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

The Rise of Jaguar: A Detailed Study of the “Standard” Era 1928–1950

by Barrie Price

Jaguar is certainly on the rise today, with their new crop of XJ models being hailed as landmark cars and possibly the best ones the company ever built. A far cry from the fragile, eccentric original XJ, and, given the firm’s ups and downs, not at all a development one could have expected.

Fast Ladies: Female Racing Drivers 1888 to 1970

by Jean François Bouzanquet

This is the English translation of a French book. The topic of female racing drivers has been a wildly neglected one in the literature and even this book scratches only the surface by focusing only on European drivers (with two American exceptions, McCluggage and Skelton) and on only 49 of them in detail.

Grand Prix Battlegrounds: A Comprehensive Guide to All Formula 1 Circuits Since 1950

by Christopher Hilton

This well-thought out book is another feather in Hilton’s already crowded cap. He isn’t just disgorging dates and facts and figures but paints a picture. In this book he is your tour guide, and like every good tour guide, he shows you things even the locals don’t know.

French Etceterini Miscellanea

A review of three slim specialty French books:

La 4CV Bosvin-Michel-Spéciale by Robert Bosvin

La Saga sportive de la Renault 4CV by François Rivage

Sportives tricolores, 1950–70 by Jean Paul Decker

The Classic Citroëns, 1935–1975

by John Reynolds

First things first, this book really goes beyond 1975, devoting the penultimate chapter to the 1974–1989 GSX and a brief final chapter to the 1976–2000 cars built by the PSA Group in the post-Michelin era.

My Father the Car: Memoirs of My Life With Studebaker

by Stu Chapman

North Americans have always known about Daimler, or Daimler-Benzes after these two amalgamated in 1926. However, in spite of Max Hoffman’s best efforts, it wasn’t until the company, by then called Mercedes-Benz, made an arrangement with Studebaker that it really achieved a North American presence.

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.

Dictionary of World Coachbuilders and Car Stylists

by Marián Suman-Hreblay

This impressive reference work lists all of the well known—and numerous not-so-well known—car coachbuilders and stylists in the world: 3174 car coachbuilding companies and design centers, and 1161 car stylists and related personalities.

Alpine and Renault: The Development of the Revolutionary Turbo F1 Car 1968 to 1979

by Roy Smith

Neither Alpine nor Renault seem likely candidates for developoing the first turbocharged Grand Prix car. Finally there is proper book to tell the story of the people and ides behind it.

André Lefebvre and the Cars He Created for Voisin and Citroën

by Gijsbert-Paul Berk

In addition to his work at Voisin, Lefebvre was in large part responsible for the Citroën Traction Avant, the H series trucks and vans, the 2CV and the DS—to have been responsible for just one of these cars would be worthy of nomination to the Engineering Hall of Fame!

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.

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, 50 Years of Flying

by Jarrod Cotter

Published on the occasion of the Flight’s golden anniversary, in 2007, this book is the first full account of the origins and activities of an organization (technically, it is a unit in the RAF) that is dear and near to the British, a veritable cultural touchstone.

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