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

Niki Lauda: His Competition History

by Jon Saltinstall

He won two of his three F1 championships after the fiery crash in 1976 that almost killed him. The courage and willpower this takes defies description. So does losing the title one year by one point and winning it another by half a point. Racing is about so much more than car control; this book paints the picture of a driver who applied himself with unprecedented commitment.

World War II Veterans in Motorsports

by Art Evans

As both a former race driver and movie industry PR man, the author understands his topic from both sides. Plus, the 23 men and women covered here were personal friends of his.

Second to One: All But For Indy

by Joseph Freeman & Gordon Kirby

Winning the Indy 500 makes you a household name. Well, in some households. For a while. The ones who don’t win, no matter how long the list of their accomplishments here or elsewhere, get no love. Here’s their story.

One Formula – 50 Years of Car Design

by Gordon Murray and Philip Porter  

“Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” – the extraordinary legacy of oenophile, soap box racer, and Bob Dylan disciple Gordon Murray. He is the man who also created the road-going sports car that won Le Mans, who designed  F1 cars that won 50 Grands Prix, and who is still pushing every envelope he can find.

Lady Lucy Houston DBE, Aviation Champion and Mother of the Spitfire

by Miles Macnair

Picture this: an air force is fighting for its very survival. A private citizen offers to buy her impoverished government several squadrons of fighter planes. The government says—no. This snub kickstarted a chain of events that culminated in Britain developing one of the important aircraft of all time.

That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound

by Daryl Sanders

Bob Dylan’s first album was released in 1962. Since then he has recorded over three dozen studio albums. He is still actively recording and performing. With all that material, it would be difficult to pick a favorite, but there seems to be a general agreement that his 1966 Blonde On Blonde is the best of the best. Sander’s book tells a very detailed, very lively tale of its making.

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

Newer Entries »
« Older Entries