves. It is the fine detail of those improvements – some intended to simplify build procedures and others to give the customers a better product – that lie at the heart of this book. For owners and enthusiasts seeking to return an 80-inch model to its original ex-factory specification, or to identify non-original features, it aims to demystify the huge succession of changes that were made on the assembly lines, recording not only what happened but also why. With the aid of Simon Clay’s photography of some superb examples of the marque, correct details are shown on both complete vehicles and on some under restoration to give the dedicated enthusiast the knowledge needed. In this book, leading Land Rover historian James Taylor is your guide to the multiple changes in specification that affected the 80-inch Land Rovers built between 1948 and 1953.

Pan American in Norway, 1935-1991

Pan American in Norway, 1935-1991

A softback book of 76 pages about the trials to open an air service between Norway and the USA. One’s the world’s largest airlines with a network spanning the world: Pan American Airways. The history of this airline is without doubt very interesting. A service to the small country of Norway was just one of the air services operated, but generated some 30,000 to 50,000 passengers per year. In this special magazine, we take a look at the history of Pan American World Airways and its routes to Norway.

How diverse its history is can be understood, when we ask you the following question: when was the first air service to be inaugurated: 1936? 1940? 1946? You might be interested to know that Pan American Airways as early as the 1936 wanted to start a trial service and in 1940 actually an air service, but it had to wait until after the Second World War. Its fascinating story is told here, all the way until the end in 1991.

The author describes the intense conversation between the Nordic airline companies and Pan American Airways before the war and gives a historic detailed description of the post-war development, including many photographs, timetables, posters and advertisments from that time. Pages are dedicated to marketing and sales, the Oslo office and its two most well-known directors: Derek L Blix and Berit Sjølund. A final chapter describes the work of the World Wings International, the Norwegian Chapter, the association of former Pan Am stewardesses. The softback magazine includes a beautiful painting of the Norwegian Sikorsky S-43, LN-DAG “Valkyrien”. Plenty to read and look at.

Wayne Carini’s Guide to Affordable Classics

Wayne Carini’s Guide to Affordable Classics

Whether you’re a first-time novice or a seasoned pro, buying and owning a classic car starts with getting the facts from an expert. And there’s no one better equipped to give you the insider’s perspective than Wayne Carini, host of the internationally acclaimed TV program, Chasing Classic Cars. Borrowing on his years of experience buying and selling cars around the world, uncovering dust-covered barn finds or crafting award-winning restorations, Wayne’s Guide to Affordable Classics puts you in the driver’s seat when it comes to making an informed decision. In this first volume, Wayne and his friends have selected 25 different collectible classics from around the world, each with a detailed and illustrated profile that includes the history of each car, what’s it like to drive, and what to look out for if you’re in the market. From the Aston Martin DB7 to the Fiat 124 Spider, you’ll get the insider’s view of what to look for – and what to look out for. With full-color images, hot tips and detailed specification tables, Affordable Classics guarantees to keep the chase alive between episodes of Chasing Classic Cars. Cars covered in this volume include: Alfa Romeo Spider, Aston Martin DB7, Audi Coupe and Quattro, Austin-Healey 100-Six & 3000, BMW 1600/2002 and Z3, Chevrolet 3rd Gen Camaro and Corvette C4, Datsun 240/260/280Z/280ZX, Ferrari 348/F355/360/F430, Fiat 124 Sport Spider, Ford Mustang (Fox Body), Honda S2000, International Scout, Mazda RX-7, Mercedes-Benz 230/250/280 SL, MG MGA/MGB/MGC, Nissan 300ZX, Pontiac Fiero, Porsche 944, Toyota Supra, Triumph TR6, Volkswagen Karmann Ghia

B-36 Peacemaker: The Big Stick of Strategic Air Command

B-36 Peacemaker: The Big Stick of Strategic Air Command

Hi, this is H.J. Campbell and I want to say thanks for your interest in my book. It’s a concise history and engaging story that I believe every military aviation history lover will enjoy. In this book you’ll discover the incredible B-36 Peacemaker – SAC’s “Big Stick” – and the first true intercontinental bomber capable of carrying heavier bombloads higher and farther unrefueled than any other aircraft. Details include the design and development, complete aircraft lineage, aircraft basing, evolution of model changes, deployments, atomic testing history… and the list goes on!

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick”, which was the essence of Strategic Air Command’s big stick, the B-36 Peacemaker. The B-36 was the mainstay of United States strategic deterrence policy during the early years of the Cold War. Given its ability to carry two of the largest 21-ton Mk 17 thermonuclear weapons in the arsenal, the B-36 seemed purpose-built for the role. But it was simply in the right place at the right time. Its design started even before the United States entered World War II, long before the Cold War was imagined, and well before the advent of an air-droppable nuclear bomb.

The B-36 was a truly incredible aircraft and unlike any other in its day. It was the largest piston engine bomber ever built and, at 230 feet, still holds the record for the longest wingspan of any American combat aircraft. Because of its immense size and unprecedented wingspan, it could lift more weight to higher altitudes than any other aircraft. It was the first aircraft to carry a 10,000-pound bombload over 10,000 miles. It was the first, and only, true intercontinental bomber capable of flights of over 9,000 miles without refueling and capable of remaining aloft for over 51 hours. Given the size and range of modern-day aircraft, it is difficult to understand how farsighted its specifications were at the time. It is important to understand the context of the day to fully comprehend the enormity and significance of the challenge.

I hope you’ll get your copy now of this enduring historical reference, written by a former SAC Warrior and Air Force veteran – a welcome addition to every aviation lover’s library!

Sam’s Scrapbook: My motorsports memories

Sam’s Scrapbook: My motorsports memories

Sam Posey raced a huge variety of sports cars, saloons and open-wheel machines in numerous racing arenas — Can-Am, USRRC, Trans-Am, IMSA, Indy, NASCAR, Formula 5000 and Formula 1 — against rivals and friends such as George Follmer, Parnelli Jones, Mark Donohue, Peter Revson, Dan Gurney, David Hobbs and Brian Redman. Sam’s Scrapbook gives a first-hand account of a romantic era in racing, through pictures no one has seen and stories no one has heard. Running alongside the images, Posey’s commentary is fascinating and thoughtful, and in turns both amusing and emotional.

  • Sam’s early days: racing around his mother’s house on a farm in Connecticut against his friend John Whitman.
  • The start of his career: driving at Lime Rock, his local track, under the mentorship of John Fitch; a ride as the then-youngest American at Le Mans, with a Bizzarrini in 1966.
  • Can-Am: racing against John Surtees, Bruce McLaren and Jim Hall in this famous “anything goes” sports car championship with a car he and Ray Caldwell designed and built.
  • Trans-Am: competing in this spectacular saloon series during its golden age, first for Roger Penske and then as a factory driver for Dodge, against George Follmer, Parnelli Jones and Swede Savage.
  • Later years at Le Mans: finishing third overall in a Ferrari 512 M with the North American Racing Team (NART) team in 1971; driving the first BMW 3.0 CSL ‘Art Car’ in 1975, featuring a paint scheme by American sculptor Alexander Calder.
  • Open-wheel racing: a duel with Dan Gurney in the USAC Championship, finishing fifth at Indy in 1972; two drives for John Surtees in Formula 1; battling his friend and rival David Hobbs on the track and off in Formula 5000.
  • Even more variety: three years of off-road adventures in the Baja 1000; rides with the BMW factory team at Sebring and Daytona; and his late career in the IMSA championship with actor Paul Newman and Brian Redman.

This is an unusual and engaging memoir by one of America’s best-loved racing heroes and will appeal to all motorsports enthusiasts.

The Race to Make the Race: Practice and qualifications for The Indianapolis 500, 1954-1963

The Race to Make the Race: Practice and qualifications for The Indianapolis 500, 1954-1963

SIGNED

In his new book  “The Race to Make the Race”  Littleton chronicles a 10-year span (1954-1963) which was the peak roadster years at Indy and records what went on for every qualification attempt during this time period and each lap speed even if the attempt was yellow flagged. There is no mention of the races themselves as those results have been well-documented over the years.

Today’s 500 is lucky to attract 33 cars some years, but there was a time when the 500 really did have an actual Month of May and sometimes more cars went home than made the starting fields. Littleton’s book records by the actual time of day, weather conditions, attendance and all of the other happenings both on the track and in the Garage Area.

There are a lot of details in the book that you will never see anywhere else today. During the years in question the drama around the efforts to find speed just to qualify were often nearly as interesting as the actual race.

“While I was doing the Roadsters book I got the idea about doing a book on qualifications for the Indy 500,” said Littleton. “I got some qualifying information from the Speedway records when I was doing my first book. It was fun to do. I wanted to give the story on the successes and struggles each driver went through to try and make the Indianapolis 500 those years. The Bartholomew County Library was a big help in assisting me. They were able to get the microfilms from the Indiana State Library. I probably made 75 trips down to the local library to gather the information I needed.”

Littleton also mentioned two of the area’s standout racers at Indianapolis. Larry Crockett of Columbus who was the fastest rookie qualifier in 1954 and in the 500-mile race that year he ended up being the top finishing rookie over Pat O’Connor of North Vernon.

Littleton said Crockett, who died in a racing accident in Pennsylvania in 1955 right before he would have attempted to make his second Indianapolis 500, would have been a candidate to win the Indy 500.

“He was so young when he was starting out,” he said. “Nobody knows how his career would have turned out. If he had three or four years on him then I could have given you a better estimate on him. He was fast enough. There were some brave souls in 1954 and they said Larry Crockett was the best young driver in the United States.”

Like Crockett, Littleton gave his assessment on O’Connor who was killed in a first-lap accident in the 1958 race if he too could have won the Indy 500.

“Pat O’Connor definitely could have been an Indy 500 champion,” he said. “The legend of Pat O’Connor just keeps growing around here. You talk to guys and there is no doubt he was a natural. He was so smooth; everything came easy for him. He had the right head for it. He knew the days the car was good enough and the days it wasn’t.”

In documenting every lap of time trials during the 10-year span he chronicled there was one driver that stood out when writing the book was a young driver named Bob Scott in 1954.

“He had a good car in ’54 and on the fourth and final day of qualifying he was not in the show yet,” Littleton explains. “He jumped into a car that was not considered top-of-the-line equipment. He put three good laps together and they were going to be good enough to put him in the race, all he needed was one more consistent lap and he was in, but before he took the checkered flag he pulled into the pits and thus he didn’t qualify for the starting field. He apparently didn’t look at the flagman. He never did say why he pulled off.”

If Littleton had to pick a Mount Rushmore of Indy 500 champions his list would include: Bill Vukovich, A.J. Foyt, Wilbur Shaw and Al Unser Sr. Littleton also gave mention to 1963 winner Parnelli Jones.

“He was probably the least successful great race driver,” he said. “He would consistently beat Foyt in sprint cars, but he only won Indy once.”

On the sale last month of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to Roger Penske, Littleton had this to say.

“Who else cares enough about racing and has the business acumen than Roger Penske?,” he asked. “He has everything that can make it work. Every decision he makes you may not like, but he has the best interest of the speedway in mind.”

Penske becomes the fourth owner of the track. The Hulman family had owned the track for 74 years.

Mercedes-Benz E-Class (W124) Owner’s Bible

Mercedes-Benz E-Class (W124) Owner’s Bible

  • History and Development
  • Maintenance and Repair
  • Performance Tuning
  • Installing Accessories
  • Buyer’s Guide
The E-Class Owners Bible” is an E-class buyers guide, maintenance handbook and technical reference source wrapped into one. It is full of tech tips, service hints and system descriptions, plus lots of insightful information about the W124 E-Class chassis.

This book can help steer you through the purchase of your first Mercedes-Benz, provide the information necessary to maintain your E-Class to factory standards, give you the assurance to speak knowledgeably to your service professional and provide you with the hot setup for better road handling.

Models included in this Mercedes-Benz repair manual:

Gasoline engine:

  • 260E
  • 300E, 300E 2.6, 300E 2.8, 300E 4MATIC
  • 300CE, 300CE cabrio
  • 300TE, 300TE 4MATIC
  • 400E
  • 500E
  • E320 sedan, coupe, cabrio and wagon
  • E420
  • E500

Diesel engine:

  • 300D Turbo, 300D 2.5 Turbo, 300TD Turbo, E300 Diesel

The prospective buyer will also find tips on what to watch out for, why a pre-purchase inspection is important and why one model may be preferred to another. Do-it-yourself owners will discover a huge hands-on maintenance chapter to help keep their E-Class at peak efficiency.

Technical highlights:

  • Comprehensive maintenance procedures, including HVAC microfilter replacement, brake pad and rotor replacement and engine oil and fluid change procedures listing the necessary tools, tightening torques and fluid capacities.
  • Year-by-year analysis of E-Class technical highlights, including the inspiring 500E sports sedan and when the multi-cam M104 engine replaced the M103 single cam workhorse.
  • Buying tips on how to get the best car for the least amount of money, things to look for during the test-drive and how having a prepurchase inspection can potentially save you thousands of dollars.
  • Seasoned advice on choosing the right repair shop, be it an authorized Mercedes-Benz dealer, an independent specialist or an all makes-all models shop.
  • Detailed technical information on vehicle systems, including engines, suspension, drivetrain, body and interior features.
  • Performance modifications, including a listing of parts needed to upgrade to the Sportline suspension.
  • A brief historical overview of Mercedes-Benz, the worlds oldest car company.

To bring you this authoritative volume, Bentley Publishers has teamed up with Stu Ritter, a 25-year independent Mercedes-Benz repair shop owner/technician and current technical editor of The Star (the magazine of the Mercedes-Benz Club of America).

Norbert Singer – My Racing Life with Porsche 1970–2004

Norbert Singer – My Racing Life with Porsche 1970–2004

‘The gearbox in the 917 needs to survive the 24 Hours of Le Mans without overheating. But the new cooling system can’t create any additional drag. Okay, off you go.’ That was the first task given to newly-qualified aerospace and automotive engineer Norbert Singer when he joined Porsche’s racing development programme in the spring of 1970.

As we now know the gearbox was reliable, Porsche won the race, and Norbert Singer stayed loyal to the German carmaker for decades to come. To celebrate Singer’s 80th birthday, Sportfahrer Verlag in Düren brings you Norbert Singer-My Racing Life with Porsche 1970–2004 . What started out as a plan to update an older book has, through many conversations between Singer and author Wilfried Müller, grown into a comprehensive and detailed autobiography.

Across 16 chapters and more than 350 pages Singer describes the greatest era of Porsche racing to date from his own unique perspective, that of a visionary race engineer and aerodynamicist, and cunning tactician and interpreter of rules. From the 917 to the 911 Carrera RSR, to the world championship-winning 935, to the lightest (735 kilograms) and fastest (366 km/h) 911 in history. Singer also details the background of the three-time Le Mans-winning Porsche 936.

Like the Carrera Turbo RSR and the 935, Singer was the project manager for the ground-breaking Porsche 956. The car wrote Porsche into the motor racing history books. Singer successfully took the “ground effect” aerodynamic concept used in Formula 1 and applied it to two-seater sportscars. At the time it was pinnacle of Singer’s passionate search for downforce. Drivers like Jacky Ickx, Stefan Bellof, Derek Bell, Jochen Mass and Hans-Joachim Stuck achieved unthinkable cornering speeds in these 800-horsepower cars, collecting five world championships along the way.

In the mid-1980s Porsche ventured into unknown – and, as it turned out, very difficult – territory with its single-seater programme in the American CART series. Singer details the tumultuous saga from the inside. A more enjoyable recollection is the artful transformation of a racing prototype into a Gran Turismo car, the Porsche 962 LM GT1, which conquered Le Mans in 1994. Continuing the GT1 theme, Singer led the development of the first mid-engine 911 in 1996, one of those cars then winning at Le Mans in 1998. It was the 16th triumph for Porsche at the world’s most famous endurance race. Singer was involved in all of them as an engineer, and most of them as a tactician and strategist on the pit wall. His detailed recollections of those 24-hour marathons make up much of the book, from his escape from the CEO, to an improvised air lift for parts.

At the end of the 1990s the man with the reading glasses always sitting low on his nose designed the groundbreaking aerodynamics on the LMP2000 Spyder – only for the car to be resigned to secrecy in a hangar. The famous Carrera GT super sports car also had Singer’s touch in the wind tunnel. As Porsche boss Wendelin Wiedeking said at the time, “Singer will come up with something”. After retiring Singer continued to support customer teams at race tracks until 2010, before passing his knowledge onto the next generation of engineers with a stint as a university lecturer.

Forty years of racing with Porsche, as told by Norbert Singer and written by Wilfried Müller, who is known to motorsport enthusiasts for his Peter Falk and Walter Röhrl biographies.

Hardcover in slipcase

Robot, Take the Wheel: The Road to Autonomous Cars and the Lost Art of Driving

Robot, Take the Wheel: The Road to Autonomous Cars and the Lost Art of Driving

From the star of the YouTube sensation Jason Drives, the senior editor of the acclaimed website Jalopnik, and a producer of Jay Leno’s Garage comes the wittiest and most insightful guide yet to self-driving cars and the road ahead.

Self-driving cars sound fantastical and futuristic and yet they’ll soon be on every street in America. Whether it’s Tesla’s Autopilot, Google’s Waymo, Mercedes’s Distronic, or Uber’s modified Volvos, companies around the world are developing autonomous cars. But why? And what will they mean for the auto industry and humanity at large?

In Robot, Take the Wheel, famed automotive expert Jason Torchinsky gives a colorful account of the development of autonomous vehicles and their likely implications. Torchinsky encourages us to think of self-driving cars as an entirely new machine, something beyond cars as we understand them today. He considers how humans will get along with these robots that will take over our cars’ jobs, what they will look like, what sorts of jobs they may do, what we can expect of them, how they should act, ethically, how we can trick them and have fun with them, and how we can make sure there’s still a place for those of us who love to drive, especially with a manual transmission.

This vibrant volume brims with insider information. It explores what’s ahead and considers what we can do now to shape the automated future.

Growing Up in Disneyland

Growing Up in Disneyland

Growing up in Disneyland” is part biography about Ron’s father, Broadway, movie, and TV star, Don DeFore, and his own autobiography. Don DeFore earned a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame and was a household name in the 1950s and 60s. He co-starred in numerous feature films with many Hollywood legends, TV shows, and live theater. He is best known for “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” in which he played the next-door-neighbor, “Thorny,” and his co-starring role as “Mr. B” in the 1960s TV series, “Hazel.” The book includes much of Don’s unpublished autobiography, “Hollywood-DeFore ‘n After.”

“Growing up in Disneyland” is a metaphor for Ron’s life growing up in a celebrity family filled with Fantasyland adventures he equates to a Forest Gump type life, from meeting the Beatles, Beach Boys, Led Zeppelin, and other celebrities as Associate Director of the Steve Allen Show. His nearly 20 careers include a mid-life crisis as the Flying DJ at an L.A. discotheque to political positions within the Reagan Presidential Administration to establishing his own company. “Growing up in Disneyland” is also to be taken literally, as Ron spent much of his youth in Disneyland where his father owned “Don DeFore’s Silver Banjo Barbecue” restaurant in Frontierland. Ron and his brother, Dave, have given presentations to various Disneyland interest groups after which many attendees suggested, you should write a book.

“Growing up in Disneyland” will be enjoyed by any age group from baby-boomers that remember Don DeFore’s many beloved acting roles to those that don’t but are curious how life was in the good-old-days, especially growing up in a Hollywood celebrity family. Ron has had so many careers and adventures along the way that readers will have much to keep them from putting the book down.

Fast Forward

Fast Forward

Travel back through time to experience 18 iconic moments in motor racing history in this lavishly illustrated book, which gives you the inside track on classic cars, routes, and racers. Race ‘The Green Hell’ in a Porsche 911, complete the course at Le Mans in a Ford GT40, compete in the Festival of Speed at Goodwood in a Jaguar E-type, and take on the Nascar drivers at Daytona’s Speedway. Bursting with facts, figures, stats, and racing stars, this is a racing book of dreams.

Metals and How to Weld Them

Metals and How to Weld Them

Initially published in 1954 and revised in 1962, Metals and How to Weld Them is a standard reference in the field and provides the foundation of modern welding methods. This practical guide provides everything you need to get started welding, including information on preheating, heat treating, mechanical properties of metals, filler material selection, crystallography, and welding process options.

In addition to the basics, Jefferson and Woods address an array of technical and chemical principals at work within the internal structure of metals and how these structures relate to mechanical and physical properties in addition to weldability. An assortment of diagrams, photos, and charts depict key ideas such as the characteristics of metals, how different metals change during the welding process, physical chemistry of steel alloys, fundamentals of metallurgy, and more.

Jefferson and Wood’s guidance will give you confidence in determining what welding materials and methods are right for the job. Metals and How to Weld Them has a place in the library of every amateur welder.

THE ROAD TO MODENA

THE ROAD TO MODENA

Origins and History of the Shelby – De Tomaso P70 Can-Am Sports Racer

In this book I cover my years at Shelby American with a focus on the time I spent in Modena, Italy designing the Shelby – De Tomaso P70 for Carroll Shelby, a car planned for the emerging Can-Am series.

Working in Modena was one of the best experiences of my life. I started to write the history and creation of the P70, and the stunning body construction techniques I learned from the Italian artisans, when I realized I had to put the car in context of this incredible time period and also describe what was happening with Carroll’s numerous projects, racing and the other cars I was designing.

I share the transition from the Cobra’s first appearance in ‘62 to its championship in ’63, through to the King Cobra USRRC race period to the transition to Can-Am. Shelby’s every move was well thought out and intentional, all with the ultimate goal of getting Ford’s lucrative GT40 program but having contingency plans in case it didn’t happen.  Shelby’s venture with Alejandro de Tomaso on the P70 was one of those contingencies.

Looking back, these few short years turned out to be some of the most interesting and innovative in sports racer history. The quest to understand and harness air flow and ground effects led to amazing creativity. The Can-Am race series showcased it to the world.

My designs during this period at Shelby’s included the FIA World GT Champion Daytona Cobra Coupe, the Shelby GT350 Mustang, the Lang Cooper, the Nethercutt Mirage, Shelby’s Can-Am spec racer as well as the Shelby – De Tomaso P70.  I give the inside story of each and the pivotal role talented driver Dave MacDonald played in Shelby’s plans.

I trust you will also enjoy the details and photos I share of how the P70 body was built with the unique techniques of the talented craftsmen of Modena and how, even though Shelby cancelled the project near its end, the P70 launched de Tomaso into the spotlight. — Peter Brock