Endurance WEC is a unique work revealing to readers for the first time the aerodynamic evolution of the sports prototypes of the latest “Golden Age of Endurance Racing”, those with hybrid power plants. A painstaking exploration of the world of the enthralling sports prototypes, it explores the cars developed from the Group C period – in the first half of the Eighties – through to the protagonists of the current WEC and ELMS championships.
Hundreds of colour drawings document the technical evolution of the covered wheel racing cars of the past 40 years. Cars of extraordinary appeal such as the Porsche 956s, the XJ series Jaguars, the Series C Mercedes, the Peugeot 905, through to the more recent Audis, great dominators of Le Mans in the 2000s, the Toyotas and the Porsches. All this is presented in a technical overview introduced by historical-regulatory contextualisation, indispensable for an understanding of a world that, in recent years, has featured even greater technical evolution and sporting excitement than Formula 1.
The Lotus Elite was a turning point for Lotus. First produced at the end of the 1950s, it marked Lotus’ transition from a maker of small racing cars, which had limited utility on the road, to the producer of a highly sophisticated road and race car. In the Elite, Lotus exploited its knowledge of new technology and racing pedigree to produce a car which, with its glass fibre monocoque and Coventry Climax engine, had the potential to be a world beater.
This book gives an insight into the reasons the car was produced and its importance in Lotus’ history, especially in the production of lightweight innovative cars. Through interviews with Elite owners, first hand accounts provide a good overview of owning one of these iconic cars, covering its foibles and quirks as well as its exemplary roadholding, handling and performance. Illustrated with many colour photographs, along with period advertising material, the book provides a valuable insight into owning, running and racing these iconic cars.
CX experts Michael Buurma and Thijs van der Zanden of Citrovisie joined forces to create a unique CX-book. In an almost encyclopaedic manner, and with great attention to detail, the creation and evolution of the Citroën CX is discussed by model year, by type and down to the smallest detail. This also includes the models that never got beyond the drawing board: a five-door CX, numerous never realised interior designs, a CX GTi with a diesel engine and an extended CX Pallas, to name but a few… Overviews with technical data, chassis numbers, body colours plus sales figures complete the picture. The book is amply illustrated with hundreds of images, most of which have never been published before. This makes ” La véritable histoire de la Citroën CX” an indispensable reference for the real Citroën lover.
The Jaguar XK was launched to great acclaim in 1996 as the successor to the XJS. Jaguar’s XK sports models were produced from 1996 to 2014 in two distinct forms: the original steel-bodied XK, and, in 2005, the advanced technology aluminium-bodied New XK. Highly significant for Jaguar, these cars reintroduced the world to Jaguar sports car motoring and, in doing so, echoed the success of previous icons, such as the E-type.
The original edition of this book covered just the X-100 (original series) XKs from 1996 through to 2005. This edition, now in paperback, brings the story up to date with the X-150 alloy-bodied cars, from 2006 through to the end of production in 2014. A significantly enlarged work, packed with information and over 130 additional full-colour pictures, this fascinating book is essential reading for all XK owners, prospective owners and enthusiasts – the perfect XK ‘handbook.’
This time around the book features unseen images from the 1969 French Grand Prix, the 1970 California 500, Rhodesia in the early 60’s,
a Lotus 72 portfolio, the 1962 British Grand Prix and rare colour images of a club sprint at Catterick in 1958,
plus much more.
All images are from Gary Critcher’s Supercharged Collection
The story of a man that brought his own personal style to the world of industrial design, from automobiles to powerboats. Some 50 years after his design masterpieces wrested styling leadership away from General Motors – Harley Earl. Thirty four years after his untimely death, Virgil Exner’s name still remains inexorably linked to the Chrysler Corporation in the minds of car enthusiasts worldwide.
For an all too brief period, Exner’s name epitomised all that was great and exciting in America. His thrilling automobile designs from the mid-fifties took the world by storm and put Chrysler at the top. His work was nothing less than a revolution. Until the mid-fifties, engineers, creating cars that were reliable but invariably staid and conservative, had dominated auto design. Exner introduced to Chrysler, firstly with his ‘idea cars’ then with production models, vehicles that were wanted for their looks but at the same time, were soundly engineered; automobiles that carried classic proportions and gave the illusion of movement even whilst stationary. His design of the 1947 Studebaker established the design pattern for all modern cars and was a huge success. Along with automobile styling, his talents stretched to many other areas of industrial design, from trains to trucks and boats to Buicks.
This book gets behind the character of the man, his strengths and weaknesses, his personal tragedies and his vision of modern transport. Uncover why he set up in competition with Raymond Loewy, get the real facts behind historic inaccuracies and why he was made scapegoat for the sales disaster of the early sixties, Then delight in his fine artwork and his love of motor racing. With many previously unseen works of art and family photos among the 150 colour images throughout this is a unique and fascinating insight into a pivotal player in the development of the modern automobile.
The Lotus Elan was Colin Chapman and Lotus’ first affordable road car, produced from 1962 and, along with its larger +2 variant, until 1974. As a replacement for the expensive Lotus Elite, the Elan and +2 were both successful sports cars, which carried Lotus through the 1960s and into the 1970s.
Starting with a brief history of Lotus and the Elan, Lotus Elan and +2 Source Book provides a detailed originality guide to the Elan and +2, identifying the design changes Lotus made to the models through their lifetimes. An ‘owner’s guide’ provides detailed information on owning and maintaining the cars in tip-top condition, and gives details of common faults and upgrades. The restoration guide gives any potential restorer the information to carry out the tasks needed to bring one of the these cars back from the dead.
With anecdotes and experiences from current and previous owners of Elans and +2’s, along with many colour photographs the book provides a valuable insight into owning running and racing these iconic cars.
This new edition of BMW M3 & M4 explores all aspects of the M3’s history, including the race and rally successes worldwide, supported by full and detailed specifications for each generation of the model. It expands on the previous edition, to bring the story right up to the present day, with details of all models produced between 2013 and 2020, including the new M4.
Developed in the 1980s, the BMW M3 was intended to be the world’s most successful racing saloon car. Not only did it achieve that in its very first season of motorsport, but went on to achieve lasting commercial success as a high performance road car.
Fully illustrated throughout, with a lavish array of colour photographs and magnificently detailed cutaway drawings of mechanical equipment, this comprehensive and authoritative book is a must for all BMW M3 and M4 enthusiasts.
Morris Cars 1948-1984 is a handy guidebook to all the Morris cars produced between 1948 and 1984.
Morris was a prominent marque in Britain and around the world from the outset of production in 1913. In the postwar era Morris cars were exported throughout the world and many were assembled in overseas plants. Many Morris models retain an enthusiastic following today, even though the last car was produced in 1984.
Illustrated in full colour, and with detailed information including colour schemes, optional equipment and technical specifications, this is a complete catalogue of the cars of that era, and will be an invaluable identification guide for anyone interested in these classic British cars. It was written by marque expert, Ray Newell, who has had a long association with Morris Cars, been Secretary of the Morris Minor Owners Club since 1983, and a founder member of the Morris Vehicles Association in 2013.
“I will build a car for the great multitude,” stated Henry Ford, and so he did.
The Ford Model T, or the ‘Tin Lizzie’ and the ‘Flivver’ as it was also known, transformed American society, bringing mobility through car ownership to millions of middle-class Americans at a time when the horse and the railroad were the only real viable means of transport.
Using moving assembly lines and the best possible materials, between October 1908 and May 1927, Ford built around 16.5 million examples of this extraordinary car. By 1918, half of all cars built in America were Model Ts and by 1925 around 8,000 a day were being produced, making Henry Ford one of the world’s best-known manufacturers of automobiles.
The selection of body styles varied from two- and four-seat open and closed models – tourers, town cars, runabouts, landaulettes and cabriolets – to vans and pick-up trucks, and customers could also have colours other than black!
A new 304 page fully illustrated colour book with over 900 photographs, many never before published, based on all the Fiats, Lancias and Alfa Romeos that are powered by Aurelio Lampredi’s superb twin cam engine.
While some elements of the book are an expansion of the earlier works by the same author, the early chapters now include extracts from road tests by Auto Italia’s writers.
Also included in the first part of the book are one-offs and concepts like the Stola Dedica, Lancia Magia and Grama 2
‘Puntograle’, while modified cars include a 180bhp twin cam-engined Lada ‘124’ and a superb Abarth OT1600 tribute.
The second half of the book is dedicated to hands-on maintenance and restoration advice of a selection of popular classic twin cams. There is also the added bonus of invaluable, expert tuning information by the renowned and sadly recently deceased twin cam race engine preparer, Guy Croft.
This much anticipated publication is prolifically illustrated throughout with high quality photography of real world cars from collections and dynamic images from Auto Italia’s archives.
Many of the featured cars are owned by the magazine’s readers, in addition there is also a gallery of restored twin cams from around the world.
SOLD OUT – AWAITING PUBLISHER RE-PRINT
The prestigious publication in two volumes, Ferrari 1000 GP: The Official Book, in a limited edition, is an extraordinary tribute to Scuderia Ferrari and the remarkable objective of 1,000 Grands Prix achieved by the team from Maranello in 2020.
Over the course of more than 700 pages enriched with more than 1,000 illustrations, many of which are previously unpublished, the work traces the incredible story of Ferrari’s participation in Formula 1 that began in 1950 with the Monaco Grand Prix, continued with no less than 230 victories, 15 drivers’ titles and 16 constructors’ titles and has reached the unique total of 1,000 Grands Prix.
Made in collaboration with Ferrari Spa and available in a limited edition of 2,000 copies, the book is contained in an exclusive slipcase in “Rosso Storico 127”, the same colour as the 125 S, the first Ferrari from 1947, and the SF1000, which in 2020 competed in the Scuderia’s 1,000th Grand Prix on the Mugello circuit. An indispensible volume for the bookshelves of all enthusiasts of the Prancing Horse: a precious collector’s item as well as an invaluable source of information regarding the results obtained by the cars from Maranello in every race and the team’s placings in the Drivers’ and Constructors’ championships.
The book features a foreword by Louis Camilleri and Mattia Binotto.
The wartime Jeep continues to fascinate enthusiasts around the world, nearly eight decades after the first prototypes were built. Yet, while it is true that there was only ever one Jeep, it is emphatically not the case that there was only one variety of Jeep.
Not only were Jeeps built by both Willys and Ford, but the supposedly standardised design continued to evolve during production. As a result, there are multiple differences of specification – some major, some tiny – among the models.
Through the painstakingly researched text, and through detailed colour photography of outstanding examples of the cars, Factory-Original Wartime Jeeps attempts to identify and illustrate those differences for the benefit of enthusiasts who would like to return their Jeeps to factory-original specification and equipment in every respect.
The first MGs were a small number of cars sold with special bodywork by Morris Garages, but by the 1930s the MG had come to be recognised as the archetypical sporting car. The rapid development of the marque, and the cars’ domination in their class of competition entry lists, is down to the energy, enthusiasm and skills of a small number of key personalities.
Here, as well as in-depth studies of all models produced, there are biographies of those most involved with MG development, record breaking and motor sport. The MG Story sets out to recount, in the form of a series of articles, the story of the marque from 1923 until the Abingdon factory closed in 1980. At that time this small market town housed what was probably the world’s largest producer of sports cars.
Many of the competition efforts by both factory-supported entries and private owners are covered in detail and help show why MGs became so well known. To illustrate the text there are both black-and-white archive photographs from the author’s collection and a great many modern colour pictures of restored cars. Period advertising material has also been included.
The wide range of topics covered gives the reader a real insight into the evolution of the company and its cars, and into the unique character of MGs that is the reason why they remain so popular.
Car Suspension, Repair, Maintenance and Modification provides an easy-to-follow practical guide to the maintenance, repair and modification of the different types of suspension used in cars. With over 170 illustrations, including colour photographs and diagrams, this practical book explains what suspension is and why it is needed; it reviews the different types of suspension of available; it covers the key maintenance and repairs that an owner can undertake, and finally, describes modifications in detail with step-by-step photographs.
