| | | | | MOTORBOOKS BLOG |  For many years, the publication of our annually updated Formula 1: Technical Analysis book - purposely timed to coincide with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza every September - has been anxiously anticipated by F1 enthusiasts. Its author, Giorgio Piola, needs no introduction locally: he is a journalist, television commentator, and renowned designer. Piola attended his seven hundredth Grand Prix during the 2013 season, having made his debut as a correspondent way back in 1969 at the Grand Prix of Monaco (which was won by Graham Hill in a Lotus 49B).
At a time when even the most specialized magazines offered limited imagery-grainy, black-and-white photographs at best - Piola had an ingenious idea: why not display the F1 cars in a series of incredibly detailed, up-close illustrations that would reveal their hidden technical secrets? Well, no sooner said than done . . . Piola's outstanding compositions quickly appeared in Autosprint, the major Italian motor racing magazine. The earliest featured renderings depicted the Ferrari 312 B, Lotus 72, Tyrrell 003, and March 701.  |
| | | Dear ASD,
Earlier this summer, I visited The Henry Ford Museum in Detroit. One of the exhibits that mesmerized me the most was Goldenrod, a one-of-a-kind race car that shattered the world land speed record in 1965. Built by brothers Bob and Bill Summers, the vehicle roared into history on November 12, 1965, with a speed of 409.277 miles per hour at Utah's Bonneville Salt Flats. When I returned to the office, I found press materials for a new book by our sister publisher Aurum Press about a world record feat a year earlier in Australia. In July 1964, Donald Campbell drove his car, Bluebird, at a world record speed of 403.1 miles per hour at the Lake Eyre salt flat in southern Australia. Later that year, Campbell also set the world water speed record on Lake Dumbleyung in Perth, Australia. In all, Campbell broke 8 world speed records during his lifetime. The book about Campbell's 1964 land speed record, The Bluebird and the Dead Lake, is now available. And it's a fantastic read. |
 Campbell's quest for the record wasn't an easy one. Things went wrong from the start: unseasonal rains, a sodden lake bed in which every high-speed run slewed dangerously, money running short...even an Aboriginal curse. WIth death shimmering on the horizon before him, the lonely Campbell tried to hold his nerve until he broke the record.
Campbell would lose his life in 1967 pursuing another speed record in England, but this strangest - and greatest - of all his world record attempts was witnessed by a young reporter. John Pearson's classic book about Donald Campbell is an extraordinarily compelling and moving portrait of a modern tragic hero, fighting a battle with inhospitable elements and the outer limits of technology - and, above all, with himself. |
|  | | The Fast Stuff |
|  | | The Cars of Vel Miletich and Parnelli Jones |
|  | | Formula 1: All the Races - 2nd Edition |
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 | | Jeep Off-Road 2014 |
|  | | Motocourse 2014 Grand Prix & Superbike Calendar |
|  | | Autocourse 2014 Grand Prix Calendar |
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| | | Ebooks, too
Many of our books are available as ebooks. If we have an ebook for your favorite title, there will be a series of "Buy the ebook" links on the product page, so you can choose your preferred ebook format and vendor. If the book you want isn't available as an ebook, check back often. We're converting more titles to ebook formats every day. |
Don't Miss the Motorbooksmobile
The 2014 tour of the Motorbooksmobile continues! We'll be at the following shows in the coming weeks with a busload of books to buy at a discount. Stop by and see us!
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