The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the most famous car race in the world, and the venue has long since established itself as the Mecca of the sports car scene. Numerous brands established their sporting reputation here. A selection of the impressive racing cars is on display at the national car museum The Loh Collection in a special exhibition to mark the 100th anniversary of Le Mans. Jörg Walz has used this collection to describe “highlights”. The race, the people behind the successes (and failures) and the many different vehicles provide plenty of material for exciting and interesting stories. This book tells some of them and traces the lively history of this event steeped in tradition
This book traces history of Ferrari Canadian-American Challenge Cup, or Can-Am, from 1966 to 1974.
The book includes results for each Ferrari and driver, race by race. It also covers the development and history of the fifteen Ferraris entered during the nine Can-Am seasons (Dino 206 S, 275 GTB/C, 250 LM, 312 P and 512 S/M) and of course the Ferraris specially developed for this championship : 412 NART-Canada, 350 Can-Am, 612 P and 712 P.
Text in French and English.
Hard Cover
213 color photos
Rare views of the beginnings of the historic space program, selected and presented by two leading space flight authorities
After the excitement of the first Moon landing, the U.S. space program took an ambitious new direction closer to home: NASA’s Space Shuttle program promised frequent access to Earth orbit for medical and scientific breakthroughs; deploying, repairing, and maintaining satellites; and assembling a space station. Picturing the Space Shuttle is the first photographic history of the program’s early years as the world’s first spaceplane debuted.
Showcasing over 450 unpublished and lesser-known images, this book traces the growth of the Space Shuttle from 1965 to 1982, from initial concept through its first four space flights. The photographs offer windows into designing the first reusable space vehicle as well as the construction and testing of the prototype shuttle Enterprise. They also show the factory assembly and delivery of the Space Shuttle Columbia, preparations at the major NASA field centers, and astronaut selection and training. Finally, the book devotes a chapter to each of the first four orbital missions, STS-1 through STS-4, providing an abundance of seldom-seen photos for each flight.
Mostly selected from J. L. Pickering’s personal archive, the world’s largest private collection of U.S. human space flight images, the high-quality photographs in this book are paired with veteran journalist John Bisney’s detailed descriptions and historical background information. The book also includes images of NASA and shuttle contractor booklets, manuals, access badges, and press kits, as well as a foreword by Robert Crippen, the pilot of the first Space Shuttle flight. Picturing the Space Shuttle re-creates the excitement of an era in which the possibilities of space exploration seemed limitless.
This history of the Lotus Evora traces the genesis, context, manufacture and evolution of the Type 122 Evora and its derivative models. The Evora’s prowess as a grand touring sports car is demonstrated with the author’s international road trips, and its essence is detailed through in-depth interviews with leading personalities at Lotus involved with the design, development, construction and marketing programmes. The book concludes with the launch of the Evora’s successor, the Type 131 Emira in 2021. Johnny Tipler has a long association with the Lotus marque, having run the John Player Team Lotus Motorsport Press Office during the halcyon JPS era, as recounted in his 2019 book ‘Black and Gold’. He has authored many automotive books, notably on the Lotus Elise, and also wrote for the Club Lotus International publication between 2005 and 2011. He is a good friend of Classic Team Lotus boss Clive Chapman (son of the Lotus founder Colin Chapman) and regularly attends historic races such as the Goodwood Revival where CTL’s F1 Lotuses are in action.
The true story of Raymond Loewy, whose designs are still celebrated for their unerring ability to advance American consumer taste.
Born in Paris in 1893 and trained as an engineer, Raymond Loewy revolutionized twentieth-century American industrial design. Combining salesmanship and media savvy, he created bright, smooth, and colorful logos for major corporations that included Greyhound, Exxon, and Nabisco. His designs for Studebaker automobiles, Sears Coldspot refrigerators, Lucky Strike cigarette packs, and Pennsylvania Railroad locomotives are iconic. Beyond his timeless designs, Loewy carefully built an international reputation through the assiduous courting of journalists and tastemakers to become the face of both a new profession and a consumer-driven vision of the American dream.
In Streamliner, John Wall traces the evolution of an industry through the lens of Loewy’s eclectic life, distinctive work, and invented persona. How, he asks, did Loewy build a business while transforming himself into a national brand a half century before “branding” became relevant? Placing Loewy in context with the emerging consumer culture of the latter half of the twentieth century, Wall explores how his approach to business complemented―or differed from―that of his well-known contemporaries, including industrial designers Henry Dreyfuss, Walter Teague, and Norman Bel Geddes. Wall also reveals how Loewy tailored his lifestyle to cement the image of “designer” in the public imagination and why the self-promotion that drove Loewy to the top of his profession began to work against him at the end of his career. Streamliner is an important and engaging work on one of the longest-lived careers in industrial design.
In the spring of 2008, a think tank of engineers, designers, trend researchers, and financial experts met on a factory floor of BMW’s parent plant in Munich to rethink mobility for a world of dwindling resources. Providing extensive insight into BMW’s workshop of ideas, this volume traces the venture’s design history and looks to the future of sustainable cars.
Grappling with major challenges of our time—from climate change to megacities and the scarcity of resources—contributors imagine solutions taking shape through technological innovations, networked mobility, sustainability in production, and the use of renewable materials. A unique look behind the scenes, this volume opens a window onto BMW’s complete development process, from initial conception to world premiere, presenting models for everything from plug-in hybrids with eucalyptus wood interiors to full-electric, self-driving cars. Replete with close-up photographs and fascinating model drawings, BMW i is a must-have for lovers of modern design and automobiles and for anyone interested in electro-mobility and sustainable technologies.
April 1946: the first 15 examples of the Vespa leave the Piaggio factory. This was the beginning of a unique and unrepeatable story, that of a revolutionary two-wheeled vehicle that as well as leaving an indelible trace in the history of transportation, has become an authentic cult object for every generation that followed.
Simple elegant forms, practicality and riding comfort were just a few of the qualities that brought the popular scooter success on a global level.
75 years on from the first Vespa, this book, an updated version of the successful Vespa 70 Years, traces decade by decade the technical and stylistic evolution of this timeless icon. All this without losing sight of aspects associated with communications – ever a strong suit of the Pontedera group – and the ever-increasing interest of collectors.
The title Vespa. The complete history is complemented by the book Vespa. All the models, published in 2020, which offers in a single volume a systematic catalogue of every model and every version produced by Piaggio.
When the B-52 Stratofortress entered operational service with the US Air Force in 1955, work was already underway on defining its successor. The B-70 Valkyrie, a Mach 3 jet bomber, was one option. Although two XB-70A prototypes flew, the B-70 never went into production. Out of the subsequent Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft program came the B-1A bomber, which flew at high speed and low altitude to evade enemy air defenses. The B-1A was canceled in favor of fitting the B-52 with cruise missiles. The B-1, known as the BONE, was revived in 1981 as the improved B-1B to boost American military power and be a symbol of American strength at the peak of Cold War tensions. The B-1B entered service in 1986 with several deficiencies. The resolution of most of these issues coincided with the end of the Cold War.
After the Cold War, the B-1B lost its primary nuclear mission but remained relevant by transforming into a high-speed, long-range, high-payload delivery platform for conventional precision-guided munitions. The first combat use of the B-1B was in 1998 in Iraq. The BONE has proved a highly effective combat aircraft in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and the former Yugoslavia.
This superbly researched and illustrated book traces the BONE’s long development and operational history in fascinating detail.
Iran has a monarchical history spanning over 2,500 years. Almost all of Iran’s Kings have had vast unchecked powers as they built, and lost, some of the largest empires in history. These vast powers led to Iran’s Kings being referred to as “Shahanshah” meaning literally the “King of Kings”.
With the advent of the automobile, Iran’s Shahanshahs procured some of the world’s most renowned automobiles for their royal garages starting from the first car to be imported to Iran, a Gardner-Serpollet 10 hp, to the famed Maserati 5000GT “Scia de Persia”, specially-ordered and owned by Iran’s last Shah, Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
In his broad spanning work, Iranian automotive historian Borzou Sepasi traces the royal garage of each Iranian Shah, starting with Mozaffar ad-Din Shah Qajar in 1900, who despite importing the first car, forbade drivers from going faster than carriages, and all the way up to the 1979 revolution. In an important postscript, the fate of many of the cars covered in the book following the end of monarchical rule in Iran, are shown.
The book also intertwines many of the historical events in Iran with the cars of the period, highlighting the special role these vehicles played. Dalton Watson is proud to present this little-known period of unique automotive history to its readers.
230mm x 280mm
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- Hard cover with dust jacket
- 564 pages
- 1,046 photographs
Gorgeously illustrated with NASA photography, the large-format (12 × 12 inches) NASA Missions to Mars examines everything from the first tentative steps toward the fourth planet to the 2021 landing of rover Perseverance and beyond.
Space exploration has always been about pushing boundaries, but perhaps the achievement which has most piqued a sense of possibility has been the exploration of Mars. Beginning with Soviet and American flybys in the early 1960s that were part and parcel of the Space Race, acclaimed space historian Piers Bizony continues through complete coverage of the Viking 1 and 2 missions of 1975–1976. Bizony also traces NASA’s acclaimed rover program, describing the development, technologies, mission histories, and achievements of the rovers Sojourner, Opportunity, Spirit, and Curiosity—all on the 25th anniversary of their first landing.
This awe-inspiring book features:
- An engaging and complete history of Mars exploration
- A treasure trove of imagery from the NASA archives, including photos and cartography beamed home, artworks and concept drawings created during development phases, as well as photography created to document testing phases
- A glimpse of future plans for Mars exploration and habitation
- Coverage of orbiters sent to the red planet by not only NASA but by space agencies from Russia, India, Japan, Europe, China, and the UAE
- A two-sided 24-inch gatefold
Humankind’s fascination with Mars can be traced back to prewar science fiction. While the billions of dollars and ingenious innovations have allowed us incredible views from more than 51 million miles away, no less incredible are the insights these missions, hardware, and scientists have provided into our universe—and our own planet. NASA Missions to Mars is your complete illustrated history of those efforts and a necessary volume for the bookshelf of any space enthusiast!
The Group B cars marked one of the most thrilling yet most tragic periods in the history of world rallying and beyond. The 037, the S4, the EVC and the ECV2, “ephemeral player” of a still-born Group S, were the unforgettable protagonists of the 1982-1986 seasons that for the Lancia marque were constellated by a series of World, European and Italian titles, but also by terrible accidents that cost the lives of Attilio Bettega, Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto.
Sergio Remondino, a historic journalist and great expert in the multifaceted field of rallying, traces that unforgettable era, year by year, through a text rich in anecdotes and thanks to the contribution of the engineer Sergio Limone, one of the artificers of the Group B cars. This invaluable book is completed by the evocative images of Reinhard Klein, one of the most successful rallying photographers.
12 Chapters, 12 Car Companies, 12 Famous Owners And a collection of speedsters that will inform and entertain!
Have you ever wondered when and how the hotrod movement started? Or speed and endurance events? Landspeed racing? Hillclimbing? Or anything involving power, speed, or just having some fun in an automobile? This book—Classic Speedsters—covers all of that, and much more.
Classic Speedsters: The Cars, The Times, and The Characters Who Drove Them chronicles the most significant vehicles ever to have traveled American roads and racetracks. Speedsters were the pizzazz cars of their era. Speedsters were owned by entertainers, captains of industry, the wealthy, and in some cases, the everyday guy or gal. They were often expensive, but they were always fast and sexy. Speedsters were America’s first sports cars.
Each chapter frames the birth and evolution of a company that produced a speedster model in its lineup and includes a biography of a famous owner of the period. This book traces the journey of the speedster concept across several time periods, from 1894 to 1970. It examines the speedster’s story among 12 automotive companies, 11 of which were American.
This is the first automotive book to study the speedster concept in depth. A broad swath of speedsters from 12 different manufacturers (actually—there are 13 companies in the book) are examined in order to distill the essence of this singular model.
The companies and the speedsters that they produced are framed within the context of their time to better understand how technology and market forces shaped the success and failure of these companies (and their cars). The people who were drawn to and purchased these vehicles—why did they? This too is examined and discussed.
This book, mainly through images (for the most part unpublished and meticulously captioned), traces the exceptional journey of an endearing man who forged his record thanks to his talent, his perseverance and his combativeness. The book goes off the beaten track by offering a journey through the seventeen countries that Siffert visited to build his career there, thus revealing himself the best ambassador of Switzerland in the same way that Roger Federer does today!
432 pages with 610 pictures, French and English text.
Las Vegas, Organized Crime and the Pinnacle of Motorsport
The path of Grand Prix racing in America wound through raceways at Sebring, Riverside, Watkins Glen, Long Beach, and finally Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. At each stop, the influence of organized crime seemed no more than a handshake away. But at Caesars the vast crime syndicate appeared deeply involved in the operations of the luxury-branded resort. The Caesars Palace Grand Prix then culminated in an unholy alliance of the world capital of gambling, shadowy figures, and the international czar of Formula One.
During its four-year run of successive Formula One and CART IndyCar events, the race hosted the biggest names in motorsport–Mario Andretti, Bernie Ecclestone, Roger Penske, Chris Pook, Alan Jones, Nelson Piquet, Niki Lauda, Danny Sullivan, Bobby Rahal and Al Unser among them. The podium celebration of the inaugural Grand Prix put the convergence of alleged organized crime influences and auto racing on public display, while the years that followed provided their own curiosities. This book traces the intertwined threads through decades of accounts, extensive interviews, and the files of the FBI.
This is the story of Stephen South, a young British racing driver in the Seventies who seemed set for the glory that ultimately fell instead to rival Nigel Mansell.
Where one went on to become one of the nation’s most loved characters and the World Champion in 1992, the other’s career faded to a footnote in the cruellest circumstances.
This is a multi-faceted tale of struggle, success, disappointment, controversy, the continuous battle for funding and recognition and, ultimately, heartbreak.
Famously reticent even from his early schoolboy days as a British karting champion, South now talks openly about his career with first-time author Darren Banks. Many leading figures from the world of motor racing are woven into the narrative, which traces the turbulent era of the Seventies, the trials and tribulations which only strengthened South’s quiet yet indomitable resolve, and how close he got to his dream of racing in F1 after a winter of hugely promising test work with Colin Chapman’s Lotus team in 1979.
And for the first time he discusses with chilling candour the events that saw him forced to race in the North American Can-Am sportscar series instead of F1 in 1980, the horrific accident that befell him at Trois-Rivieres in Canada, his physically and emotionally painful recovery in a hospital on the other side of the world, his eventual return home and the subsequent trauma of having to deal with a career now broken and a life permanently altered.
Those key figures recall with affection – with a couple of exceptions – their experiences of working with or racing against this vastly underrated driver who, had he been dealt a better hand by fate, would surely be remembered alongside contemporaries such as Mansell and fellow World Champion Keke Rosberg as one of the leading F1 drivers of his era.
Profusely illustrated with numerous previously unseen photographs from professional archives and personal collections, THE WAY IT WAS – The story of a British racer who was too fast to be forgotten, is a gritty tale of the darker side of a sport when it fails to deliver a racer’s just deserts.
