Archive for Items Categorized 'German', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

Porsche: The Sports Racing Cars 1953–72

by Anthony Pritchard

This book covers Porsche’s air-cooled, rear-engined competition models from the 550 to the 917. It also includes F2 and 1 cars because of their connection to the cars in the WSC Championship and GT Prototype classes but it excludes the 911 (except for the 911R) because it is not a dedicated competition model.

Porsche, A History of Excellence

by Randy Leffingwell

First published in 2008 in hardcover form, this book takes a fairly thorough look at the history of Porsche’s road and racing cars. The publisher, Motorbooks, routinely re-issues successful books a few years later, with a different binding and a reduced price.

Driving Forces: The Grand Prix Racing World Caught in the Maelstrom of the Third Reich

by Peter Stevenson

The pre–WWII German Grand Prix cars remain among the most fascinating of machines for vintage motorsports enthusiasts. This book takes a different tack and looks at the human side of the story.

Hitler’s Motor Racing Battles: The Silver Arrows under the Swastika

by Eberhard Reuss

Ever since producing a 1999 documentary on this subject for German television the author perceived a vacuum in the literature about the famous Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows of the pre-World War Two period.

Silver Arrows In Camera

A Photographic History of the Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Racing Teams 1934–39

by Anthony Pritchard

This book delivers more than its subtitle promises! If the word “photographic” were missing, no one would feel short-changed. Not only is it an excellent source of period photography, it also contains a thorough textual treatment in the form of contextual narrative.

Porsche Racing Cars: 1953 to 1975

by Brian Long

This book looks at Porsche’s purpose-built competition cars of the modern era, cars the author considers motorsports and design icons “the likes of which, sadly, we will never see again.”

Porsche 917: The Heroes, the Victories, the Myth

by Födisch, Neßhöver, Roßbach, Schwarz

What distinguishes this large-format book from the many others on this model is its approach. While the car and its history are described in all pertinent detail, it is first and foremost an appraisal, or, better, anappreciation of the car, written by the very people who knew it best.

Porsche Rennsport: The Definitive Photographic Record of the Racing Sports Cars of Porsche 1949–2004

by Jeffrey R. Zwart

This is one of those books that will make you break out in a sweat—hot, cold, who cares—but you absolutely must have dry hands to handle this book so as to avoid getting sticky fingerprints all over the glossy pages.

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Owner’s Bible 1986–1995

by Stu Ritter

The early 1980s were a tough time for automakers. It was into this largely dismal automotive landscape that Mercedes-Benz introduced the 300E to the US market in 1986.

Porsche 917: The Complete Photographic History

by Glen Smale

“I could have been a contender!” Words to that effect were surely muttered in Porsche’s boardroom in 1968 when their cars, successful as they were in other types of motorsports, simply didn’t have the legs to be competitive in endurance racing.

Porsche Moments: Photographs from Europe and Mexico 1953–1962

by Jesse Alexander

To anyone with a love of motorsport at the time we have come to think of as the sport’s golden age, names of photographers like Alexander are household names.

Porsche 718 + 804: An Adventure into Formula One During the 1.5 Litre Era

by Födisch, Neßhöver, Behrndt, Roßbach

This large and heavy book fills a gap in the panoply of literature on individual Porsche models. Maybe the reason for the previous lack of coverage is that these particular models had such an uncommonly short lifespan.