Motorsport: Illustrated Books - History, Cars, Technology and Circuits

Mille Miglia 1927-1957 : Immagini di una Vita / A Race in Pictures

For 30 years from 1927 until 1957 the real Mille Miglia was the "race of excellence." A unique event of over 1,600 kilometres across Italy, the stars of which were some of the world's greatest car manufacturers, among them Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz, Maserati, Ferrari, Jaguar and Aston Martin.

And their cars were driven, naturally, by some of the equally great champions of the time, like Tazio Nuvolari, Achille Varzi, through to Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss as well as Alberto Ascari, Clemente Biondetti, Piero Taruffi and many others.
Count Giannino Marzotto won the race twice in Ferraris in 1950 and 1953 and said the Mille Miglia was "a synthesis of dynamism, freedom, challenge, courage and calculation."

The story, or better the stories, of that legendary race live again in this book, which tells the tales of the classic "Bresciana," first of all through hundreds of pictures, most of them never previously published.
The text has been written by Leonardo Acerbi, who also wrote "Mille Miglia Story 1927-1957."

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The First Mille 26-27 March 1927

Ninety years ago the first Mille Miglia was held on 26-27 March 1927, so here is a new book that enables the reader to pin down a story which is not exactly secret, but has remained unknown until now.
After exhaustive research of the Mille Miglia Archives, previously unpublished yet invaluable documentation came to light with the historic information they provide.

This book tells of the first Mille Miglia's regulations, the analytical description of 1,618 kilometres of the route - a rare description of the Italian roads in 1927 - specifications of the 101 cars entered for the event with photographs of the drivers, the results list and times at which each entrant reached the various controls at Parma, Bologna, Florence, Poggibonsi, San Quirico d'Orcia, Viterbo, Rome, Terni, Spoleto, Ancona, Rimini, Bologna and Treviso.

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The Monza 1000km : 1965-2008

Between 1965 and the Nineties, the 1000 Km of Monza-Filippo Caracciolo Trophy, was one of the most classical endurance races - a sort of 24 hours of Le Mans - and for many seasons was, rightfully, a round in the world championships for sports cars and prototypes.
Top drivers and cars challenged each other on that historic Italian track and banking, the car makers including Porsche, Ferrari and Ford, bringing to life many unforgettable pages in the history of motor sport.

Aldo Zana, prominent motor racing historian, tells this fabulous story, year after year, included the competitions held between 1995 and 2008.
Every edition is enriched with starting grids and final placings. A huge work, never attempted since now, illustrated with outstanding pictures, many of them never before published.

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Classic Grand Prix Cars - The Glorious Prehistory of Formula 1: 1906-1960

"Classic Grand Prix Cars" explores the origins and evolution of Grand Prix racing during the first half of the twentieth century. With a newly expanded introduction for this edition, Karl Ludvigsen's authoritative history describes the technical development of these powerful machines, decade by decade.
A former auto industry executive and award-winning author of dozens of books, including Classic Racing Engines, Ludvigsen is an expert guide to the cars, manufacturers and drivers who pioneered the sport that would become Formula 1.

Front engines dominated the top tier of motor racing from the first Grand Prix held in France in 1906 through most of the 1950s. Ludvigsen describes the conception and construction of these ground-breaking vehicles, spotlighting the many remarkable advances in chassis and engine technology that were made during Grand Prix racing's first few decades.
The final chapters of the book introduce the game-changing move to rear engines in Grand Prix cars after the Second World War.

Ludvigsen's thoroughly researched text is augmented with hundreds of archival photos, illustrations and blueprints along with color photos of many of these historic cars in action.
Lending further authority to his history are dozens of first-hand-accounts of early Grand Prix competitions as they appeared in the leading automotive journals of the day.
Karl Ludvigsen's celebration of the innovative early years of the Grand Prix car makes for fascinating reading as well as providing a lasting reference for all F1 fans with a sense of history.

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Endurance WEC - From Group C To Hybrid Prototypes

A unique work revealing to readers for the first time the aerodynamic evolution of the sports prototypes of the latest "Golden Age of Endurance Racing", those with hybrid powerplants. A painstaking exploration of the world of the enthralling sports prototypes, the cars developed from the Group C period - in the first half of the Eighties - through to the protagonists of the current WEC and ELMS championships.

Hundreds of colour drawings document the technical evolution of the covered wheel racing cars of the past 40 years. Cars of extraordinary appeal such as the Porsche 956s, the XJ series Jaguars, the Series C Mercedes, the Peugeot 905, through to the more recent Audis, great dominators of Le Mans in the 2000s, the Toyotas and the Porsches.
All this in a technical overview introduced by historical-regulatory contextualisation, indispensible for an understanding of a world that, in recent years, has featured even greater technical evolution and sporting excitement than Formula 1.

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Formula III Racing in North America

This detailed illustrated history describes the emergence in North America of the 500cc displacement road racing cars known as FIIIs. The story begins with the first competition appearance of a FIII car in the U.S, and continues on right up to the current vintage racing scene.

Includes descriptions of the cars, courses, organizations and people involved. The vast differences in FIII racing on the east coast is contrasted with the west coast.
Appendices cover the FIII related organizations, information on the surviving cars and more. A highly informative read on a little known segment of road racing in North America.

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Courses automobiles 1900-1914

From 1895, city-to-city car races allowed the first manufacturers to compete, but it was not until 1900 and the arrival of Gordon Bennett that official regulated events were held. During the first fifteen years of the 20th century, this sport would gain its letters of nobility and great popularity.
Spectators of the Belle Epoque saw increasingly high-performance and fast machines parading on the roads of France, engaging in fierce battles on all terrains.

What could be better than old postcards collected with passion by Jean-Pierre Rigouard to bring the great "Classics" back to life for us? Who remembers Théry, Nazzaro, Lautenschlager, Boillot, Bablot or Jenatzy, the "aces" of the wheel on the circuits of Mont Ventoux or Sarthe? Don't deny yourself the pleasure and admire these racing cars from another time as you round a tight bend!

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