Archive for Author 'Peter Hill', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Joe of All Trades, From a Formula 5000 Championship to an Island Paradise 

by Joe Wright with Gordon Campbell

During the 1960s and 1970s it was not uncommon to find New Zealand race mechanics among all the top racing teams around the world. Wright was one of the most successful and this is his autobiography.

Crayon to CAD – A History of Post-War Automotive Design in Australia

by Paul Beranger

Given the author’s decades-long and international industry experience, this analysis is much broader than merely the Australian scene.

Go Fast or Go Home: The Garth Hogan Story

by Tim Hanna

Dragster racer, record holder, FIA commissioner, founder of multiple businesses, pilot, restorer, museum founder—just reading this list makes you wonder if the differences in cyclonic motion in the hemispheres affects how time flies on Zealandia.

Bourne to Rally: Possum Bourne, The Autobiography

by Possum Bourne with Paul Owen

The fickle finger of fate . . . this autobiography was completed just days before 47-year-old Bourne had a fatal road accident. While that makes the story especially poignant, there’s a lot of practical stuff here how to keep a racing career humming: talent is essential but not sufficient by itself.

The Cobra in the Barn, Great Stories of Automotive Archaeology

by Tom Cotter

This was the first book in what would become a series extolling the allure of looking for desirable cars, be it by methodical search or accidental stumble—sometimes literally. The sleuthing, the deal making, the extraction, and the inevitable headaches are captured in experiences many of us had had ourselves (or wish we did).

Racing the Silver Arrows

by Chris Nixon

Two German teams dominated Grand Prix racing because of their technical superiority made possible by enormous government investment into the racing programs but also the companies overall because of their military value.

The Man with the Golden Typewriter

Edited by Fergus Fleming

His first James Bond thriller was still only a draft but Ian Fleming could smell he was on to something—so he treated himself to a gold-plated typewriter. It was an auspicious start to a long life in letters, which is what this book by his nephew surveys. The words he wrote weren’t always golden, nor was the whole of his life.

The Brawn Story 

by Christopher Hilton

For Honda F1’s master strategist to be able to engineer a management buy-out after the team quit F1 was already a coup. But to then go on and win both the constructors’ and drivers’ championships on the first try was the stuff of dreams. This book looks at just that one season, 2009.

Shutter & Speed 2

by Gary Critcher

Vol. 1 sold well enough to make possible the hoped-for vol. 2, again offering previously unseen motorsports images. The emphasis is on GP racing but there’s also F2, Indy 500, hillclimbs, and non‐championship F1 races.

Jas A Munro & Co – The Largest Garage in Melbourne

by Ian Berg

One of the largest motor agents in Australia, Munro also ran a service and coachbuilding facility, adding a host of other businesses over time. The chance discovery of the Munro archive, unseen for nearly a century, sheds light on early motoring in a harsh country.

Colin Chapman: Wayward Genius

by Mike Lawrence

The title hints at the dichotomy in the Lotus founder’s character but the book makes an effort to show that Chapman compartmentalized his waywardness: questionable morals as a friend and businessman but (almost) never in motorsports.

John Z, the DeLorean, and Me: Tales from an Insider

by Barrie Wills

DeLorean’s longest-serving employee became its last CEO and so knows the firm’s history from all angles. You’ll probably end up retiring a good many of the falsehoods that have sprung up over the years.