Origin of the Checker Flag: A Search for Racing’s Holy Grail

by Fred R. Egloff

Ask ten people were the checkered flag used in racing comes from and you’ll get eleven answers. Get the straight dope here.

The Blunt End of the Known Universe: Road Trips and Modern Fables 

by Dave Roberts

With wry wit, this memoir touches on a wide range of subjects and experiences, bookended by two road trips. What through line there is is . . . unconventional.

Leo Villa’s Bluebird Album, with 3D Images

by David de Lara with Kevin Desmond

The Leo Villa of the title spent almost his entire working life with the Campbell family of speed freaks, first Sir Malcolm Campbell and then his son Donald who between them held 21 land and water world speed records.

Secret US Proposals of the Cold War: Radical Concepts in Military Aircraft

by Jim Keeshen

A very different look at aircraft proposals: photos of the models and illustrations that were created to demonstrate the ideas to planners and prospective buyers.

William Howard Taft and the First Motoring Presidency, 1909–1913  

by Michael L. Bromley

Impressively documented re-appraisal of oft-maligned president, with special emphasis on autos. At an important early stage, Taft, in the face of opposition, articulated a national interest in the auto industry and the social advances of widespread motorization.

Lee Noble, Supercar Genius

by Christopher Catto

Noble Automotive started out building kit cars and did it so well that soon enough customers asked for complete cars. Of the many models over the decades are some that moved the needle so decisively that established automakers had to do some hard thinking. This is the first book to tell the full story.

HOTOL: Britain’s Spaceplane 

by Dan Sharp

It’s the 1980s and the concept of a reusable winged launch vehicle is (once more?) top of mind in the space industry. HOTOL considered new solutions to old problems, problems that are still not solved today. In Earth’s atmosphere you need jet propulsion, which requires air, which does not exist in space. Now what?

Novi, The Legendary Indianapolis Race Car, Vols 1 + 2

by George Peters and Henri Greuter

Fan favorites, powerful, and certainly capable of winning, no Novi-engined racer ever won the one event they were designed for, the Indy 500.

Racing with Rich Energy: How a Rogue Sponsor Took Formula One for a Ride

by Elizabeth Blackstock & Alanis King

Race teams are always looking for funding because pro racing is ruinously expensive. Sponsorships are an obvious choice. But do or can teams vet sponsors? Smoke and Mirrors: here is a case of a multimillion-dollar deal gone very wrong.

It’s A Gas! The Allure of the Gas Station

Texts by Sascha Friesike

This book has been out for several years already so you may have seen reviews of it. Ignore. None of them used the right rotation in their kaleidoscope.

F1® The Movie

directed by Joseph Kosinski

If you watched actual F1 racing in 2023/24 you might have espied an extra pit box—for the fictional team at the center of this movie. Its $200,000,000 budget rivaled that of some real teams but did it buy the best racing film ever?

Formula 1: All the Races 2016–2024, Liberty Media’s Makeover

by Roger Smith

The more nano detail you carry around in your head the harder it is to recall precisely when something happened, or to whom or where. This book is a solid resource for serious folk—and probably an irresistible diversion for just about anybody.

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