Books for Christmas

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“Ford: The Dust and the Glory. A Racing History”, by Leo Levine. 630 pp. 9½ in. x 6¾ in. (Collier-Macmillan Ltd., 10, South Audley Street, London, W.1. 63s)

The bulkiest of the new batch of motoring books received recently for review, this work follows the theme, now so popular, of one-make racing history. It covers practically every aspect of racing in which Ford cars indulged, from the early record bids by Henry Ford himself with curious giant creations to the present ascendency of the great make in so many branches of the game, including the successful powering of modern Grand Prix cars with Cosworth-Ford engines.

The text is, as is to he expected, laden with Americanese and not a great deal of fresh material about the very earliest of Henry Ford’s motor racing activities emerges, because, as the author himself admits, there are no accurate records of the early history of the cars. But even in this opening chapter, he makes good use of what can be gathered, sorting out what is known of the Arrow and 999. Incidentally, he explains why Ford used a cross-handle to steer the Arrow. It enabled him to know whether the car was being steered in a straight line even if dust or other hazards obscured the view!

The book progresses from these record-breaking Fords through every phase of Ford racing. The inter-city Model-T runs, the board track racing, the Frontys, Rajos and other special Model-T and Model A Fords, the appearance of such cars in European races, the dragsters, the hot-rods, the stock-cars and the Indianapolis Fords, all and more receive interesting coverage. In particular, the advent of Ford V8 powered racing cars in the Indianapolis 500 form a very absorbing part of the story and the author’s comments on Colin Chapman’s association with the Ford Motor Company, Racing Division, are eyebrow-raising and not complimentary to Chapman. The tyre fuss at Indianapolis and how Leo Beeba pulled Ford’s racing programme through a bad patch are told with a minimum of packed punches.

To read this book is to obtain a very good understanding of what motor racing in America is about. But the European and British aspects of the Ford story, notably the GT 40 development and the domination of F1, F2 and F3 racing by Cosworth, get very full coverage. The illustrations alone make this book a worthwhile investment and the criticism centres mainly round the fact that it is presented as a readable story of Ford racing achievements instead of solid history—and maybe in the minds of the majority of readers and certainly, in the author’s, this is not criticism at all.

Le Mans before the war gets a brief chapter to itself, mentioning American cars, not only the Model-T based Montier Special, which ran there. The Monte Carlo Rally is covered. The inclusion of pictures of cars quite divorced from Ford, even to a Campbell Bluebird at speed on Daytona beach, may smack of padding but serves to set the scene of the innumerable Ford achievements in almost every aspect of competition activity since the turn of the century. So, with reservations, I recommend Levine’s book to enthusiasts in general. For Ford followers it is essential bookshelf equipment. A pity, though, that the pictures are reproduced in a non-glossy photogravure, clear as they are. And I was worried by the drawing of a radiator used as the heading to each chapter and on the dust jacket—it is presumably that of a Model-A but reminds me of a Buick, Oakland or some such rival Ford product.—W. B.

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“The Sebring Story”, by Alec Ulmann. 204 pp. 8 in. x 5½ in. (Chilton Book Co., 40, Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106 $5.95.)

Here is another addition to race history under the heading of a particular venue. Its accuracy is ensured by the authorship, Ulmann having been a leading official at the American circuit since it was opened in 1950, apart from being a well-known motor racing follower.

The Introduction is by Briggs Cunningham and the contents cover the growing fame of Sebring after its opening Le Mans type race in December 1950, the first 12-hour race at Sebring, recognition by Shell and the FIA, the arrival of the Italian cars, Ugolini’s now historical protest, the advent of Ferrari supremacy and the growth to Grand Prix status.

Naturally, this book has to go under the heading of uncompleted history, because Sebring continues, but it covers racing there up to the 1969 season. While it is of more interest to American than British readers, those who collect all possible works of reference would have considered it a dis-service had we not mentioned this coverage of the Sebring scene.—W. B.

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“Sprint”, by T. R. Nicholson. 273 pp. 8½ in. x 5½ in. (David & Charles (Publishers) Ltd., South Devon Howe, Newton Abbot, Devon. 63s.)

Tim Nicholson showed me the mss. of this book many years ago. Of course, I loved it, for it covered speed hill-climbs and speed trials in Britain from 1899 to 1925, when they were banned from public roads. But the various publishers to whom this painstaking author submitted it did not like it. Now, in abridged form, it has been adopted by David & Charles.

I cannot believe it will achieve big sales, because the subject is a specialised one and well covered in the volumes of the weekly motor papers. And as, in very few instances, the author has been able to add much to the information already therein contained, the book is a source of reference rather than an addition to motoring history. How many people, apart from this reviewer and his kind, require to know who made f.t.d. at the Under Puddlecombe MC & LCC’s Sandyriver sprint of 1919, for instance, is open to question and Nicholson has been fortunate in finding a publisher who has not questioned this too closely. But if the book is not very readable it is a splendid browsing tome. Christmas should pass quickly for those who thumb the index pages of this little volume and find themselves forced to check on just how well or how badly cars like Paige-Jewetts and Tamplins, drivers such as de Larrinaga and Iden. went at venues like Pot Bank or Uppark . . . .

Nicholson has set it all, or very nearly all of it down, within the limits of existing knowledge. Unfortunately, this knowledge is not always extensive and the rather interesting matter of exactly where these old public-road speed courses were situated has only occasionally been quoted. That the book ends at 1925 is explained by the aforesaid ban of that year. It might have been better to have left it at that and not added a chapter about what happened thereafter, because in doing this Nicholson has rather glossed over some fascinating points, such as how narrow and rough the Dancer’s End hill-climb course was, as I well remember, and he does not refer to the same Club’s Howard Park speed trials, featuring those “6s. 11d.” GNs.

The post World War Two period gets only 15½ lines and omits to say that the first speed event was the VSCC sprint at Elstree. As this is such a fine browsing book it is a pity the indices, giving venues, drivers and cars, is not infallible, while I was disappointed that an historian of Nicholson’s calibre had docked a quarter-of-a-mile off the Brooklands’ lap distance, nor can Locke King’s great undertaking be likened merely to “a concrete dish”.

However, that apart, the omission of some obvious sprint exponents because they did not go rapidly enough to figure with the class winners, and slight confusion as to which Peugeot Mrs. Menzies and Walther drove in such competitions, “Sprint” is infallible and packs in an enormous amount of data. It is rather a pity it has had to be condensed but the author has refused to give up and those sprints not covered in the text get tables of results at the end of the appropriate chapters, while an appendix deals with those held in Ireland and the Isle of Man from 1903 to 1925.

Production is excellent, in the Batsford style, with fine illustrations, but far too few of them. If I am not asleep, or motoring, on Christmas afternoon, I intend to do some more happy browsing in this fascinating, but expensive, reference book.—W. B.

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“Hillman Imps”, by T. C. Millington. 152 pp. 8¾ in. x 5¾ in. (G. T. Foulis & Co. Ltd., 50a, Bell Street, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. 36s.)

This is the complete reference work for Hillman Imp enthusiasts. It is written by ex-motorcyclist Millington, who also read classics at Cambridge, worked as a week-end racing mechanic, was a technical author and engineer at Rootes and raced his own Imp. His mother once held the Ladies’ record at Shelsley Walsh with an Alta, which may explain why, in spite of his love of the rear-engined Imp he admits to a weakness for vintage sports cars.

His book offers much data about the likeable Rootes small cars, in their different guises. Not only tuning for more speed and performance and road-holding to go with this, but ordinary servicing are dealt with, together with overhaul of engine and transmission, essential before tuning is contemplated.

The Introduction provides an interesting profile on the Imp range and the manner in which the little car gradually began to be recognised as one with competition potential and how this was developed by Nathan, and Emery, until there was a works rally team, leading to the Alan Fraser racing team and others. The author likens Imp handling to that of a front-drive BMC Mini, bemoans the fact that the drag factor of the Californian, Chamois and Stiletto fast-backs is no better than that of the Imp saloon and remarks that the Hillman Husky, based on the Imp van body shell, is one of the few modern motor cars you can drive while wearing a top hat.

Back to tuning, the book is well illustrated with pictures of works rally Imps, Imp Sport engines in a Ginetta G15 and in a Formula 4 Vixen, such an engine with Lucas fuel injection, suspension modifications, sump guards, etc. A chapter is devoted to improving the brakes, never the best feature of early Imps, and the appendices include data on torque loadings, detailed specifications and wiring diagrams.

This would seem a really informative book for anyone who motors an Imp or one of the derivatives on roads, through forests or round circuits.—W. B.

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“Historic Motor Racing”, by Anthony Pritchard. 120 pp. 8½ in. x 8 in. (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 5, Winsley Street, Oxford Circus, London. W1. 30s.)

Prolific peddler of words, Anthony Pritchard, calls this picture book one of “Pleasures and Treasures”. The text is secondary to the illustrations, which are nice to look at, if a rather scattered collection. Quite a number are in colour and go back down the years, showing, for example, the V12 4-litre Sunbeam at Silverstone, not as a red but as a blue car and Fangio’s Maserati, with one front wheel well on the grass at the same circuit, in training for the 1957 British Grand Prix. This cannot count as serious history but it would make a good present and just as I was about to remark that many of the pictures, six of them from Motor Sport, are old “chestnuts” I discovered that the frontispiece shows Malcolm Campbell at Brooklands in 1923 with a 1912. G. P. Peugeot and it has a pointed tail, answering a query I raised some time ago in these columns when attempting to unravel a mystery surrounding these cars! So I cannot dismiss this picture book as providing nothing new. A good one for the Christmas stocking, providing it is a wide stocking, and at the right price.—W. B.

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“The Encyclopaedia of Motor Racing”, by Anthony Pritchard and Keith Davey. 304 pp. 9¼ in. x 6 in. (Robert Hale & Co., 63, Old Brompton Road, London, SW7. 45s.)

Clever, of these two authors, to get out their encyclopaedia of motor racing while historians like Nick Georgano are taking a breather. No such encyclopaedia can be complete and this one is rather condensed, although illustrated. But it constitutes a useful work of quick reference and is topical up to the middle of this year’s racing.

To give an example of its scope, under the letter “B” we have entries for Ballot, Bandini, Barcelona GP, Bari GP (five lines, plus results from 1947), Behna, Belgian GP, with circuit map, Belgian Touring Car GP, Bell, Bentley, BOAC 500, Bordeaux GP, Boreham, Brabham, Brabham Cars, Brands Hatch, British Empire Trophy, British GP, BRM, Brooklands, with major results, Brussels GP, Buenos Aires, Bugatti, and Bugatti circuit. That occupies 30½ pages and if you have it all at your finger tips without this book you are a better man, etc. . . .

On the other hand, while the authors give other sources of reference where applicable, they obviously cannot go far beyond the fringe of each subject. Thus, under Fiat, none of the mysteries posed by Motor Sport last month are answered, apart from stating that the Tipo 803 was supercharged when it won at Brescia in 1923, which Fiat now confirm. Supercharging gets no coverage on its own.

Nevertheless, useful, quite useful, this one.—W. B.

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“The British Rigid Airship—1908-1931”, by Robin Higham. 426 pp. 9 in. x 5 5/8 in. (G. T. Foulis & Co. Ltd., 50a, Bell Street, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. 75s.)

An extremely interesting account of the design, development and fate of rigid airships in this country, this book is recommended for holiday reading. Dedicated to the memory of Rear-Admiral Sir Murray Fraser Sueter, RN, it is intended as a study in weapons development and perhaps suffers slightly from not being just a straight account of British airships as such. But it gives an astonishing amount of fascinating information, all of which is now historic. Pre-Naval British airships, the Navy’s initiation into rigid airship work, the Parsevals and the 1912 panic, the airship in the First World War, and the post-war development, culminating in the R101 disaster, are covered very fully, with copious illustrations, and plans.

Because the book is a study of Government policy in respect of lighter-than-air craft, some ships get more coverage than others but the book in its entirety is a fine mine of information, absorbingly told. The bibliography is almost a book in itself and the causes of the R101 crash are re-examined in detail. The author writes with an unexpected sense of humour and where else could you get the Building Schedule of His Majesty’s Airship No. 23 in detail from 1.1.16 to its trial flight on 19.9.17?—W. B.

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“The Zeppelin in Combat”, by Douglas Robinson. 417 pp. 9 in. x 5½ in. (G. T. Foulis & co. Ltd., 50a, Bell Street, Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire. 75s.)

If the book about airships reviewed above is fascinating, this one is impossible to put down, except for very brief pauses. It is dedicated to the 748 men of four nations who lost their lives in rigid airships between 1913 and 1937. It is by an American researcher, but loses nothing from that, by which I mean that this essentially European subject could have been the work of a European domiciled author. The revised edition is crammed full of data, with maps on the inside covers and pictures, rather a paucity of the latter.

The book opens with an exciting chapter describing a zeppelin raid on London on 23.9.16. This is written in a slightly “popular” manner but do not be deceived by this. The remainder of the book is technical, factual, as it looks at the German Naval Airship Division raids on this country and the history of that Division between 1912 and 1918. The preparations, the routes taken, the errors and successes of the airship commanders, the defence, the damage inflicted and the fate and probable feelings of crews in shot-at airships—it is all there in great and fascinating detail.

There are various forms of bravery and the volunteers who set out in the 40-ton leviathans, themselves, as the author points out, merely giant bombs, sitting below and above hydrogen which burns at the slightest provocation, amid 1,750 gallons of dangerously inflammable petrol, trying to find an enemy country at night with the crudest possible navigational instruments, in freezing temperatures, were at least not lacking in bravery.

The routes token by German Zeppelins on their way to bomb Britain may have been corrected where necessary since the war-time data was published and the extent by which some pilots were off course is interesting. The detail about individual ships or Zeppelins in general is prodigious, augmented by tables and pull-out plans.

This book should make entertaining reading over Christmas if the subject is not considered too macabre. Incidentally, these two recent airship books remind me of a Christmas as a youngster when I read one of E. F. Spanner’s books against airships at, I suppose, the age of 15 and I note these books referred to in Higham’s meticulous bibliography.—W. B.

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“Apprenticeship in Steam”, by Jack Hampshire. 177 pp. 8½ in. x 5½ in. (J. H. Lake & Co. Ltd., Falmouth Packet Works, Falmouth, Cornwall. 11s. 6d.)

Having persuaded Mr. Hampshire to write his earlier book, “I Worked With Traction Engines”, I was pleased to discover that he has now set down his memoirs as a general engineer. The little paperback is light-hearted reading for non-technical followers of steam in earlier times. Jack Hampshire tells his simple stories with refreshing sincerity, with perhaps a trace of “LBSC” about his writing, and in doing so recalls most vividly the trials and tribulations of the men who coped with steam traction engines, steam waggons and early tractors in times now distant.

From the motoring viewpoint there is an interesting account of the works Bitza truck, which had an ex-LGOC 90 h.p. Maudslay engine, three-speed gearbox and wooden wheels shod with iron tyres—there is a photograph of it, carrying the guvnor’s Clement Talbot car—and a chapter about the works hack, a 10 h.p. PIC car, eventually broken up for scrap. The make eludes me but was apparently too early to have been a Pick or a Piccard-Pictet. The author owned a 1910 2¾ h.p. single-speed Douglas and a 1915 3½ h.p. Triumph motorcycle at the age of 16, and we meet the Belsize car used as a works hack and his father’s Model-T Ford. There is also a photograph of a car thought to be an early Ford, but looking more like a veteran Cadillac. This is definitely something to read over the Christmas holidays and I have a hunch that with a little research the scenes of some of the episodes recounted could be found today.—W. B.

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“AJS—The History of a Great Motorcycle”, by Gregor Grant. 112 pp. 10 in. x 7¼ in. (PSL, 9, Ely Place, London, E.G.1. 30s.)

After one-make car histories, one-make motorcycle histories? Anyway, before his death Gregor Grant had completed a history, the first ever, of the AJS, ready for the anticipated revival by Dennis Poore of high-powered British motorcycles. If the text is somewhat superficial there are good pictures, many of them of well-known competition AJS machines, and the book introduces the new Y4 and 37A two-stroke AJS models and contains a list of AJS riders in the 1911-1969 TT and 1923-1968 Amateur TT and Manx GP races. John Surtees wrote the Foreword.—W. B.

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David & Charles have republished in a revised edition W. J. Hughes’ hook “Traction Engines Worth Modelling” ( 215 pp., 8¾ in. x 5½ in.) which sells for 50s. It contains a fine collection of pictures of full size and model engines, including two of the latter actually towing full-size Rover and MG Magnette cars. There are drawings of technical details of engines worth modelling.

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Collins, 114, Cathedral Street, Glasgow C14, offer a book for young people who show interest in cars, explaining after a fashion how the i.c. engine functions and how a car is, and should be, driven. Called “Junior Motorist” (143 pp., 8½ in. x 5½ in.) it costs 1 5s.

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Pelham Books’ 25s. “Personna Year Book of Sports” includes a section on motor and motorcycle competitions.

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A blatant attempt to ride on the motoring publications bandwagon is displayed by Bellona Publications Ltd., who have the audacity to ask 28s. for a book containing a number of tear-outs of early motoring advertisements from unnamed journals.

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Bartholomew, 10, Duncan Street, Edinburgh, EH9 1TA, are issuing a new series of maps of Britain under the designation GT. No. 1 covers the West Country, No. 2 the South Coast, the scale being four miles to the inch and each 30-page map costing 6s.

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Those who have to deal with setting up shows and exhibitions are catered for in “The Showman’s Directory”, the 1970 edition of which costs 7s. 6d. from Mrs. Jean Lance, Hydestile Farm Cottage, Hydestile, Godalming, Surrey. One advertisement is for a clown’s car based on a 1918 Model-T Ford said to be a relic from a Mack Sennett comedy but now kept in Kent!

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The Ministry of Transport’s own manual of how they want you to drive, “Driving” (224 pp. 8¼ in. x 5 in.), is available front H.M. Stationery Office for 12s. 6d.

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A catalogue of all the films available to clubs from the Petroleum Films Bureau is obtainable from them at 4, Brook Street, London, W1Y 2AY, on mentioning Motor Sport. The choice is enormous and if you cannot plan an effective club film evening after studying this 104-page book you should seek a different vocation.