Four Small Wheels 10/2002

new books

ISBN0970325924 Rolling Thunder, The Racing Corvettes by John Starkey £29.99 weight 1.4kg
In the forward John Starkey states that, while much has been written about the Corvette Grand Sports, the general history of the Chevrolet Corvette in fifty years of competition has been some what neglected. This book goes some way to filling the gaps and there are many photos of the outrageous Greenwood machines of the 1970s. But, there are gaps all over the place in this story too, most significant of which is the almost total neglect of the Callaway cars. The only mention we found, Callaway was spelt Calloway and then only referred to modified road cars. Arguably if it hadn't been for Callaway cars racing through the early and mid nineties we wouldn't have seen the C5R project come through and break the Viper's stranglehold on the GT classes in the big endurance races. This could have been so much better.

ISBN0760313725 Bonneville, The Fastest Place on Earth by 'Landspeed' Louise Ann Noeth £17.99 weight 1.1kg
We had a feeling that the title of this book was familiar when announced and now we know why. Originally published by MBI in 1999 we have the hard bound edition in our library! The text is very well written and tells of the history of racing at Bonneville from the record attempts of the early 20th century up to the 'speed weeks' of the late 1990s. Throughout there are plenty of excellent period photos and most of those from the 1950s onwards are in colour. If you already have the previous edition then obviously you don't need this, but if you're interested in speed record breaking or hot-rodding and missed out before then this is a must have.

ISBN0760312168 Dry Lakes and Drag Strips £17.99
by Dean Batchelor weight 1.2kg
MBI have done it again. Like the Bonneville title lower left, this was previously published a few years ago in hard-backed form under the title 'The American Hot Rod'. It's still a very good book and complements the Bonneville book superbly, concentrating more on the ingenuity of the amateur builders who would take their creations to the salt flats and drag strips. There is excellent atmospheric photography throughout, though most of this is in black and white. A fascinating read and if you missed the hardback don't miss out this time around.

ISBN1855206021 Maserati Cars 1957-1998 £44.95
Brooklands Books weight 1.8kg
A fairly comprehensive record of Maserati road cars from the 3500GT to the Bi-turbo and Shamal, told using reprinted articles picked from magazines such as Road & Track, Motor, Car and Classic & Sportscar. The reproduction quality is very good and the models are approached in chronological order. Many of the retrospective features from more recent magazines feature colour photos and there are a number of detail shots that would be of use to modellers. Maybe not a definitive history but it's fascinating to see what the road testers thought of the machines when they were new.

ISBN2950043224 Ferrari 365GTB/4 Gr4 Daytona Comp £35.00
by Christian Huet weight 1.7kg
Looking at our library it seems hard to believe that we need any more books about Ferrari but, while many have been written about the 'Daytona' road cars, this is to our knowledge the first devoted entirely to the race versions. A fairly brief prologue introduces the road car and shows us the Group 4 Competizione's race debut, fittingly enough at Daytona. The real story starts with the 1971 season and we are taken in chronological order through the racing history. Unlike the volumes which have been written about the 250GTO and TR there are no individual chassis histories, but a detailed results section at the back will help you trace these if you feel so inclined. The well written text (in French and English) is lavishly illustrated throughout, with many of the period photos in colour. A must for all Ferraristi and one which will go straight into our library.

ISBN185960837X Emerson Fittipaldi, Heart of a Racer £25.00
by Karl Ludvigsen weight 1.4kg
The latest in this series of driver biographies tells of the career of one of the fastest drivers ever to step into a racing car. Much of the well written and edited text is taken from period interviews, not just those conducted by Ludvigsen, and tells of the business schemes that Emerson and his brother Wilson pursued to fund their racing. Sadly, while mention is made of the junior formulae, including the brother's self built Formula Vees, the only photos of these smaller cars that are included are of the amazing 8 cylinder VW Beetle they made. There are however over 170 photos covering Emerson's F1 and Indy careers, but only about 20 of these are in colour. With more colour printing this would have been a very useful book indeed.
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ISBN0764316397 The Motor Cycle Helmet 1930s-1990s £55.00
by Ain Tanaka weight 1.7kg
Yes, really! From the American football helmets that replaced the soft leather hoods of the 1920's to the modern composite items favoured now, the history of motorcycle protective headwear. Throughout there is very smart studio photography showing how the designs evolved and now fashions have changed with the decoration. Reproductions of various period advertisements are included along with period articles showing how the designs are tested.

ISBN0970507313 The Fabulous Fifties £49.99
by Art Evans weight 1.2kg
Subtitled 'Sports Car Races in Southern California', this is a fascinating account of the rise of road racing in the heart of the USA's car culture. From the earliest illegal road races we are taken venue-by-venue through this halcyon era. Entry lists and results are reproduced and a modest amount of very good black and white photos are included. Now we might be able to properly identify some of those Faenza models!

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.