Archive for Items Categorized 'Biography/ Autobiography', 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.

My Travels on Racer Road: Can-Am and Formula 1 in Their Golden Age 

by Pete Lyons

This award-winning US motorsports journalist and photographer once said he felt “enchanted” by the sights and sounds and ideas to which his job took him. You will be too—by the words in this autobiography.

Mister Showman, The Man who Created the Custom Car Show Phenomenon

by Bob Larivee Sr.

Could this story have happened anywhere but America? If there were a book on how to run car shows, Larivee would have written it. An autobiography is the next best thing.

The Brown Bullet, Rajo Jack’s Drive to Integrate Auto Racing

by Bill Poehler

What do a four-time (1978, 1979, 1999 and 2003) NFL coach of the year and Super Bowl winner born in 1936 and a Champ- and midget-car driver (1905–1956) have in common? More than you might ever imagine!

How Did I Get Here? 

Memories of Six Decades in Motorsport, and Musings on the Future of Formula 1 and the Planet

by Peter Wright

To say that Peter Wright is the guru of ground effect is like saying that Sir Ian McKellen is just the Gandalf guy. And that’s only one of the arrows in his quiver.

Charlie Schwab, President of Carnegie Steel, U.S. Steel and Bethlehem Steel  

by William R. Huber

Somebody who should know (Thomas Edison) called him the “master hustler.” He became one of the very rich men of his time—and died in debt. Still, 2000 people lined the streets. So what sort of fellow was this?

Nieuport 1875–1911: A Biography of Edouard Nieuport

by Gérard Pommier & Bertrand Pommier

Edouard and his brother’s names are writ large in the history of early aviation but try finding a proper full-length biography about them. This isn’t one either but it does contain useful items.

The Four Geniuses of the Battle of Britain: Watson Watt, Henry Royce, Sydney Camm & RJ Mitchell

by David Coles & Peter Sherrard

Radar, airframes, and aero engines played a key role in this predominantly aerial engagement. This book presents bios and work histories of four of the men in the design offices in the years before the war.

I Worked on Spitfires

The Memoirs of a Member of RAF Groundcrew and his Part in the Victory in Europe

by Ronald L. Chapman

Even after all these decades since WWII ended there are still new voices to shed light on increasingly forgotten things, in this case the foreign pilots who fled countries that had fallen to the Germans offering their services to the RAF.

A.J. Foyt: Survivor, Champion, Legend (Vol. 1)

by Art Garner

He got his start in a car that had a lawnmower engine—and went on to become the only driver to win the Indy 500, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Daytona 500, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. This is a big book and it can fit only half that story, which is why there will be a second volume.

Both Sides of the Barrier: Images and Memories from a Motor Racing Odyssey; the A-Side (1957–79) 

by Stuart Dent

Follow an amateur motorsports enthusiast in Britain around as he snaps photos and records his impressions. Got your own photos, race programs, ticket stubs? Maybe there’s a book in it.

Ian Fleming, The Complete Man

by Nicholas Shakespeare

After 60 years, could there really still be anything new to say about the man behind James Bond? Lots! And for really compelling reasons. Not least, this biography paints a picture of both characters as archetypally British, and as as more guarded than anything they say or do.

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