Four Small Wheels 4/2004 - new books page 1

new books & films on DVD

ISBN0760319227 Can-Am £16.99 weight 1.6kg by Pete Lyons First published in 1995, Pete Lyons' history of the Can Am series is one of the more frequently used volumes in our library. Over 260 large format pages tell the story of one of the most spectacular categories of racing ever seen, with race reports, detailed results and plenty of photos. A relatively small number of these images are in colour but there's plenty of close up detail and atmosphere in the black and white images. The original hard bound edition offered good value and this soft bound reprint is an absolute bargain. A worthy addition to any petrol-head's library and watch out for other MBI titles being re-issued in a similar format under the 'Motorbooks Classics' series. ISBN1844250296 Jim Clark and his Most Successful Lotus £19.99 weight 1.2kg by Eoin Young There are two biographies side by side in this well written and lavishly illustrated book. The first is one of the greatest natural drivers to have ever raced and there are no prizes for guessing that the car in the title is the Lotus 25 that took the popular and versatile Scot to his first World Championship. It is more specifically chassis R4 and Clark drove it to win 7 of the 10 races that made up the 1963 season. The Clark story has been told many times and always makes for interesting reading, but the car had a very eventful life too. After factory duties it ended up in New Zealand and the Climax engine replaced first with a Daimler V8 and then a Ford 4 cylinder. It was rescued from a Customs auction and has now been lovingly restored. We're not telling you any more, you'll have to buy the book! It's well worth it.	ISBN1902351150 Lotus Elise, The Official Story Continues £34.50 weight 2.3kg by Jeremy Walton After many years of producing large luxurious sports cars, Lotus took a gamble in 1995 with the launch of the no frills Elise and it saved the company. Using the classic Lotus formula of a cleverly designed lightweight chassis and suspension, fibreglass body and production car engine the Elise is a superb drivers car. This excellent book is only marginally lighter than its subject and tells the full story of the development and production of this innovative car, from the early planning stages right up to the launch of the Toyota-powered cars that had to be developed if the Elise was to crack the American market. The original very light 120 bhp Rover engine used isn't type approved for the USA, hence the need for a new power plant. A side effect of this new installation is an over 50% power increase. Never mind, eh, I'm sure the new owners won't mind.... ISBN1902351126 Lotus Seven and The Independents £29.95 weight 1.5kg by Dennis Ortenburger Originally launched in 1957, the Lotus 7 offered drivers the opportunity to build their own sports car from a complete kit of parts. In the UK this had the added advantage of avoiding the Purchase Tax on new cars. Lotus eventually stopped production 16 years later but the demand was still there and the patterns and tooling passed to Caterham Cars. This book looks at the originals, the Caterhams and the dozens of other manufacturers (spread around the globe from England to India!) who have been inspired by these ultimate driving machines. Fascinating.
ISBNX000000015 Ferrari 312T Model Guide £10.00 weight 300g The intention with these guides was apparently to produce one every 6 months or so. Looking back it's nearly 18 months since the last one was published, but it has been well worth the wait. The 40 pages are packed with excellent colour race photography showing the changes made to the car during the season, a number of close ups and cutaway drawings all illustrating a well written text in Italian and English. Great value, let's just hope we don't have to wait quite so long for the next one!
ISBN1903706831 Coventry-Climax Racing Engines £16.99 weight 1kg by Des Hammill The author of this compact volume is an engineer and has been given access to Climax boss Walter Hassan's papers. He has also managed to interview all of the surviving members from the key players in this engine manufacturer's 4 World Championship successes. The end result is a very well researched technical history of the first British World Championship winning engines. If you are looking for lots of photos look elsewhere, but if you're interested in the technology this is a must.

A NEW rough guide to book weights & postages
GPM has negotiated with Royal Mail a special rate for books to our overseas customers. This works out at approximately:
50p per 100g to Europe - 60p per 100g to Rest of World.
This will enable our far distant customers to buy more books which previously the high cost of posting has prohibited.

ISBN2914920318 Matra au Mans £37.99 weight 1.2kg by Francois Hurel (French text) Following his similar titles on Alpine and Ford at the classic race, historian Francois Hurel turns his attention to Matra's involvement between 1966 and 1975. The text is entirely in French but there are excellent photographs throughout, the vast majority of which are in colour. Every Matra that started the 24 hours is covered, there are close up workshop shots of most chassis and engine types, results for each year and technical specifications. It's all in a nice logical chronological order and will make a useful library addition for Le Mans collectors. ISBN1859608728 Scarlet Passion 1962-1973 £35.00 weight 1.7kg by Anthony Pritchard Subtitled 'Ferrari's famed sports prototype and competition cars' Pritchard's latest work takes us from the 246SP to the 312PB. Many consider the period from 1962-73 as one of the greatest in the history of motorsport, especially in sports cars where Ferrari were first challenged by the American Fords and Chevrolets, then Porsche and later Alfa Romeo and Matra. More than 200 period photos illustrate the well written story, though we've seen most of them before. What is particularly interesting is the chapter of profiles of many of the key figures.	ISBN8879601695 Ferrari 612 Scaglietti £29.99 weight 1.1kg With the glut of 612 models being released, modellers might find this useful for adding those interior details and there are a couple underbonnet shots and CAD drawings for those with the skill and time to remove bonnets and create engines from scratch. We have seen the content of this publication in its entirety before as it was included in Ferrarissima #15 which we reviewed in FSW 3/2004. Being an official factory sanctioned publication the quality is superb and Ferrari have given access to some archive material. The text is well written in English, French and Italian. ISBN097050733X Ken Miles £34.99 weight 1.2kg by Art Evans Illustrated with 130 photographs, most of which have never previously been published, author Art Evans describes this as a scrap book. That does not do it justice. Miles was a talented engineer as well as driver and Evans covers his entire life with help and recollections from a great many people who knew him. He rose to prominence as a driver after moving from the UK to the USA where he built and campaigned an MG-powered special with which he won his class in every race entered during 1953. He also dove John Van Neumann's Porsche powered Cooper with so much success that Porsche 'persuaded' van Neumann (their West Coast distributor!) to sell it. It all makes for very interesting reading and there are plenty of subjects in here for enterprising model manufacturers. The MG special is particularly well covered. The review copy is going straight into the GPM library.
Films on DVD
VID623625636 Tribute to Senna £20.00 Region 0 As one would expect from an official production, this 2-DVD set plays down Senna's more controversial side and takes a more reverent tone. Disc 1 contains the only new material, 'The Right to Win', a collection of interviews with motor sport personalities and family members. Viewers who aren't fluent in Portuguese will need to hit their subtitle button for the latter, as an English translation does not appear as one might expect! This otherwise interesting film is hurt by a lack of race footage. Also on Disc 1 is a "lifestyle" feature of Senna relaxing at home in Brazil, as well as his very first test in a Grand Prix car. On Disc 2 is the documentary 'Racing is in my Blood', filmed in 1991-2 which does have some track action. Overall, an extensive study of the man and his life away from the track. I have to say, as a Senna fan, that I found it all a bit disappointing though.
VID623625490 Formula One 1970 £17.00 VID623625512 Formula One 1971 £17.00 VID623625539 Formula One 1972 £17.00 Region 0 Huge wings and tyres, four-wheel drifts galore, and three champions in three years! These hour-long DVDs will help to bring back the days when F1 was not just about Mr Schumacher and his Ferrari. Not a hint of traction control is to be seen in wonderfully clear period footage of 3 classic Grand Prix seasons as Rindt, Stewart, Fittipaldi and co take us on a thrilling ride. A small niggle is the sound: the engine noises on the DVDs don't do justice to the real thing, and a more enthusiastic commentary would have fitted the footage better. Small gripes aside, these are absolutely essential additions to your DVD collection and there are several more years to come!
VID623625784 F1 Race of Champions £15.00 Region 0 This half-hour DVD shows the difference between 2 eras of Formula One, even though the two races were just six years apart! On the disc is rare film from the "Race of Champions" from 1967 and 1973, both held at Brands Hatch. While not part of the World Championship, all the stars and cars of the day are present, including the race debuts of the AAR Eagle ('67) and Mclaren M23 ('73). Ignore the slightly flat commentary and drink in some of the racing legends power sliding their machines around the full Grand Prix circuit! Also includes a further 30 minutes of extra footage, the highlight being some on-board action from a Tyrrell 002!