Archive for Author 'John Aston', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Powered by Gibson—From F1 to Le Mans

by Mark Cole

The rubber has barely washed off the roads from one year’s Le Mans 24 Hours and the clock at Gibson is already counting down the seconds to the next one. That’s how it goes when you’re the world’s leading manufacturer of high performance LMP1 and LMP2 powertrains.

Roger Williamson: A Collection of Memories from Friends, Mechanics, Rivals and Family

by K. Guthrie & D. Banks

The F1 cars of Williamson’s era were getting faster and faster but neither the tracks nor safety consciousness evolved at pace. His horrific death in a fire at the 1973 Dutch GP is a chilling example of Murphy’s Law at full tilt.

Tyrrell: The Story of the Tyrrell Racing Organisation

by Richard Jenkins

This team/constructor turned out the lights half a decade ago but has descendants of a manner in the modern era: Brawn GP who almost adopted the old name, and today’s Mercedes-AMG Petronas.
We’ve now added a second review—because the book is just that good.

For Flux Sake: Beer, Fags and Opposite-Lock 

by Ian Flux with Matt James

This British driver belongs to the baby boomer generation, the last one to be able to immerse itself in racing without guilt, regret, or even a backward glance. This account of a racer’s life is endearing, frank, shocking, funny and fast-paced—just like its author.

24 HOURS, 100 Years of Le Mans 

by Richard Williams

How far can you go, nowadays, pretty much nonstop, in 24 hours? Oh, about 3200 miles—an inconceivable number a hundred years ago when this epic endurance race was first held.

The Greatest Escape

by Martin Barratt

RAF Bomber Command’s slogan was “the bomber will always get through.” But not necessarily back. Almost 45% of their aircrews died in WWII. Almost 10,000 were captured, and many kept their stories to themselves. This is one of them.

Superbears—The Story of Hesketh Racing

by James Page

Need something to do on the weekends? Got a pile of money? Why, let’s start a racing team! It’s 1972. Their caterer had better credentials than their—unemployed—driver. The opposition laughed, but not for long.

Jim Crawford, Lessons in Courage

by Kevin Guthrie

A team boss of his once called him the bravest driver he ever knew. Also a wonderful human being. What, you never heard of the Scot who loved the Indy 500?? Here’s a book to fix that.

Driven to Crime: True Stories of Wrongdoing in Motor Racing 

by Crispian Besley

Its cartoonish cover illustration notwithstanding, the book is clever—just ponder the double entendre in the main title—and, more importantly, well researched. From perps to victims of crime, you will be surprised at the cast of characters.

Toymaker: My Journey from War to Wonder

by Tom Karen

“The man who designed the 1970s” just died, on the last day of 2022. Here he offers a celebration of creativity. From domestic appliances to transistor radios and furniture to motorcars there was hardly an area of everyday life this industrial designer did not apply himself to.

From Bond to Bentley and Back, Rambles Through a Motoring Life

by Roger Bateman

Bateman has been up close and personal with many, many more cars than the 28 he owned, for instance as a manager of The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu and at Fiennes Restoration. Has he got stories? You bet.

Jacky Ickx: His Authorised Competition History

by Jon Saltinstall

The quiet and contemplative Belgian who thought he wanted to be a gardener discovered he was a versatile and successful racer on two and then four wheels. He contested over 570 races in a decades-spanning career, and here is a suitably big book for this big life.

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