BMW Motorcycles: 100 Years celebrates the legendary machines built by Germany’s leading motorcycle manufacturer.
BMW’s long history of evolving technology is highlighted in this detailed story beginning with side-valve machines in the 1920s and early overhead-valve performance bikes, then moving to the postwar R-series Airhead and modern Oilhead twins, followed by four-cylinder and six-cylinder K-series touring bikes, the latest parallel twins, and inline-four cylinder sport bikes. From the first R32 that launched BMW’s motorcycle dynasty, to the latest S1000RR superbike and R18 mega-cruiser, BMW Motorcycles captures a century of motorcycling excellence in a combination of historic and contemporary photos sourced from BMW’s archive.
The stories behind all the classic and modern BMWs are here:
- 1920s and 1930s BMWs like the R5 that defined performance in the prewar era
- The military R12 that supported the Wehrmacht as it battled its way across Europe in World War II
- The 1960s R69S that offered an excellent platform for both touring and sporting riding
- The R90S café racer and the R100RS, the latter arguably the world’s first dedicated sports tourer
- The astounding K1 “flying brick”
- The GS (Gelände Sport) series that launched the adventure-bike revolution
- Today’s R18, R nine T, and the world-class S100RR superbike
This is a once-in-100-years story captured in a beautiful book sure to be enjoyed by any BMW Fan.
In Porsche 75th Anniversary: Expect the Unexpected, the full story of Germany’s fabled marque is revealed through a richly illustrated account of its most surprising moves and successes.
Few other sports car manufacturers can match Porsche’s success in the showroom or on the world’s race tracks. In this stunning volume, automotive historian, photographer, and recognized Porsche expert Randy Leffingwell focuses his attention on the key moments and models that have created the Porsche legend, from the original Gmund coupe to today’s 911, Cayenne, Panamera, and all-electric Taycan.
Leffingwell’s recounting of Porsche’s history is accompanied by rare images from Porsche’s own archive and punctuated with quotes and observations from key personnel. It’s a thorough, compelling, and revealing look at one of the world’s premier car makers.
Created with Porsche’s cooperation, Porsche 75 Years takes you behind the scenes of Stuttgart’s most famous cars as well as its key players. This book offers something for all Porsche enthusiasts, whether they are rear-engine loyalists, race fans, or followers of contemporary vehicles like the Cayman, Boxster, Macan, and Taycan.
Celebrate 75 years of Porsche excellence!
Porsche is a world-renowned brand that is known best for producing highly sought-after sports cars and exotic cars and more recently for high-performance sport utility vehicles (SUVs) and high-tech luxury electric cars. Additionally, Porsche is a world-dominating sports car racing brand with factory-built-and-backed motorsport activities dating to the early 1950s, having won the 24 Hours of Le Mans outright more than any other carmaker, dominating sports car racing, endurance racing, and championship-level rallying around the world.
Enthusiasts at all levels generally recognize and can identify on sight Porsche’s most iconic and mainstay models, such as the original 356 models of the 1950s and early 1960s, the seminal 911 first shown in 1963 and still in production nearly seven decades later, and perhaps the mid-engine 914. Each of these model platforms contain many subsets of special-edition versions built to higher levels of style, performance, luxury, or rarity. These include a variety of anniversary editions, commemorating certain landmarks in the marque’s history.
Lumping all Porsches into the “if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” category is to miss the design, details, and performance of many great cars. These cars range from relatively straightforward color and trim combinations to limited-edition, high-performance machines, including several generations of modern 911-based Speedsters, Turbos, slant-nose Flachbaus, select RS and ClubSport models, special 356s, factory and independent concepts, and design studies. The unique work of low-volume production houses, such as Germany’s RUF, and high-end restoration and custom build shops, such as Singer Vehicle Design, Guntherwerks, and others, are also found here. This book contains a veritable Smorgasbord of interesting, rare, and unique special Porsches from around the world.
Detailed purchase advice for Germany’s premier classic sports car—the Porsche 911.
The Porsche 911 is one of the finest and most important sport cars ever made. These fantastic machines have become top-level collectibles, making it more important than ever to fully understand the car you are considering buying. Don’t let your dream car turn out to be your greatest regret. Arm yourself with the knowledge necessary to purchase with confidence.
Randy Leffingwell’s Classic Porsche 911 Buyer’s Guide 1965-1998 is the most comprehensive resource available to guide you past the potential pitfalls in your pursuit of Stuttgart’s classic sports car. This year-by-year guide will help you select the model and year that best aligns with your ownership goals. You’ll learn which features you want, which to avoid, and the known flaws from across all the air-cooled generations.
Detailed text for each model year is accompanied by:
- Technical specifications
- Typical parts costs
- Performance ratings
- An invaluable “Garage Watch” feature calling out common and known faults
Classic Porsche 911 Buyer’s Guide 1964-1998 is an invaluable resource in finding the perfect classic 911 for your garage!
Heinkel’s single-jet He 162 fighter arrived in Luftwaffe service at the very end of the Second World War – but its development can be traced back to the beginning of July 1944. A contest had been set in motion to design a powerful and aerodynamically advanced replacement for Messerschmitt’s twin-jet Me 262 and Heinkel believed it could win.
As the competition progressed and Germany’s resources dwindled, it became clear that an advanced jet fighter was not what the Luftwaffe needed. A new concept was formulated: a cheap, basic fighter equipped with a single readily-available turbojet. The advanced fighter contest was temporarily shelved and Volksjäger was born.
Swept metal wings, V-tail and HeS 011 engine swapped for straight wooden wings, conventional tail and BMW 003 engine, Heinkel’s fighter design was rushed through a brief selection process before Adolf Hitler himself placed an order for 1,000 a month. A massive effort saw the He 162 go from blueprints to flying prototype in less than two months. But was it a triumph of engineering prowess or a costly white elephant which hastened the end of the war? Using contemporary documents, author Dan Sharp explains and explores the development history of this fascinating and controversial late-war ‘secret project’.
When Rolls-Royce introduced its new junior model, the Twenty, in 1922, there was no question of the company supplying coachwork for it. That was the job of the myriad specialist coachbuilding firms, large and small, both in Britain and overseas. Customers went to a coachbuilder of their choice, asked for what they wanted, and got it. It was a system that remained unchanged in principle throughout the period, as the Twenty gave way to the 20/25, that model in turn was succeeded by the 25/30, and the Wraith became the final junior Rolls-Royce before the Second World War brought a great and glamorous era to an end.
From the relatively well-known Abbott of Farnham, to the little-known Wyllie & Lochhead in Glasgow, British coachbuilders across the country stepped up to the plate and delivered their best on these chassis. Among them, great names such as Barker, Gurney Nutting, HJ Mulliner and Park Ward led the field with some outstanding designs, many of them produced in small quantities (but always with individual touches). Outside the British Isles, but in far smaller numbers, there were bodies from the likes of Kellner and Saoutchik in France, Erdmann & Rossi in Germany, Gangloff in Switzerland, and Brewster in the USA.
The work of all these coachbuilders and many more is covered in this book, which for ease of understanding divides up each coachbuilder’s creations according to the host chassis and the different styles – saloon, limousine, drophead coupé, and so on. Rolls-Royce owners will particularly appreciate the inclusion of chassis numbers for all the cars bodied by each coachbuilder, a feature which makes this book a valuable reference work as well as a visual treat.
With well over 250 photographs, many in colour by distinguished photographer Simon Clay, this book celebrates the style and flair of a bygone era, and provides a vital fund of information for the many enthusiasts and owners who care about these fine cars today.
This charming book, packed with unique artwork and engaging photographs, celebrates scooter mania.
In a feast of nostalgia, it takes us through the evolution of the scooter, focusing naturally on all things Lambretta and Vespa, but also covering plenty of obscure and eccentric machinery along the way. Scooter enthusiasm in all its forms receives generous attention, whether as fashion accessory for fifties movie stars, style-conscious transport choice for the Mod generation, or object of worship for today’s retro-loving adherents.
- Scooters take off: rising from the rubble of post-war Italy, Piaggio emerged first with its Vespa (meaning ‘wasp’), soon followed by Innocenti and its Lambretta (named after a Milan suburb).
- Evolution: numerous Lambretta and Vespa models over the years are illustrated and explained, accompanied by a look at the myriad accessories available for them.
- Not just in Italy: a survey of classic-era scooters from Britain (such as Brockhouse Corgi, Sun Wasp and Triumph Tigress), Germany (such as Glas Goggo, Zündapp Bella and Heinkel Tourist), Japan (such as Fuji Rabbit, Mitsubishi Silver Pigeon and Honda Juno) and elsewhere.
- Mod culture: emerging in the sixties and entwined with music and fashion, it made a unique contribution to scooter fandom that has since embraced the globe.
- Scooters as classics: the resurgence of interest since the late seventies and all that has come with it, from restoration and racing to customising and clubs.
- Scooter tales worldwide: Cesare Bataglini’s round-the-world Lambretta odyssey; Mod revivalists in Tokyo; elderly scooters soldiering on in Africa; Indonesia’s Rebel Riders and their crazy Vespa-derived creations; scaling Ben Nevis on a Lambretta; and much more.
Quotes in the book such as “The scooters, clothes and music — an unforgettable time of my life” and “Exciting, fun and carefree days when anything seemed possible” sum up the enduring appeal of classic scooters. Anyone afflicted with the obsession will adore this book.
Roots and Wings explores the life and work of Peter Schreyer, one of the most influential car designers of our time. A Renaissance man with an eye for detail and foresight for innovation, he geared himself toward success. Responsible for the births of some of the 20th-century’s most iconic cars, his industry experience brought instant classics to the road. From humble beginnings in Germany’s divided south to his new base in Seoul, Schreyer embodies a conduit between the west and east―bridging his homeland’s history of automotive design with South Korea, a country that has experienced stratospheric growth on the world stage in just a few decades. Looking at the formative moments and pivotal artistic discoveries that shaped his creative mindset, Roots and Wings is the never-before-told story of how a man reimagined a car brand and left a mark on history in the process.
‘Glorious…gripping and sometimes tragic’ Robbie Coltrane
The inspirational story of the Bentley Boys and Le Mans – the race they made their own.
Le Mans, 1927. W.O. Bentley peered into the dusk. His three cars, which had led from the start, were missing. Two years running he had failed to finish. Once again he was staring into a void. Racing, his shareholders told him, was a waste of money. This race looked like being his last.
W.O’s engineering skills had been forged on the Great Northern railway and in the skies of the First World War, where Bentley-powered Sopwith Camels took the fight to Germany’s Red Baron. Determined to build and race his own cars, he assembled a crack team from all strata of 1920s Britain, from East End boys Leslie Pennal and Wally Hassan to multi-millionaires Woolf Barnato and Tim Birkin, men in search of adventures to blaze their way out of the dark past.
They dedicated themselves to building the perfect road and racing car. In the hayloft above their workshop, the first Bentley was born and soon it was the car of choice for the fast-living upper classes. They raced at the fashionable Brooklands circuit and then set their sights on the fledgling 24 Hours Le Mans race. An audacious goal for a British car, yet the Bentley Boys rose to the challenge. But on that night in 1927, after the biggest crash in racing history claimed their cars, could they still pull it off and put British motor racing on the map?
In the 1920s, Bentley Motors burned brightly but all too briefly; yet its tale, filled with drama, tragedy, determination and glory still shines a century on.
The first half of the 1970s was a golden era for touring car racing. The battles between Ford and BMW are legendary, while Alfa Romeo played its own important part in deciding races and championships.
In Germany touring cars provided a platform for young drivers to launch international careers. Jochen Mass, Hans-Joachim Stuck, Hans Heyer and Klaus Ludwig all started their careers in tin-tops.
In the European Touring Car Championship, they didn’t just come up against national and international touring car warhorses like Toine Hezemans, Dieter Glemser, Gian Luigi Picchi, Dieter Quester and Carlo Facetti, but also Formula 1 stars current and future like Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda.
This book delves into exciting races from the era and details the technology behind all of the important cars, including those from Abarth, Chevrolet, Fiat, Mazda, Mercedes and Opel. It’s a comprehensive overview of a fascinating time in touring car racing.
Vauxhalls held a special place in the British motoring scene of the mid-twentieth century. Solid, reliable and respectable, they were carefully designed to meet the expectations of buyers and also to meet the global ambitions of General Motors in America, the company that owned the Vauxhall marque.
Sometimes American influence went too far, but at other times it allowed Vauxhall to keep a step ahead of its competitors. Vauxhall Cars of the 1960s and 1970s covers just over two decades of Vauxhall history that saw Vauxhall producing a succession of fondly remembered models, including some genuine classics. It opens with the two new models for 1957, the F-series Victor and PA-series Velox and Cresta, and ends with the last FE-series Victor in 1978.
By then, other new models had come along, but these were a different breed of car that originated with Opel in Germany rather than with Vauxhall itself. The period began as Vauxhall expanded from making one basic range with two different engines to making two separate ranges that were free to develop individually. The smaller of these ranges was the medium-sized Victor, and the larger provided the Velox and its luxury derivative, the Cresta.
Six Decades of Motorsport Photography
The Other Side of the Fence: Six Decades of Motorsport Photography is a collection of
motorsport photographs spanning six decades shot by Bill Warner, Founder and
Chairman of The Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. From his home base in
Jacksonville, he traveled the world photographing the drivers, cars, and racing action
from Daytona to Le Mans including Indy cars, World Championship of Makes, IMSA,
NASCAR, and Formula 1. His images have graced the pages of Road & Track, Sports
Car Graphic, The Atlantic Monthly, Automobile Year, Car and Driver, Autoweek,
Automotor und Sport (Germany), Classic and Sports Car, and Thoroughbred and
Classics (UK), and a host of other motoring publications from Australia to Eastern
Europe. He is the recipient of the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) Photographer of
the Year and won recognition from the Los Angeles Art Directors and the Creative Arts
Yearbook. His work is on permanent display at The Brumos Collection and has been on
featured at the Petersen Museum and The Meadow Brook Concours d’Elegance.
The Riders explores and celebrates the differences and common bonds among motorcyclists around the world via Henry von Wartenberg’s engaging and inviting documentary photography.
Motorcyclists feel a kinship with fellow riders that is not easily explained but runs deeper than choices like bike brand or riding focus. You see it sometimes with a wave of the hand from one lane to the next, with an appreciative nod at a stoplight, or in a U-turn to check on a rider stranded on the roadside.
Motorcyclists make a conscious decision to ride an inherently dangerous device, a machine open to the elements and vagaries of nature. A motorcycle demands a level of attention far greater than a car and consequences for inattention are much graver. On the flip side, riding a motorcycle offers an unmatched sense of freedom, adventure, and involvement.
Von Wartenberg, a long-time rider himself, has traveled the world on a variety of assignments, some motorcycle related and others not. But wherever he was on the planet, he always found a way to connect with fellow riders and document their culture and machines. Over the course of his travels he has photographed riders in more than 30 countries including Bolivia, Austria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, France, Mongolia, Mexico, Italy, Germany, Iceland, Peru, Spain, the United States, England, and Thailand to name a few.
What emerges on the pages of The Riders is the amazing breadth of the motorcycling world, from outlaw clubs to adventurers to racers to boulevard cruisers to those for whom a motorcycle is the only form of transportation as well a means to make a living.
The Riders is a book sure to be enjoyed by anyone who embraces the two-wheeled world.
Between 1997 and 2014, Tom Kristensen won the world’s toughest motor race, the Le Mans 24 Hours, a record nine times and finished on the podium on five more occasions. Every time his car made it to the finish, in fact, he was in the top three. It is no wonder that this great sports car driver is known as ‘Mr Le Mans’ to motorsport fans around the world.
Now retired from racing, Kristensen shares in this book his deepest personal reflections and insights from inside and outside the cockpit. He looks back on more than 30 years spent striving for perfection in racing and tells of the battles and setbacks that sometimes seemed impossible to overcome, including a terrible accident in 2007.
- Climbing the racing ladder, from karting into Formula 3 single-seaters, including championship titles in Germany (1991) and Japan (1993), then Formula 3000 and a Formula 1 testing role with Tyrrell.
- Winning as an underdog on his first visit to Le Mans, in 1997 driving an elderly Joest-run privateer Porsche in which he impressed all onlookers with a night-time charge to vanquish Porsche’s factory-entered favourite.
- His second Le Mans victory came in 2000 on his maiden drive for Audi in the R8, a car that was to become all-conquering.
- Kristensen won the next five editions of Le Mans, four times with Audi and once with Bentley (in 2003), his last victory in this sequence taking him past Jacky Ickx’s previous record at the Circuit de la Sarthe.
- His eighth win came in one of the all-time classic contests at Le Mans, in 2008, a rollercoaster of a race in which his ageing diesel-powered Audi was never expected to beat the fancied works Peugeots.
- One more victory with Audi in 2013 sealed his reputation as a true legend of Le Mans.
- His story includes exploits at other racetracks all over the world, none more prolific than Sebring, home of America’s long-established classic endurance race that Kristensen won six times.
- Personal reflections together with contributions from notable observers — including English journalists Gary Watkins and Charles Bradley — complete a truly rounded portrait of the man and his achievements.
Voted ‘Sports Book of the Year’ when originally published in Kristensen’s native Denmark, this thoughtful memoir is now available in English.
70 years of passion. 70 years, in which the enthusiasm for sporty driving, advanced technology and sensual design has created something very special. Is it a coincidence that more than 70 percent of all Porsche cars ever built are still on the road today? There can only be one answer when you gather together the highlights from seven decades of sports car construction – not in a well-tempered museum, but in the places for which they were created: road and track. What if you had to get a 918 Spyder to Germany via the snowbound passes of northern Italy? What would it be like to rerun the legendary record-breaking lap of the Nordschleife in Stefan Bellof’s 956? Can you bring a 906 to the Porsche Rennsport Reunion in Laguna Seca under your own steam? This may sound like a shimmering daydream, but it turns into a tribute to 70 years of brand history, captured in unparalleled images. Text in English and German.
This concise history is the first book in a new series on the Soviet space program and features many rare photographs, diagrams, and charts. When Soviet rocket experts examined the first Nazi V-2s in early 1945, they immediately realized that their own technology was years behind what the Germans had developed. The dropping of the two American atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 made the path forward clear: the development of a Soviet atomic bomb, and a suitable missile to carry it. This story begins with the Soviet’s pre- and early war developments in rocket technology, then covers the discovery and study of the V-2s at Peenemünde, Germany. The Soviets assembled remaining V-2 rockets from existing parts and their mode of operation was studied. Developments in the Soviet R and G series missiles in the early 1950s are discussed in detail, as is the development for the peaceful use of Soviet rocket technology in space.
This second of two volumes continues the P-38 story by focusing on the later, mass-produced models of this historic fighter—P-38J through P-38M. Each type is examined through carefully researched archival photos, as well as photographs of currently preserved examples. Known to the enemy during World War II as the “Fork-tailed devil,” the pilots of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning were charged with the responsibility of escorting American bombers deep over heavily defended Europe during the early years of the air campaign against Nazi Germany. In the Pacific, the Lightning’s long range was put to good use flying over vast expanses of ocean. Detailed text and captions illustrate not only the design and construction of the later-war Lightnings, but also their combat use in WWII. Large, clear photos, coupled with descriptive and informative captions, put the reader on the airfield and in the sky with this historic aircraft.
This first of two volumes presents the P-38 story by focusing on the early models of this historic fighter—XP-38 through P-38H. Each type is examined through carefully researched archival photos, as well as photographs of currently preserved examples. Known to the enemy during World War II as the “Fork-tailed devil,” the Lockheed P-38 Lightning was piloted by those who were charged with the responsibility of escorting American bombers deep over heavily defended Europe during the early years of the air campaign against Nazi Germany. Detailed text and captions illustrate not only the design and construction of the early-war Lightnings, but also their combat use in WWII. Large, clear photos, coupled with descriptive and informative captions, put the reader on the airfield and in the sky with this historic aircraft. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.
