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The NextGen Guide to Car Collecting: How to Buy, Sell, Live With and Love a Collectible Car

Satisfy your dream collector-car desires with this one-stop reference for starting or expanding your collection beyond traditional classics and muscle cars.

Focusing on the interests and needs of Generation X and Millennial car collectors, The NextGen Guide to Car Collecting offers a concise history of car collecting to present day, guidance on car buying and living the car-collector life, and an overview of collector cars with a focus on cars built from the 1970s through the 1990s while also touching on more contemporary cars. Chapters highlight Japanese, American, and European cars, particularly those models that have experienced the greatest growth in collector interest over the past decade.

The NextGen Guide to Car Collecting explores the many ways the Internet and social media have changed the classic car marketplace. You’ll learn how to buy a classic car online without suffering buyer’s remorse, as well as the four critical keys to a happy collector-vehicle relationship: 1) possessing discretionary cash for the initial purchase; 2) obtaining a thorough knowledge of the car and its ownership; 3) the critical pre-purchase inspection; and 4) access to a work space.

You’ll also find out why the popularity of late twentieth-century specialty cars will continue to grow (think increasing electronic complication and the still-large number of enthusiasts for whom “self-driving” means driving themselves) and explore the attributes that makes these cars desirable collector vehicles.

In addition, the book looks at the significant increases in quality and reliability of post-1970s machines and how that impacts their collectibility. Finally, learn why expectations that your newfound classic could outlast our current crop of lithium-ion-dependent electric cars may not be unrealistic: recent developments like ride-hailing and sharing services; expanded public transit; rental bikes and scooters; and garage condos and other storage options could actually extend the life of your “new” classic permitting you to truly tailor the use of your classics.

Whether your collection requires a one-stall garage or a pole barn, the practical, useful information and keen perspective of The NextGen Guide to Car Collecting will ensure you pull this volume from your shelf time and again.

S.F. Edge: Maker of Motoring History

Selwyn Francis Edge, invariably known simply as ‘SF’, was a highly significant pioneer of motoring in Britain. When, in 1902, he drove a Napier to victory in the Gordon Bennett Cup, a mighty event on public roads between Paris in France and Innsbruck in Austria, he initiated serious British endeavour in motor racing.

He was deeply involved in the birth of Brooklands, setting a 24-hour solo driving record there when the circuit opened in 1907. As a towering industry figure most closely associated with Napier and AC Cars, he played an important role in the growth of car manufacture in Britain. In the words of ‘Bentley Boy’ S.C.H. ‘Sammy’ Davis, ‘His keen grey eyes, the bushy eyebrows and the hawk-like face… made him a notable figure in any assembly.’

Dedicated cyclist: SF’s early interest in cycles led to racing achievement on two wheels and three, including setting records for round trips between London and Brighton, and taking
Introducing the motor car to Britain: from his first driving experience, in 1897 with a De Dion-Bouton, SF quickly became an influential advocate of all things automotive in a country that initially lagged far behind France.
Motor racing pioneer: after early competitions on motor tricycles, SF became a regular competitor in the heroic long-distance races of mainland Europe, famously winning the 1902 Gordon Bennett Cup in a Napier and becoming a national celebrity.
Growth of Napier: with SF as a guiding force, this long-established engineering company evolved into the manufacturer of some of the finest cars of the Edwardian era.
Brooklands: upon the circuit’s opening in 1907, SF drove a Napier solo for 24 hours at an average speed of just over 65mph, establishing a record that stood for 18 years.
AC Cars: after the First World War, SF helped to develop AC Cars into an important manufacturer of sporting cars, with more attempts at speed records along the way.

This biography uncovers the life of an extraordinary man whose achievements deserve to be far more widely recognised.

IconiCars Mercedes-Benz 300 SL

Hard facts, soft skills: technical data, casually recounted anecdotes, and plenty of interesting lifestyle information

• On track and on the screen: the successes of the 300 SL in racing and its many appearances in the movies and on television

• A must-have for all gullwing fans

In 1954, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL was unveiled at the International Motor Sports Show in New York — the start of an unparalleled success story. Victories in the 24-hour race at Le Mans and the Carrera Panamericana made it world-famous. It also possessed groundbreaking technology, including the first series-production fuel-injected engine. Its elegant shape and futuristic gullwing doors made it a coveted prize, symbolizing exclusivity and freedom. This volume has everything that is important about the legendary sports car: wonderfully aesthetic automotive photography by René Staud and archive pictures rich in patina, snapshots of racing successes and famous owners, and interesting facts from the model’s history to the colors of the paintwork.

111 VW Bus Stories That You Should Know

• The ultimate insider’s guide to the VW Bus

• Features interesting and unusual stories about the popular car model

• Fully illustrated with 111 full-page color photographs

The VW Bus is not just a car. It is sentimental, a part of the family. A way of life on wheels. That’s why most of them have names. And almost everyone has some sort of connection to the VW Bus. This book offers fascinating stories about one of the most popular automobiles of all time and the most successful camper van in the world – a kaleidoscope from the world of VW Buses. In 111 chapters, you will learn interesting, funny, surprising and emotional things about a vehicle that was originally intended as a simple delivery van and then made history as a multifunctional vehicle concept. Author Christian Schlueter, himself a passionate fan of the car, tells endearing, detailed and exciting stories about these legendary vans. He presents models with their production history and special features, introduces visionaries and gives an insight into the car industry. He reports on world records and adventure trips, as well as freedom and nostalgia. A wonderful compendium with photos about the world’s fascination with the VW Bus – a must for every fan and lover of this cult car.

Raoul ‘Sonny’ Balcaen

My exciting true-life story in motor racing from Top-Fuel drag-racing pioneer to Jim Hall, Reventlow Scarab, Carroll Shelby and beyond

Raoul ‘Sonny’ Balcaen grew up in Los Angeles at a time when it became the epicentre of American motor racing, nurturing a vast talent pool of people whose influence has echoed through to today.

As a teenager, he successfully competed with his home-built Top Fuel dragster during the formative years of the sport. With Lance Reventlow, he worked on the famous Scarab sports cars and was standing in the dyno room when the team’s all-American Formula 1 engine was fired up for the first time. A period as Jim Hall’s crew chief and a close association with Carroll Shelby added to the know-how that guided him towards becoming a successful entrepreneur and led to all that followed.

Aged 17, Balcaen built his own Top Fuel drag racer, the ‘Bantamweight Bomb’, which he developed relentlessly and drove to many successes.
His role in the fabulous Scarab sports cars — the landmark all-American racers — and insights into life with their creator, the incomparable Lance Reventlow.
Working as crew chief to the brilliant Jim Hall, preparing and running his Lotus Eleven and Lister-Chevrolet long before the famous Chaparrals emerged.
A second spell with Scarab, this time with the Formula 1 project — the first American Grand Prix car — plus a special job for Reventlow converting a Scarab sports racer into a street car.
Onwards into setting up his own successful business, IECO (Induction Engineering Co), to create and sell high-grade performance and appearance accessories, with Chevrolets — especially Corvair and Vega — featuring strongly.
His many-faceted dealings with Carroll Shelby, leading to consultancy and even assignments as occasional Shelby American company pilot.
Along the way we meet many other big names of the era, including Chuck Daigh, Bruce Kessler, Warren Olson, Dick Troutman, Tom Barnes, Phil Remington, Ken Miles, Leo Goossen, Jim Travers, Frank Coon, Ed Donovan and Pete Brock.

This engaging memoir is the very personal history of a momentous time and place in which we meet a who’s who of West Coast road-racing heroes.

Auto America: Car Culture: 1950s-1970s–PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN G. ZIMMERMAN

A glorious and nostalgic celebration of a defining period in American car culture—the 1950s to the 1970s, the golden age of Detroit’s icons of the road—when automobile design was at its peak and the car itself was synonymous with a vision of success in America.

Auto America offers a compelling look at three decades (the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s) of America’s fascination with the automobile. At a time when self-driving vehicles and climate change are transforming driving around the world, John G. Zimmerman’s pictures capture the optimism and even utopianism of a beloved period in American car culture.

Many of Zimmerman’s photographs were originally taken for Life, Time, and Sports Illustrated magazines and highlight diverse aspects of America’s auto industry at its zenith; they feature not only iconic cars of the era, which Zimmerman chronicled comprehensively at car shows and in studio assignments throughout the period, but also a behind-the-scenes look at the people who designed, built, collected, exhibited, and raced them.

With more than 200 photographs and drawing on the John G. Zimmerman Archive’s collection—including his best-known photographs of Fords, Chryslers, and GMs in their heyday alongside ephemera, tear sheets, and outtakes from his assignments—the book celebrates the automobile’s central place in American culture during those decades when the timeless silhouettes of classic cars ruled the roads.

Mike Hailwood – 100 Objects

An intimate insight into a racing life

Mike Hailwood is a legend. Arguably the world’s greatest ever motorcycle racer, he transcended eras and generations. His two-wheeled racing career began – and he initially made his name – aboard big, British single cylinder machines, then he took to Japanese and Italian four-stroke multis, before finishing on booming V-twins and two-strokes.

He went from the black-and-white era, from one-colour dark leathers and pudding basin crash helmets, to the multicoloured, full-face helmeted, sponsorship driven days of the late 1970s. He found time to do some car racing too, recording a third at Le Mans in 1969 driving a Ford GT40, winning the 1972 Formula 2 European Championship and competing in 50 F1 Grands Prix, his debut in 1963, his last in 1974.

Though the car stats are impressive, the motorcycle ones are astonishing – nine world championships, 76 GP wins, 14 TT victories, his TT victories separated by 18 years, the first 1961, the last 1979. On top of this he was awarded the MBE and then the George Medal for his bravery in rescuing fellow F1 driver Clay Regazzoni in 1973.

It is almost impossible to comprehend the tragic irony that the life of this man, who had risked and survived so much, a hero to thousands for his derring-do, was curtailed as he drove the family car to collect a fish and chip takeaway. That his daughter Michelle died alongside him adds an extra layer to the tragedy.

Mike’s son David survived the accident and here has allowed access to the family’s treasure trove of personal artefacts. These range from the mundane to the magnificent but together they tell the incredible story of Mike the Bike.

Jochen Rindt: Uncrowned King of Formula 1

David Tremayne’s acclaimed biography of Jochen Rindt was first published in 2010 and now, to honor the 50th anniversary of the Austrian’s death, Evro is reviving the book in paperback form.

Rindt was widely acknowledged as the fastest man in Formula 1 by the time he reached his peak in 1970, when he tragically lost his life at Monza in Italy, four races before the end of the season. Such was his pre-eminence that year that no rival could overcome his points total and he became the sport’s only posthumous World Champion. As his close friend Sir Jackie Stewart observed in this book’s foreword, “David Tremayne is a wonderful writer who has done Jochen great justice in the words that he has chosen to depict a remarkable man and a remarkable career.”

Winning in Reverse: Defying the Odds and Achieving Dreams―The Bill Lester Story

The amazing and dramatic story of Bill Lester, one of the most well-known NASCAR drivers in history—and a pioneer whose determination and spirit has paved the way for a new generation of racers.

Winning in Reverse tells the story of Bill Lester whose love for racing eventually compelled him to quit his job as an engineer to pursue racing full time. Blessed with natural talent, Bill still had a trifecta of odds against him: he was black, he was middle aged, and he wasn’t a southerner.

Bill Lester rose above it all, as did his rankings, and he made history time and time again, becoming the first African American to race in NASCAR’s Busch Series, the first to participate in the Nextel Cup and the first to win a Pole Position start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Whether you are contemplating a career or lifestyle change, challenging social norms, or struggling against prejudice or bigotry, Winning in Reverse is a story for sports fans and readers everywhere about the power of perseverance in the face of adversity.

Range Rover Third Generation: The Complete Story

The third-generation or L322 Range Rover was in production during a pivotal period in the history of Land Rover and it took the Land Rover marque firmly into the luxury market at the start of the 2000s, and set the tone for the models to follow.

This book documents the whole story of this milestone model with the aid of more than 200 photographs. It includes:

The story of the model’s origins as the L30 project when BMW owned Land Rover
The styling, engineering and specification changes introduced over the lifetime of L322 from 2001 to 2012 and a chapter on the model’s career in the USA.

There is an overview of the aftermarket enhancements from the leading specialists of the day. Full technical specifications are given, plus paint colours and interior trim choices and finally there is guidance on buying and owning one of these acclaimed vehicles – the L322 Range Rover.

How To Restore Your Volkswagen Beetle

It’s about time a thorough, hands-on restoration book has been authored by authorities who know the Beetle like the back of their hands. With this book, you will have everything you need to bring your old or new Beetle project back to life.Perhaps the most charismatic automobile ever, the Volkswagen Beetle was the longest-running, most-manufactured automobile on a single platform of all time. From 1938 to 2003, more than 21.5 million “Bugs” were assembled, distributed, and sold on nearly every continent in the world.

Throughout the Beetle’s successful run, many of these cars have been relegated to project car status due to their age or condition. Airkooled Kustoms, a VW restoration shop in Hazel Green, Alabama, brings its expertise in restoring these cars to book form with this all-encompassing compilation. Restoring your Beetle is covered through step-by-step sequences from unbolting that first nut through polishing the paint on your freshly restored Bug. The specialists at Airkooled Kustoms walk you through the proper disassembly methods, restoring versus replacing components, and reassembling your restored Bug, covering everything related to the body, undercarriage, and interior along the way.

Secrets of the Barn Find Hunter: The Art of Finding Lost Collector Cars

Join “The Barn Find Hunter” Tom Cotter for a thrilling, illustrated behind-the-scenes look at how he deploys his well-honed auto-archaeology skills to ferret out amazing collector car stashes.

Since 2016, author Tom Cotter has been The Barn Find Hunter for an ongoing series sponsored by Hagerty Classic Insurance and found on their popular YouTube channel. Since that time, Cotter and crew have filmed more than 100 episodes throughout the US and even visited the UK. Some of Cotter’s most popular episodes have views in excess of 5 million!

Cotter has uncovered everything from pre-WWII classics to postwar exotics like Porsche, Jaguar, and Ferrari. He’s a dyed-in-the-wool car guy, and the collectors he finds can’t resist sharing their treasure and revealing the stories behind their stashed cars.

In Secrets of the Barn Find Hunter, Cotter gives you an entertaining and informative look at how he works his barn-find magic, offering tips, hard-won perspectives, and why the thrill of discovery never dies in his pursuit of the next “lost” car. The book is illustrated throughout with images from his most epic finds.

Attend any auction or any car show and it’s immediately clear that collectors cannot get enough of barn-find and survivor vehicles and the stories behind them. In Secrets of the Barn Find Hunter, Cotter takes you along for what has been the ride of his lifetime.

FERRARI MASERATI – The great challenges

Ferrari and Maserati, a rivalry entirely made in Modena which began around 1926, when the Maserati brothers built their first racing car in Bologna. From 1929, the rivalry became direct, even though it was Maserati against the Alfa Romeo of the Scuderia Ferrari. In 1947, Enzo Ferrari became a manufacturer, following in the footsteps of the Maserati brothers who, in the meantime, had moved to Modena. For Ferrari it was the dream of a lifetime come true and the end of any envy towards who had been manufacturers right from the start.

During the 1950’s, if the Ferrari drivers did not stand on the podium then the Maserati drivers did. The results of the rivalry until 1957, when Maserati terminated its direct involvement in races, highlight three F1 World Drivers’ Championships and four Sports, three Mille Miglia, one 24 Hours of Le Mans for Ferrari. The Maserati record book shows one F1 World Drivers’ Championship and a long list of victories in races worldwide.

However, this is not the whole story. A wider panorama is exhibited here, through the iconic cars of that rivalry.

Sprinting Through No Man’s Land: Endurance, Tragedy, and Rebirth in the 1919 Tour de France

The inspiring, heart-pumping true story of soldiers turned cyclists and the historic 1919 Tour de France that helped to restore a war-torn country and its people.

On June 29, 1919, one day after the Treaty of Versailles brought about the end of World War I, nearly seventy cyclists embarked on the thirteenth Tour de France. From Paris, the war-weary men rode down the western coast on a race that would trace the country’s border, through seaside towns and mountains to the ghostly western front. Traversing a cratered postwar landscape, the cyclists faced near-impossible odds and the psychological scars of war. Most of the athletes had arrived straight from the front, where so many fellow countrymen had suffered or died. The cyclists’ perseverance and tolerance for pain would be tested in a grueling, monthlong competition.

An inspiring true story of human endurance, Sprinting Through No Man’s Land explores how the cyclists united a country that had been torn apart by unprecedented desolation and tragedy. It shows how devastated countrymen and women can come together to celebrate the adventure of a lifetime and discover renewed fortitude, purpose, and national identity in the streets of their towns.

Pagani Hypercars d’Autore

A fairy tale with a happy end: in the early years of the 1970s, a little boy who lived in a town in the Argentine Pampas dreamed of moving, in the not-too-distant future, to Modena’s Motor Valley to design cars at the same level of Ferrari and Maserati, which he admired in the pages of motoring magazines. The boy was Horacio Pagani, whose grandfather had emigrated to Argentina from Appiano Gentile.

Determined to realize what seemed an impossible dream, at the start of the 1980s the young Horacio left for Italy, armed only with excellent technical ability, an iron will and his own ideas on the use of innovative composite materials, for the construction of high-level sports cars. With no financial means at hand, his decision to do so was not a walk in the park, and he only managed to join Lamborghini as a third-level worker after a series of rejections.

From that moment on, a new story began for Horacio Pagani, one that was linked to his ability to transform futuristic carbon fibre into components that combine high technology with style. In Modena, he created a design company that gradually integrated itself among the top names in the Motor Valley, to the point of becoming a true benchmark for sporting supercars.

The first car produced in a newly built factory, which was opened in San Cesario sul Panaro, finally arrived at the start of the new century. It was the Zonda, a 2-door berlinetta with a strong personality and not only because of its 12-cylinder engine (through an agreement with the AMG division of Mercedes-Benz), extremely high performance and obviously… the right price. The car did not appear to be a clone of the high-class sports cars on the market, and supercar enthusiasts were quick to recognize it. The car’s production in series, albeit limited, found admirers and buyers in all parts of the world, so much so that Pagani was able to inaugurate a new factory a stone’s throw from the earlier one, which was kept as a centre of style and design.

With a special procedure, the Italian Argentine manufacturer was able to fulfil customer requests, significantly moving away from the basic model. The majority of the Zondas built are almost unique ‘pieces’, a feature that also characterizes the new Huayra model, which succeeded the Zonda in 2013 and is just as full of extreme and fascinating solutions. Features that are also found in the new headquarters – with an adjoining Museum that tells the story of the brand – far from the commonplace nature of the usual ‘engineering factory’ and perfectly in line with the ideas of Horacio Pagani, an absolute perfectionist for every technical and aesthetic detail.

In 320 pages, enriched by fascinating photographs, the book, created together with Horacio Pagani himself and with the support of representative figures of the San Cesario company, spans the entire life of the Italian Argentine technician, from when he was making balsa wood models of cars to his triumphal entry into the great manufacturers of Motor Valley.

Shirley Shahan: The Drag-on Lady

Meet drag racing legend and pioneer Shirley Shahan, the Drag-On Lady!

As the first woman to win an NHRA national event when she was named Top Stock Eliminator at the 1966 Winternationals, Shahan blazed a trail for women in drag racing. During the golden era of drag racing, it was rare to find diversity in the sport. Shahan is what’s commonly known as a living legend.

In a career that spanned the 1950s and into the early 1970s, Shahan drove 1956 and 1958 Chevys and was one of the lucky few who was able to purchase one of the rare 1963 Chevrolet RPO Z11 Super Stockers. Later, when she was driving for Plymouth and Dodge, Shahan made the name Drag-On Lady both famous and feared. She then moved to American Motors and raced very successfully with the new SS/AMX.

From 1958 to 1972, Shahan set records and won numerous awards. She was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame, Super Stock Magazine Hall of Fame, and Mopar Hall of Fame, and she was honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Bakersfield racetrack. In addition, Shirley won the Top Stock category at the very first March Meet at the legendary the Famoso Raceway track near Bakersfield, California, which made her the first person (male or female) to do so. In 1966, she was the named one of Hot Rod magazine’s Top 10 Drivers.

She raced against the best drivers during the golden age of drag racing and more often than not blew off the doors of her opponents. She had a fierce passion for winning, and in this book, you’ll feel what it was like to be behind the wheel as she steers you through her illustrious career. Fasten your seat belt; it’s going to be a wild ride.

Full Circle: A Hands-On Affair with the First Ferrari 250 GTO

FULL CIRCLE: A Hands-on Affair with the First Ferrari 250 GTO may be the first car memoir – a car revered for its international racing performance and artistic mystique – the first Ferrari 250 GTO, born in Italy in 1962.

It is also the memoir of a man, himself unique – Larry Perkins, a rocket scientist /car racer /artist. His stories chronicle how The Car (a.k.a. “Sophia” named for the elegant Italian bombshell Sophia Loren) pops in and out of his life. These events, and the people associated with them, create a series of full circles in their shared journey.

Full Circle: the past becomes future becomes past, illuminating words to the famous song… “When Everything Old is New Again”.

While Larry was working on the Apollo program to land a man on the moon, and later the Viking Mars Lander program and other space missions, Sophia and Larry had an on-again off-again relationship – an “affair” so to speak – for over 50 years. They found each other in 1963 and formed a surprising dynamic of man-machine synergy. Life was fast and furious, fun and full of trophies. When it seemed destined to be over, Larry sold the Ferrari in 1966 for a mere $3600. The racing duo lost track but were re-united and then parted again. Finally … unbelievably … Sophia found Larry when they were both a little older. With the spark alive, their racing history was re-born in a most spectacular way. Each was transformed by the other.

The memoir starts with a man searching for the perfect race car and develops into a previously unrecorded history of s/n #3223 GT with racing tales. Larry and his wife, Petra, tell of an irresistible GTO attraction and adventures during the exciting era of ’60s sports car racing. (Petra first saw the Ferrari at a memorable race with a fiery crash at Sebring, Florida, when she was 15, but did not meet its driver for 15 more years.)

The authors show the exhilaration of key races and an anecdotal chronology of #3223 with photos, some never seen. They examine what a race driver is really like, the attributes of a highly competitive personality, and the unrelenting dedication to Winning. After all, it was not easy for a small privateer – someone who had started racing relatively late in life (with a consuming day job) – to compete with the likes of racing champions Phil Hill, Pedro Rodriquez, Mario Andretti, and Dan Gurney.

The book emphasizes the value of teamwork. “Doing the impossible” – in racing or rocketry – demands the best of humans working together to render perfect machines. This is an intimate account about the people who made The Car what it ultimately became.

How did this car acquire its timeless aura of mystique?

How cool is it to drive such a powerful and exquisite piece of machinery?

To what degree can a car be considered fine art?

What happened to Larry and why did it turn out to be so spectacular, almost eclipsing his early successes in racing the GTO? When and Where did all this happen?

And best of all, Who are the passionate people that made it happen?

Full Circle: A Hands-On Affair with the First Ferrari 250 GTO answers these questions and provides readers with a thrilling personal play-by-play of racing the very first Ferrari GTO for the very first time.

Ed Swart: From Zandvoort to Daytona

Anyone who drove racing cars in the 1960s and ’70s has a wealth of stories to tell, and Ed Swart is no exception. Having competed at international level in touring cars – winning the 1965 European Touring Car Championship Division 1 in the process – and been a front-runner in the European 2.0-litre Sportscar Championship in the late ’60s and early ’70s, as well as helming GTs, sports-prototypes and running an international race circuit – Zandvoort, no less – Ed Swart has more to say about the period than most people. And whilst most drivers from that era retired long ago, Ed has kept on keeping on racing through historic racing. This is the fascinating account of his life, immersed continuously in top-line motor sport.

Just like Sir Stirling Moss did back in the day, Ed Swart scrupulously kept a diary of his racing actions, based on scrapbooks of press clippings, which provides us with an unparalleled record of the crowded schedule of the pro-am racing circus during that heady decade and a half.

This fascinating 10×10-inch, 192-page hardback book, contains over 300 photographs and tell the story of racer Ed Swart who started his motorsport career rallying at the age of 18 and was soon involved in the early days of karting. As Ed’s father was a distributor for Fiat, based in the Hague, early on Ed was obliged to race only Fiat cars, under the title Scuderia Auto Swart – or Team S.A.S, but after he spent a year in Italy at the Fiat school and Abarth factory, he started racing Fiat-Abarth production cars. Ed raced for five years with the Works Abarth team, winning the 1965 and 1968 class Championships. In 1969, when Carlo Abarth produced a genuine 2-litre sports car, Ed bought one to compete in the FIA 2.0-litre Sports/Prototype Championship. After the Abarth company was sold to Fiat and no longer making race cars Ed became a true Chevron fan and has raced them ever since, both on a professional basis in Europe and then after he moved to the USA in historic racing.

Al Unser Jr: A Checkered Past

One of the greatest stories in motorsports.
Winning came naturally to Al Unser Jr. Born into a racing family, he had a gift for finding the fast line on the track. By the time he was nine years old, he could draw the quickest way through the corner on paper and intuitively apply his sketch while on the go-kart track. By his teen years, the innate sense for the fast way made him unstoppably quick when he was racing through the woods on a snowmobile, on a dirt track, in a sprint car, or on a race course.As his career progressed from the kart track victories to following in the footsteps of his famed uncle, Bobby, and father, Al, the wins grew in stature from junior titles to the very top echelon of his sport. Two Indy 500 victories. A pair of IndyCar championships.

In addition, Unser was not just a winning driver―he also possessed a boisterous and lovable personality. The fans and the press adored him.

Al Unser Jr. was on top of the world.

A Checkered Past tells that story―but it doesn’t stop there.

His gifts as a driver and his easy affability were the public persona. Behind the scenes, his appetite for drugs and alcohol were destroying his private life. Spurred on by his spiraling substance abuse problem, his marriage turned volatile. When he retired as a driver, the trouble amplified. Domestic violence arrests. Multiple DUIs. Repeated visits to rehab centers. Divorce. Financial ruin. A dark dive into depression and isolation that led to a suicide attempt.

Unser’s battle to climb out of that cave is one of the great stories in motorsports. A Checkered Pastis an unblinking look at how even our most celebrated sports heroes struggle with human frailty.

Turn the page, and you’ll discover an inspirational story of triumph, tragedy, and the road to recovery.

Charles Pozzi – The History of the French Ferrari Importer & Race Team

France, from the earliest days of Ferrari, has always been a defining vital market for sales and has also hosted a major part of the on-track success that built the Maranello legend. Ferrari in France was built up singlehandedly by a man whose drive and success in sales and on-track make him one of the most important figures, and in particular importers and team owners, in Ferrari history.

That man was Charles Pozzi and this is the tale of his life and career, first as a successful racing driver of Talbots and eventually Ferraris, then as agent, dealer and importer from 1969 to 2003, building the network in the key French market. His team L’Ecurie Charles Pozzi was one of the most successful in the marque’s history, winning the Tour de France several times as well as scoring class wins at Le Mans. Universally respected not only for his success but for his qualities as a true gentleman, he left a legacy which contributed enormously to Ferrari’s aura in France and beyond. Just like Luigi Chinetti in the USA with NART and Jacques Swaters in Belgium with Ecurie Francorchamps, he was one of those who made Ferrari the manufacturer a success, and he was one of his Enzo’s closest friends.

This is his tale, and that of the company he founded and grew with great success, told with outstanding research and attention to detail by author Arnaud Meunier. This was truly a missing book in the Ferrari saga and he has tackled it as thoroughly as one could wish.

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