Archive for Author 'Helen Hutchings', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Hello, I’m Paul Page: “It’s Race Day in Indianapolis”

by Paul Page & J.R. Elrod

Could auto racing reporting be Emmy-worthy? You bet—Page did it twice! He probably could have brought excitement to reading the telephone directory out loud. From the X Games to hot dog eating contests, this memoir covers six decades in the broadcast booth.

Fay Taylour, ‘The World’s Wonder Girl’ – A Life at Speed

by Stephen M. Cullen

An Irish motorcyclist travels the world as an itinerant racer, becomes a car salesperson in Hollywood and discovers that quintessential American grass roots activity, midget car racing on dirt tracks. Not unusual enough? There’s more.

The Last of the Cape Horners

Firsthand Accounts from the Final Days of the Commercial Tall Ships

Edited by Spencer Apollonio

Both the ships and those that sailed on them around the fabled southern tip of South America are known as Cape Horners. While most were put out of business by the opening of the Panama Canal, the last hung on into the 1950s.

The Fastest Woman on Wheels, The Life of Paula Murphy

by Erik Arneson

Skates–sailboat–horse: if it moves, let’s see if it can move faster. She came to motorsports only in her thirties and then almost by accident, but it stuck and she was good with anything she drove. But she almost missed this biography, dying just a few months later.

We Were the Ramchargers: Inside Drag Racing’s Legendary Team, 2nd Ed.

by Dave Rockwell

Passionate auto engineers don’t leave their day jobs behind in their free time but few went as deep into pro motorsports as this bunch of Chrysler engineers. The author, a Ramcharger himself, interviewed more than 40 team members, competitors, and track operators.

Ed Pink, The Old Master

by Ed Pink with Bones Bourcier

There was a time, before crew chiefs, when engine builders were as famous as the star drivers because they saw to every aspect of a car’s performance. Having built thousands of engines, at 92, Pink has finally called it quits.

Made in America, The Industrial Photography of Christopher Payne

by Christopher Payne

You may think the US has outsourced most of its manufacturing but in fact it is the world’s second-largest manufacturer. Still, it ain’t what it used to be, and while output is up, employment is down. But put all that aside and simply look at what’s happening on factory and shop floors.

Speed Queens, A Secret History of Women in Motorsports

by Rachel Harris-Gardiner

For almost ten years the author has run the Speedqueens blog, and it contains a lot of material. She has a plethora of stories to
tell, and while she crams too much information into this debut book, it also offers her and others great opportunities for further exploration.

Tales of Studebaker, The Early Years

by Jan B Young

Thirty-eight historical vignettes from Studebaker’s earliest years provide a look at life in America 1852 to 1930 and the then-nascent automobile industry and more.

Cult of GT-R

by Ryan K. ZumMallen

Starting in 2023, some models of Skyline GT-Rs have cleared the 25-year rule that prohibited their legal importation into the US. This book describes how, and why, people had gone to great lengths to get their cars here before that.

Three Men in a Land Rover

by Waxy Wainwright, Mike Palmer, Chris Wall

Three school friends, a £400 Landy, wanderlust in the name of a bigger cause: the United Nations. This 1969 adventure makes for a unique tale, not least because it could hardly happen today because the world has not become a friendlier or more stable place since then.

Adolph Sutro, King of the Comstock Lode and Mayor of San Francisco

by William R. Huber

He dreamed big, and achieved and built big. Though not a household name today, his legacy—one of beauty—is inspiring.