Targa Florio

1955-1973
Ed Heuvink

Beautiful rolling Sicilian countryside, crowds lining the sometimes single-lane roads and picturesque towns with names such as Campofelice and Cerda pronounced with a ‘th’ and a rolled ‘r’. It could only be the Targa Florio. No doubt modern Formula 1 photographers dream of such a backdrop and cars like the Porsche 908, Alfa Romeo 33 and Ferrari 275P2.

This weighty McKlein tome is surely one of the great books on the road race and covers every year between 1955 – when it first became a round of the World Sports Car Championship – and 1973, the last time it graced the WSC calendar.

It runs through themes – such as the Buonfornello straight, OSCA and Scarfiotti – in alphabetical order, rightly giving precedence to the images, and also summarises what happened each year. There are plenty of quotes from the drivers who took part and pretty much every photo is ripe for cutting out to stick on the wall. Not that you’d want to ruin the beautifully bound book, though. EF

Published by McKlein, ISBN 978-3-927458-66-6, €99.90