Open Cockpits & Straw Bales: Motor Racing in the 1950's
9780857041128Click to enlarge product image
Open Cockpits & Straw Bales: Motor Racing in the 1950's
- 9780857041128
- Out of stock - Email me when in stock
- Out Of Print (No Stock)
- 10/2011
- Awaiting Review
epic victories of the `Bentley Boys' at Le Mans. In Straw Bales and Open Cockpits the author,
through his superb paintings, captures the excitement of the cars and drivers who risked everything in what turned out to be the final days of unrestrained competitive motor racing, when cars were still operated by controls which any motorist would easily recognise today, racing drivers were clearly visible in their open cockpits, often with only thin leather helmets to protect their heads. National colours and large racing numbers made the cars and their drivers easy to identify as they sped past only yards away from where one stood. But with the thrills came increased dangers for the drivers with little more than straw
bales between them and disaster. So many great racing drivers lost their lives in the course of those ten years and all of them are remembered here. This book inevitably majors on the Formula 1 World Championship series which began at Silverstone in 1950, but some notable non-championship events are also included and, in addition, the Monte Carlo Rally, the Mille Miglia and Le Mans.
From the Publisher
The 1950s was a great time to be British:we had just won the war, with a little help from our friends, and we were to celebrate both the Festival of Britain and the Queen's Coronation. The Empire held sway and we proudly watched her sons conquer Everest, run the first four minute mile, and produce the world's first jet airliner. The post-war decade was also a great
time to be a motor racing enthusiast. To begin with there were the Alfa Romeos and E.R.A.s, dusted off after six years of enforced rest, and in 1952 the brief appearance of Hermann Lang in a 1939 Grand Prix Mercedes in Argentina. Entirely new racing cars were being crafted in England, Italy and France in what was little more than a cottage industry and, also
in the 1950s, Jaguar and Aston Martin echoed the epic victories of the `Bentley Boys' at Le Mans.
About the Author
Bryan Apps, an Oxford graduate, has been an Anglican priest in the Diocese of Winchester for nearly 50 years. When he
was a young curate in Andover his 97 hp Mobile Church attracted the interest of the international Press. His passion for
motor racing was ignited at the age of twelve by a visit to Goodwood in 1949, and he corresponded with Raymond
Mays,who was both the originator of the E.R.A., and the instigator of the B.R.M.His paintings of racing cars and drivers from
the earliest days of the sport are wonderful evocations of their period and they led to lasting friendships with Manfred von Brauchitsch, KenTyrrell, and many of the most famous racing drivers from before and after the SecondWorld War. His previous books include When Motor RacingWas Fun, Silverstone Shadows and When ToysWere Fun.
Publisher: Daa Halsgrove Ltd
Status: Out of Print (No Stock)
Number of pages: 200
Binding: HDB
Language: English
Origin: CHN