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

The Likely Lads: From Trimmer to Piquet and from Walker to Warwick

by Chris Ellard

Just about all the big names in racing got their start in this junior-level feeder series. Begun in 1951 it folded in 2014. This book remembers drivers and personalities from the heady days of the swinging sixties.

The First Lady of Dirt

The Triumphs and Tragedy of Racing Pioneer Cheryl Glass

by Bill Poehler

It’s no surprise that public figures keep their struggles private. In the case of a female driver you can image what those are. Also, she was also not only black but the first black female pro driver. And hardships followed her all her life, until it ended in suicide.

Hello, I’m Paul Page: “It’s Race Day in Indianapolis”

by Paul Page & J.R. Elrod

Could auto racing reporting be Emmy-worthy? You bet—Page did it twice! He probably could have brought excitement to reading the telephone directory out loud. From the X Games to hot dog eating contests, this memoir covers six decades in the broadcast booth.

Fay Taylour, ‘The World’s Wonder Girl’ – A Life at Speed

by Stephen M. Cullen

An Irish motorcyclist travels the world as an itinerant racer, becomes a car salesperson in Hollywood and discovers that quintessential American grass roots activity, midget car racing on dirt tracks. Not unusual enough? There’s more.

The Fastest Woman on Wheels, The Life of Paula Murphy

by Erik Arneson

Skates–sailboat–horse: if it moves, let’s see if it can move faster. She came to motorsports only in her thirties and then almost by accident, but it stuck and she was good with anything she drove. But she almost missed this biography, dying just a few months later.

Maserati 450S: A Bazooka from Modena

by Walter Bäumer and Jean-François Blachette

Super expensive, hard to handle, engine power that overwhelmed the chassis, sexy Fantuzzi coachwork. Built to suit the upcoming racing regs it became obsolete a few years later when they changed. So few were made you may never see—or hear, a real treat—one.

We Were the Ramchargers: Inside Drag Racing’s Legendary Team, 2nd Ed.

by Dave Rockwell

Passionate auto engineers don’t leave their day jobs behind in their free time but few went as deep into pro motorsports as this bunch of Chrysler engineers. The author, a Ramcharger himself, interviewed more than 40 team members, competitors, and track operators.

Happy Lucky Days – My Life in Racing 

by Bob Evans

Racing in the the glory days of F5000, Evans showed plenty of talent but as his entertaining and candid autobiography shows, scoring points and wins has a lot to do with factors outside a driver’s control.

Ed Pink, The Old Master

by Ed Pink with Bones Bourcier

There was a time, before crew chiefs, when engine builders were as famous as the star drivers because they saw to every aspect of a car’s performance. Having built thousands of engines, at 92, Pink has finally called it quits.

Speed Queens, A Secret History of Women in Motorsports

by Rachel Harris-Gardiner

For almost ten years the author has run the Speedqueens blog, and it contains a lot of material. She has a plethora of stories to
tell, and while she crams too much information into this debut book, it also offers her and others great opportunities for further exploration.

Ferrari 1960–1965: The Hallowed Years

by William Huon

A great book made greater by Bernard Cahier photos throughout, remarkably well printed. It is hard not to look at the candid photos of so many drivers and not have a sense of gloom—these were tragic years in regards to safety.

Thousand Mile Trial 1900

by Elizabeth Bennett

Imagine a time when the car was new, few people had seen let alone experienced one, and even the talking heads did not seriously expect it “to take.” What the world needed was proof of the motorcar’s effectiveness and resilience: 1000 miles through England and Scotland outta do it.

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