18 Dec

Tim Considine’s epic Le Mans treatise leads the field in Christmas book recommendations

"Yanks at Le Mans" details every American who raced there between 1923 and 1979. Here, Tony Adamowicz swings his and Sam Posey’s 512 M through Tertre Rouge in 1971. Unable to match the dominant Porsches and not even in the fastest Ferrari, “Tony A-Z” and Posey would put in a gritty performance to carry their increasingly crippled NART Ferrari to a podium finish Photo by RAINER SCHLEGELMILCH

“Yanks at Le Mans” details every American who raced there between 1923 and 1979. Here, Tony Adamowicz swings his and Sam Posey’s 512 M through Tertre Rouge in 1971. Unable to match the dominant Porsches and not even in the fastest Ferrari, “Tony A-Z” and Posey would put in a gritty performance to carry their increasingly crippled NART Ferrari to a podium finish
Photo by RAINER SCHLEGELMILCH

 It won’t be out till 2019, but order it anyway. Other books, too.

Courtesy Mark Vaughn, West Coast Editor, Autoweek

What would make the eyeballs of your car- and race-loving special person light right up on Christmas morning? One of these here books, that’s what. Imagine the look of delirious joy that will smack his or her grille when they unwrap something as interesting and car-worthy as one of these? Except for maybe the Le Mans book, which won’t be out until next year. But you can put a little card saying it’s in the mail.

Twice Around the Clock: Yanks at Le Mans by Tim Considine

From the first Model T at the first running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, there have always been Americans present in one capacity or another. Now, finally, their stories are told, in glorious, intricate detail by author — and sometime Autoweek contributor and famed motorsports journalist — Tim Considine. He poured 28 years of his life into this book: writing, researching and interviewing the American drivers, team owners and crew members who raced at Le Mans over almost six decades. Considine covers the years 1923 to 1979, and if there’s anything not in here, it probably didn’t happen. But what did happen is a cavalcade of riveting race reporting, wonderful anecdotes and hundreds of interesting stories I guarantee you won’t find anywhere else.

All your favorites are in it: Phil Hill, Dan Gurney, Carroll Shelby, Bob Bondurant — even Roger Penske, who co-drove a Luigi-Chinetti-entered Ferrari with Pedro Rodriguez and who was running third up until he missed a shift coming out of Mulsanne Corner and blew the engine. “Bonnier was behind me in a (Porsche) Spyder, and with all the smoke, he went off into the trees and wrecked. I remember, he was mad as hell at me.”

Surprise winners Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt on the podium, their win in Chinetti's Ferrari 275 LM likely because some gripless experimental Goodyear tires, changed every hour, saved them from the transmission weakness of similar Ferraris that year. Photo by LAT

Surprise winners Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt on the podium, their win in Chinetti’s Ferrari 275 LM likely because some gripless experimental Goodyear tires, changed every hour, saved them from the transmission weakness of similar Ferraris that year. Photo by LAT

There are more stories.

In 1965, when Masten Gregory and Jochen Rindt were paired in Luigi Chinetti’s Ferrari 275 LM, the car was shod with gripless experimental Goodyear tires that had to be changed every hour. This wound up saving them from the transmission weakness of similar Ferraris that year and lead to them winning the race. But was there a third driver (which would have disqualified them?). Considine investigated, but the controversy endures to this day.

“It’s all about the stories,” said Considine. “It’s hard to choose, but I think my favorite pull quote of all was from a dentist, Dr. Edwin Abate, an amateur from San Jose who paid 25 large to drive one of Barbour’s rent-a-ride Porsche 935s in 1979, the P.L. Newman/Whittington brothers year. Big rains in a 935 at Le Mans!

“Abate said, ‘I remember going down the Mulsanne, with the one wiper going, and lightning going off down at the end of the Mulsanne. I said to myself, ‘Dear Mother Mary, if I get killed here, that’s it … I can’t help it, I really love it here, it’s magnificent!’ He looped it in practice, slid off near the end of the race, but finished eighth overall and second in the IMSA class won by Newman. The magic of Le Mans.”

The Mulsanne Corner crew, The vaunted Cunningham team's unconventional signaling pit crew - 16-year old self-described "military brats" sent on scooters in response to a request to the Paris embassy for help . Photo by Terry Andrews

The Mulsanne Corner crew, The vaunted Cunningham team’s unconventional signaling pit crew – 16-year old self-described “military brats” sent on scooters in response to a request to the Paris embassy for help . Photo by Terry Andrews

My own favorite story is one year when Briggs Cunningham needed a team of signal workers to man the Mulsanne corner signboards. Someone called the U.S. embassy in Paris — because why not? — got patched through to the Embassy Transportation Officer, a known racing enthusiast, who called his teenage American son. “Round up four of your friends, you’re going to Le Mans!” They got there on Vespa scooters, found the Cunningham team, got the signboard and scootered out to the Mulsanne corner. The boys’ story is told in sleepless detail, including one of the youth’s romance with a French local. Considine tracked down one of the boys — now men — somewhere in South America, got previously unpublished photos and gave the episode a whole page in Volume 1.

Yes, Volume 1. There are three volumes, all three of which slip into a single case that will make any bookshelf the envy of motorsports enthusiasts everywhere. At $350, this ain’t cheap, but for that, you get three big books, 925 photos, over 1000 pages, a million stories and 28 years of Considine’s life. I guarantee it is supremely worth it. Buy it here.

book4

Other books:

50/50 The Story of Champion Race Car Driver John Paul Jr. and His Battle With Huntington’s Disease, By John Paul Jr. and Sylvia Wilkinson

Already reviewed here, the book deserves another mention because of John Paul Jr.’s remarkable story. Born with a 50/50 chance of getting the terrible disease that claimed his grandmother, mother and sister, JP started exhibiting symptoms in 2000. Advances in treatment, combined with JP Jr.’s incredible will, have kept him alive. You can’t help but think that he will overcome this just like he overcame challenges on the racetrack and in jail, where he served time for complicity in his father’s drug dealing that financed the pair’s racing for several years. There is an awful lot packed into this one life and one book. Buy it here.

The Prototype by Sam Mitani

Full disclosure: I know and like Sam Mitani. We have both worked at car magazines our entire adult lives. Fuller disclosure: I am a character in the book: the thinly disguised “Mark Taylor of Auto News Weekly.” (Ha!) The book is a spy thriller set in the high-shrimp-and-fois-gras world of pampered car magazine writers, which is in itself kind of hilarious, at least to me. The protagonist is a low-seniority magazine staff member who stumbles into an international criminal conspiracy. It’s a fully functional spy thriller with fast cars, a couple private jets and several beautiful PR professionals. Yes, this is the life I/we lead. You’ll be drawn in by the plot and you’ll even stick with it as it gets progressively farther out there, including the surprise ending. And you might even get a kick out of the insider petty politics of some car magazines (not this one!). I hope they make a movie out of it. I want Redford to play me. No, he’s too old. Maybe Brad Pitt. Buy it here.

The Amazing Adventures of Stroker McGurk – Comic by Tom Medley

If you are a hot rodder of a certain age, you remember the work of Hot Rod cartoonist Tom Medley and his goofy but intrepid main character Stroker McGurk. Stroker comics appeared in Hot Rod from 1948 to 1965 and this book has all 70+ of them. See Medley’s presentation of motorsports innovations like the multi-engined lakes racer and the parachute used to slow the car that worked a little too well. McGurk never gave up, even when maybe he should have. At only $14.95 each, you can buy one of these for every hot rodder on your list. Buy it here.

Pete Brock's P70

Pete Brock’s P70

The Road to Modena: Origins and history of the Shelby-DeTomaso P70 Can-Am Sports Racer by Peter Brock

When Pete Brock himself hands you a copy of his latest book to read, you read it. Thus, at the Art Center College of Design’s annual Car Classic, I saw not only the book but the car it was about. Both were stunning. The car looks beautiful even today, 50 years after it was created. You might not have heard of it because it never ran a lap in a race. Blame the gigantic egos of Carroll Shelby and Alejandro de Tomaso. Had they gotten couples counseling and been able to work things out, the P70 would have taken its place among the Lolas, Coopers, Brabhams, McLarens and Chaparrals of its day. This is the story of what happened. Buy it here.

Classic Car Auction Yearbook 2017-2018 by Adolfo Orsi and Raffaele Gazzi This annual publication started 25 years ago and rounds up the global auction action from Sept. 1 to Aug. 31. Total sales of classic cars in that time topped $1.2 billion (or 1 billion Euros or 900 million English pounds). Leading the world by far are U.S. auction sales at $764 million (the UK is a far-distant second at $148 million so, USA! USA! USA!). Such are the stats you get with this stat-dense book. Look up your favorite model and see what it went for: A Lancia Appia topped $8000 at Bonhams Goodwood sale. So there’s hope for us all. Buy the book here.

Other books we haven’t read but which look promising enough that we’ll list them anyway:

Car Stories: Down the Road and Back by David Fetherston is a collection of auto-related tales by this lifetime automotive writer and publisher, gathered from years of driving in Australia, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and the U.S.A. over the last 50 years. Buy it here.

Legacy of Justice: An American Family Story is about the Justice Brothers, Ed, Zeke and Gus, and the lubricant company of the same name that sponsors race cars around the world.

Stardust International Raceway: Motorsports Meet the Mob in Vegas, 1965-1971 Who knew there was this competent road course and drag strip out in Vegas 50 years ago?

Goldenrod: The Resurrection of America’s Speed King is the story of the restoration of the famous land speed race car built by the Summers brothers to set the wheel-driven land speed record that would not be broken for 25 years.

So there, saved you a bunch of shopping. Merry Christmas!

Mark Vaughn – West Coast Editor Mark Vaughn covers all car things west of the Mississippi from his Autoweek lair high above the LA metropolis.

09 Oct

New Clive Cussler Book on Classic Automobiles Available October 25th

Bestselling Author Clive Cussler with his automobile collection Photo G.P. Putnam’s Sons

Bestselling Author Clive Cussler with his automobile collection
Photo G.P. Putnam’s Sons

New York, N.Y. – Clive Cussler, the undisputed master of thriller fiction and author of five New York Times-bestselling series, has long had a passion for classic automobiles: he gravitates toward everything from majestic town cars that conjure up images of evening gowns and tuxedos at elegant soirees to powerful speedsters and sports cars that showcase the cutting-edge technology of their day. Not only are these cars built for the practical use of transportation—they are built for excitement and the insatiable rush one feels when he or she hears the engine’s growl. In short, these cars are built to thrill. In BUILT TO THRILL (G.P. Putnam’s Sons; October 25, 2016; $60.00), Cussler gives readers an exclusive look into his private life and his stunning collection of rare, classic automobiles. Picking up in 1948, where his previous book Built for Adventure left off, BUILT TO THIRLL will excite Cussler fans and car collectors alike.

In striking full-color photographs and engaging commentary, fans of Clive Cussler’s five bestselling series can explore the personal automotive collection of the literary master of mechanical marvels. Readers will explore the unique history of each model and the story of how it was found and restored—not to mention notes on where some of these dazzling machines have appeared in his novels. BUILT TO THRILL captures it all—fins, fenders, and furious horsepower—and runs from the forties through the fifties and sixties.

1951 Daimler “Green Goddess” Drophead Coupe on display at the Cussler Museum in Arvada, CO Photo British V8

1951 Daimler “Green Goddess” Drophead Coupe on display at the Cussler Museum in Arvada, CO
Photo British V8

Highlighting the new book is the 1951 Daimler DE-36 “Green Goddess” Drophead Coupe, which appeared as a concept at the 1948 Earls Court Motor Show that very nearly defied description. Over 20 feet long and almost seven feet wide, built on a limousine chassis, the drophead coupe in the Daimler booth tipped the scales at over 6,000 pounds. Ultimately, the concept’s jade green hue delivered a nickname – the Green Goddess – and a total of seven examples, all bodied by Hooper & Company, were built. Only four of the original seven cars are known to exist, one of which is in Mr. Cussler’s collection. Besides its enormous proportions, the car featured many unique luxury touches for its time including a power convertible top and tonneau cover and four wheel automatic jacking system. Dirk Pitt drove this “Green Goddess” in the book Cyclops.

1952 Meteor Special roadster in the Cussler Collection Photo Forgotten Fiberglass

1952 Meteor Special roadster in the Cussler Collection
Photo Forgotten Fiberglass

The Meteor Special roadster was a specially constructed fiberglass-bodied roadster with a custom frame. It was designed by Dick Jones in Southern California in late 1952; Jones was the archetypical California hot-rodder, designer and engineer. His first Meteor prototype was shown in 1953 at the Petersen Motorama in Los Angeles; it was featured by both Road & Track and Car Craft magazines. Mr. Cussler’s car is powered by a formidable four-carburetor 1952 DeSoto Firedome Hemi and it is very fast. Dirk Pitt drives the Meteor in the novel Trojan Odyssey.

1958 Buick Series 700 Limited Convertible Photo Cussler Museum

1958 Buick Series 700 Limited Convertible
Photo Cussler Museum

The 1958 Buick Limited was the heftiest, highest priced and most opulent monster ever to hit the streets in the fifties. Mr. Cussler’s example, with a Continental kit, stretches 22 feet. It is ostentatious magnificence in the first degree. The Limited was produced for only one year and eight hundred and thirty-nine were built and only about twenty are known to exist today. Visitors to the Clive Cussler Museum in Arvada, Colorado will see the Buick displayed with other gargantuan 50’s convertibles including a 1957 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz, a 1958 Chrysler Imperial and a 1958 Edsel Corsair.. The museum is open between May and September, and ticket and schedule information is available at www.cusslermuseum.com

Clive Cussler has been heralded by fans and reviewers alike for his incredible ability to bring to life real-world feats of engineering, from the inner workings of a train in the early 1900s to the sophisticated submarines of present day. In BUILT TO THRILL, Cussler shares his special affection for classic cars—just like his hero, Dirk Pitt. Car enthusiasts of all ages will enjoy this beautiful and exciting addition to the Clive Cussler canon.

Article courtesy G.P. Putnam’s Sons

30 Dec

Sam Posey Collection takes home Motor Press Guild Award

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Los Angeles, CA– As renowned a career as Sam Posey made for himself as a race car driver, he’s spent far more time as a motorsports observer, albeit a highly qualified one, either as a commentator or writer, and it’s for that latter role that the Motor Press Guild recently honored him with its annual Best Book of the Year award for 2015.

Posey, who raced from 1965 through 1982, began his professional writing career with an article for Road & Track in 1968 and has gone on not only to write for Sports Illustrated and to pen his autobiography, but also to serve as a racing analyst and commentator for ABC Sports throughout the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, covering everything from the Indianapolis 500 to the Olympics to the Iditarod.

Earlier this year, he assembled the best of his varied writings and television scripts for Where the Writer Meets the Road: A Collection of Articles, Broadcast Intros, and Profiles. As the publisher, David Bull, describes the book, “The result is a remarkably varied mix of short and long pieces on subjects ranging from racing in the rain at Le Mans to test-driving the propeller-driven Wind Wagon created by his uncle Teddy in the 1920s.”

The Motor Press Guild presented Posey with the award at its annual awards ceremony earlier this month at the recently reopened Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.

Sam Posey receiving award from Eric Dahlquist, Sr. (Head Judge – Books, Motor Press Guild)

Sam Posey receiving award from Eric Dahlquist, Sr. (Head Judge – Books, Motor Press Guild)

For more than 40 years, racing fans all over the world have followed Sam Posey’s unique career as a driver, writer, and broadcaster. Posey wrote his first article for Road & Track in 1968, the same year he drove a Chevrolet Camaro for Roger Penske’s team in the Trans-Am series. In the 1970s he not only won at Sebring and finished on the podium at Le Mans, but also published a highly regarded autobiography.

Sam Posey and Tony Adamowicz finished 3rd overall at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans driving the N.A.R.T. Ferrari 512M (photo: Speed Merchants Collection)

Sam Posey and Tony Adamowicz finished 3rd overall at the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans driving the N.A.R.T. Ferrari 512M (photo: Speed Merchants Collection)

Posey retired from driving in 1982, but in the years since then his public profile has grown through his articles for Road & Track, Sports Illustrated, and other publications, as well as his work as a television commentator. In Where the Writer Meets the Road, Posey has selected the best of his work in both fields. The result is a varied mix of short and long pieces as well as examples of the shorter broadcast introductions (he called “teases”) produced for Formula One Grand Prix races at Spa and Monaco, and even non-automotive events like the Iditarod sled race.

Sam Posey in a helmet of his own design, the stripes representing the American flag (photo: David Bull Publishing)

Sam Posey in a helmet of his own design, the stripes representing the American flag (photo: David Bull Publishing)

Sam Posey has had a long association with Connecticut, racing at Lime Rock since he was a teenager under the tutelage of John Fitch which he talks about in the book. In March 2013, the front straightaway at Lime Rock was renamed Sam Posey Straight to honor the driver that enjoyed much success and notoriety at the track. Lime Rock Park track owner Skip Barber commented, “I know – we all know – that Sam deeply loves Lime Rock Park – he grew up five miles from the track. Sam was the first driver to lap the track in less than 60 seconds – that was a big, big deal when Sam did that, in 1967. He was driving a McLaren Can-Am car. And that was just two years after his very first race at Lime Rock, in a Formula Vee, a car that has less than a fifth of the power of that McLaren. Sam was able to use Lime Rock as a launching pad for what turned out to be an astoundingly steep early career path. And of course,” continued Barber, “We’ve been blessed that no less than three of the track’s beautiful buildings, including the now-iconic paddock tower, were designed by Sam”

No matter what the venue or circumstances, Posey’s writing captures the excitement of racing as well as an insider’s understanding of how the sport really works, both on and off the track. It also reflects his innate curiosity and enthusiasm for a wide range of non-automotive interests such as painting, art, design and architecture. The book can be purchased on line at David Bull Publishing www.bullpublishing.com or other on-line book shopping sites.

Article courtesy Hemmings Daily and David Bull Publishing

Sam Posey drove the lime green Dodge Challenger Trans-Am for the Trans-Am series in 1970 (photo: Speed Merchants Collection)

Sam Posey drove the lime green Dodge Challenger Trans-Am for the Trans-Am series in 1970 (photo: Speed Merchants Collection)