Archive for Items Categorized 'Biography/ Autobiography', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.
Tony Southgate, From Drawing Board to Chequered Flag
by Tony Southgate
For someone who first started to be interested in motor racing in 1982, Southgate was consistently present in the background of the races I watched.
My Greatest Defeat
by Will Buxton
“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.” Easier said than done! Even if it does, extreme experiences leave their mark and take a toll. Racing drivers are always only one step away from crippling disaster. Here twenty of them allow a look behind the PR-polished façade.
Hubert Platt: Fast Fords of the “Georgia Shaker”
by Allen Platt
From moonshine runner to multiple Hall of Famer, Platt was a showman on and off the track. And if Chevrolet hadn’t pulled out of racing, the subtitle might well be reading differently. Written by one of his sons, who is himself a racer, the book explores an iconic career.
Jim Clark: Racing Hero
by Graham Gauld
When the unassuming and versatile Scotsman died at the age of only 32 at the wheel of a racecar, he had already won more GPs and GP poles than anyone. If he was a hero, he was a reluctant one
Enzo Ferrari – Power, Politics, and the Making of an Automotive Empire
by Luca Dal Monte
Every minute you spend reading this review, Ferrari will sell 100 items with their name on them. Not cars—they, intentionally, hover around the 8000 per year mark—but “stuff,” from socks to books to engines for Maseratis. What is it about Ferrari that so many want to buy into its cachet? 1000 pages offer some answers.
Follmer: American Wheel Man
by Tom Madigan
From throwing around VW Beetles in parking lots as a young kid to being the oldest F1 débutant since the 1950s, Follmer is the consummate racer. Long retired, you can still find him at vintage races, often in the same cars!
Isky: Ed Iskenderian and the History of Hot Rodding
by Matt Stone
The biggest names in racing were running Isky cams and Ed “the Camfather” made sure the world knew it and so became a household name. He’ still hanging around “the drags” so read the book before you run into him!
Neil “Soapy” Castles
by Henry Neil “Soapy” Castles
Living life to its fullest could be Castles’ motto. From NASCAR legend, to Hollywood insider, to taking on Exxon for groundwater contamination (a contributing factor to his cancer) and prevailing over both, Castles tells his fast-paced story.
Gustav Mesmer, Flugradbauer
by Stefan Hartmaier (editor)
A trilingual story of a German inventor/artist/poet who wants to fly—by means of a human-powered flying bicycle or strapping wings to his back. Don’t laugh. It’s a sad story. Or is it?
Simply Bev . . . “Determination is Everything”
by James H Cox
Often enough books are described as “a labor of love”—by which is meant a love for or of the subject sufficiently compelling to shoulder the burden of writing a book. Certainly this is true in this case, except that it couldn’t possibly have been a “burden” since its subject is a flesh and bones human being.
Bunty – Remembering a Gentleman of Noble Scottish-Irish Descent
by Halwart Schrader
A biography of a car dealer? Well, a legendary car dealer. Not always for the purest of reasons, though.
You’ll just have to read the book . . .
Reid Railton, Man of Speed
by Karl Ludvigsen
In its award presentation, the Royal Automobile Club called this book “magisterial.” No argument. A Railton obit referred to him as “an exceedingly capable engineer and designer.” No argument. Finally here’s a book to tell the full story.