Archive for Items Categorized 'Biography/ Autobiography', only excerpts shown, click title for full entry.

One Man’s Vision

by Marjorie Teetor Meyer

Industry leader, SAE president, Automotive Hall of Famer. But do you know of him?? Next time you engage that “Speedostat” (aka cruise control) give a thought to Teetor who invented it and many other things—and was blind! (Don’t play with knives, kids.)

Michigan’s C. Harold Wills

by Alan Naldrett and Lynn Lyon Naldrett

His engineering skills were high, indeed. The car he eventually designed and built, though in small numbers, was and is to this day highly respected for its high quality. Sadly this book about C. Harold Wills is a disappointment.

Fins

by William Knoedelseder

Either the cover car is really low or the fella really tall. It’s more the latter—and Earl towered not only over his department (“team” was not a word in his vocabulary) but his industry, and, for a while, the consumer. But tastes did change; Earl did not.

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.

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