MRP - Motorsport Histories

TO FINISH FIRST
My years inside Formula One, Can-Am and Indy 500 racing with Cooper, Brabham and McLaren Phil Kerr, Foreword by Sir Jack Brabham, OBE, Final words by Bernie Ecclestone

A life-long friend and former co-director of Sir Jack Brabham and Bruce McLaren reveals the inside story behind the successes and tragedies, the deals and disasters, of the Cooper, Brabham and McLaren teams during the 1960s and ’70s, a period widely recognised today as the golden years of international motor racing.

This lavishly produced book fills an important gap in the history of top-level motor racing during an historic era. The author was at the centre of it all, first as Sir Jack Brabham’s right-hand man during his leadership of the Cooper team, and later when he formed his own Brabham Racing Organisation. Subsequently, when Phil Kerr joined his great friend Bruce McLaren to lead an ever expanding company and achieve unrivalled success in Can-Am racing as well as being at the forefront of Formula One, Kerr and his colleagues had to cope with the tragedy of the founder’s untimely death while testing a car at Goodwood. The author’s description of how the shattered team was saved and ultimately restored by the bravery of Bruce’s co-driver Denny Hulme, already sidelined by agonising burns to his hands, is a poignant highlight of his elegantly written manuscript of more than 120,000 words. Printed on high-quality art paper and beautifully illustrated, with a balanced mix of racing and off-duty pictures, many being seen for the first time, in addition to 15 reproductions of the paintings by the renowned artist Michael Turner, this is a handsome book offered at an attractively low price.

Chapters:
Bruce and I look ahead
With Jack Brabham in England
It gets better with Brabham
Denny Hulme arrives
Jack goes out on his own
Brabham Racing Organisation
Brabham breakthrough
Jack and Denny World Champions
Back to the future with Bruce
The 1968 Belgian Grand Prix
The Bruce and Denny Show
Major deals or no deals?
The Alfa Romeo experiment
Tragedy
Road to recovery
Colour me Yardley
Farewell to Can-Am
Yardley McLaren success
The Marlboro-Texaco deal
World Champion
Bernie makes his mark
End of an era
Full circle

384 pages * 250 x 188mm * aaprox 240 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-81-3
£29.95

THE IDEAL
GIFT BOOK

THE BRITISH AT LE MANS
85 Years of Endeavour
Ian Wagstaff, Foreword by Derek Bell MBE

Every year, scores of British drivers converge on Le Mans to compete in the world’s most gruelling motor race; hundreds more support them in the pits and paddock, and many thousands of Union Jack-waving enthusiasts make their annual pilgrimage to cheer them on from the grandstands and spectator terraces. These are their stories of what many regard as the ‘British race held in France’.

In 32 chapters and scores of side bars, THE BRITISH AT LE MANS pays tributes not only to the people who sat behind the wheel, but to all who have shared in their successes and disappointments over the years. Car designers, engineers, team managers, timekeepers, flag marshals, truckies, caterers, press officers, journalists, broadcasters, photographers and cameramen are all part of the support troops for the annual battle against the 24-hour clock and the foreign opposition, but are all too often forgotten when the champagne corks are released. In this wide-ranging book, the author takes the reader behind the scenes to reveal their stories behind the stories, many of them as fascinating as the main drama played out on the track.

Chapters
The British at Le Mans 1923-1930
W.O.’ and the Bentleys
Sir Henry ‘Tim’ Birkin
What makes it so British?
The British at Le Mans 1931-1939
Hindmarsh and the Lagondas
Marcus Chambers
The enthusiasts
The British at Le Mans 1949-1958
The C-type and D-type Jaguars
Rolt and Hamilton
Ecurie Ecosse
The British at Le Mans 1959-1969
The Rover-BRM
Jackie Oliver
John Wyer
The British at Le Mans 1970-1981
The Gulf GR8 and the Cosworth DFV
Richard Attwood
The British on film
The British at Le Mans 1982-1991
Tony Southgate and the Silk Cut Jaguars
Derek Bell
Gordon Spice and the C2s
The British at Le Mans 1992-1998
Gordon Murray and the McLaren F1 GTR
Andy Wallace
The class contenders
The British at Le Mans 1999-2005
Return of the green cars
Guy Smith
The green goes green
Appendices: British drivers at Le Mans
British cars at Le Mans

280 pages * 286 x 236mm * over 400 b&w and colour illustrations * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-80-6
£40.00

BRM: THE SAGA OF BRITISH RACING MOTORS
Volume 1: Front-engined cars 1945-1960
Doug Nye and Tony Rudd

An award-winning book having been described as the most detailed and authoritative history of a grand prix team ever published, this first volume of a planned four-volume set covers BRM’s tortured birth, the complexities of the troublesome V16 cars and their replacement with the 4-cylinder 2.5-litre cars of the 1950s. The team’s creator Raymond Mays, its great benefactor Alfred Owen and BRM drivers of the calibre of Moss, Fangio, Brooks and Gonzales figure prominently in this remarkable saga, for which the authors have had access to and permission to reproduce documents from the company’s private archive.

432 pages * 273 x 215mm * 411 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-0-947981-37-2
£70.00

BRM: THE SAGA OF BRITISH RACING MOTORS
Volume 2: Spaceframe Cars 1959-1965
Doug Nye and Tony Rudd

Maintaining the award-winning standard of Volume 1, the authors take the story forward into the V8 era with the last of the cars built around a tubular chassis. It covers the most successful period in the BRM Formula 1 team’s history, including the World Championship won with Graham Hill in 1962, the first of his five wins at Monaco and the first two of his three victories in the US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen, as well as BRM’s first foray into endurance racing at Le Mans with the Rover-BRM gas turbine cars.

368 pages * 273 x 215mm * 380 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-00-4
£70.00

BRM: THE SAGA OF BRITISH RACING MOTORS
Volume 3: Monocoque V8 Cars 1963-1969
Doug Nye and Tony Rudd

Due for publication in March 2008, this third volume continues the BRM saga through the racing life of the monocoque Formula One and Tasman single-seaters and sportscars of the mid-Sixties, offering the same dedication to detail, accuracy and behind-the-scenes revelations which have earned the two previous volumes such high praise by reviewers and book collectors.

368 pages * 273 x 215mm * over 400 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-64-6
£80.00

BROOKLANDS:
The Complete Motor Racing History
William Boddy MBE

The author’s renowned history of this famous track brought up to date, expanded and published in a limited edition of 2000 numbered copies with many new illustrations. The recent developments at Brooklands as a centre of motor racing nostalgia underline the importance and relevance of this definitive work. Contents: Every year from 1906 to 1939 when racing took place at Brooklands has its own chapter, followed by an epilogue taking the story through to the 21st century. Eleven appendices record S.F. Edge’s 24-hour record in 1907; Colours worn by prominent drivers 1908-1914; History of BARC horsepower class records; Brooklands certificates; Brooklands lap records; Brooklands local records; Badge holders; Winners of long-distance records 1921-1939; Club meeting race winners 1921-1930; Constitution of the Brooklands Automobile Racing Club; Extracts from the Rules and Regulations issued by the BARC.

480 pages * 273 x 215mm * 430 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-56-1
£65.00

FORD GT40:
An Anglo-American Supercar Classic
David Hodges

The author’s highly regarded book provides a fascinating account of Ford’s now legendary racing supercar. The story of six epic seasons which rewrote the Le Mans rulebook and changed the face of endurance racing, the road cars which became GT classics, and the many replicas which extended ownership to an ever-widening market. Includes records of ownership, major race results and specifications of every car. Chapters: Total Performance; The First GT40; Lessons at Le Mans; A season of setbacks; Developing the Mk II; 1966 Le Mans; Diverging paths; Season of success; New lease of life; Wheel-to-wheel Le Mans; The road cars; The Mk V; The production record; Following the GT40; Specifications; Motor Racing track test.

176 pages * 246 x 186mm * 200 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-25-7
£24.95

GRAND PRIX CARS 1945-65
Mike Lawrence

After outlining the formulas under which motor racing operated during the first 20 of the postwar years, the author amazes the reader by managing to assemble and describe, in alphabetical order, almost 100 different makes of racing car which took to the track during this period. As well as a reminder of the cars which dominated the scene, this book offers a fascinating journey around the constructors whose optimism, ingenuity and determination was not always match by the success they deserved. A remarkable work of reference from A.F.M. to Walker-Climax.

264 pages * 242 x 188mm * 214 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-39-4
£19.95

MARCH:
The Rise and Fall of a Motor Racing Legend
Mike Lawrence, Foreword by Robin Herd CBE

This is a gripping and at times emotional story of four people – Max Mosley, Alan Rees, Graham Coaker and Robin Herd – who began with little more than a telephone and a dream and created a racing team, designed a series of single-seater racing cars and built a factory in which to make them, all in the space of a few hectic months in 1969. Over the next few years they built and sold over 1500 cars, dominated the American racing scene, but fared less well in Formula One and eventually succumbed to the collapsing economic climate and ultimately factors beyond their control. It is a story without a happy ending, but an inspiring one nevertheless. Chapters: Silly season; The longest March begins with a single step; Lubricating the deal; Mad March days; March hares; Learning curve; Team shoestring; March makes the bones; Year of the lemon; Bavarian honeymoon; Formula Two steamroller; Ins and outs; Return of the Crown Prince; Drought of March; Big fish, small pond; March builds a Williams; March discovers America; The right package; Period of adjustment; Wearing the business suit; Sports car interlude; March versus Lola; Back to Formula One; Decline and fall; Dynasty II; La Ronde; Endgame. Appendix: March production and racing record.

272 pages * 270 x 198mm * 238 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-54-7
£27.50

POWERED BY JAGUAR:
The Cooper, HWM, Lister and Tojeiro sports-racing cars
Doug Nye

This new and expanded edition of the author’s highly-respected history of these four makes of Jaguar-engined sports-racing cars incorporates a comprehensive 32-page chassis register, the result of painstaking research over several years into the ownership and competition life of all known cars, many of which have enjoying a second active life as the stars of the historic racing scene. An important addition to any serious motor racing library. Chapters: The Jaguar XK engine; The first Jaguar-powered specials; The HWM-Jaguars; The Cooper-Jaguars; The Tojeiro-Jaguars; The Lister-Jaguars; Later lives and Lister mysteries; On test; Chassis Register.

208 pages * 246 x 186mm * 190 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-77-6
£29.99

A CENTURY OF GP MOTOR RACING
Anthony Pritchard, Foreword by Sir Stirling Moss OBE

The author’s flowing text is interspersed with a compilation of contemporary writing to trace the history of Grand Prix racing from the heroic days of the pioneering era through to the technical sophistication of the last days of the 20th century. Contents: 1895-1914; The Roaring Twenties 1919-30; Alfa Romeo and the Silver Arrows 1931-40; The supremacy of the supercharger 1946-51; The substitute formula 1952-3; British racing revival 1954-60; At the expense of speed 1961-5; Return to power 1966-80; The turbocharged era 1981-88; The 3.5 and 3-litre era 1989-98.

272 pages * 248 x 198mm * 250 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-38-7
£19.95

NO TIME TO LOSE:
The fast moving world of Bill Ivy
Alan Peck

Originally published in 1972 and reissued in a larger format in 1997, this book tells the story of one of Britain’s most popular motorcycle racers. Bill Ivy, a pocket rocket of a man, raced works Yamahas against team mate Phil Read and racing superstar Mike Hailwood to become World Champion and a legend of the Isle of Man TT races. He later raced on four wheels in Formula Two before returning to two wheels where tragically he met his death at the motorcycle Grand Prix of East Germany in 1969. Chapters: Born mobile; Ivy climbs up; Uncle Tom Kirby; Yamaha; Service and courage; William the conqueror
Just William and the image; The needle; Indecision; Motor racing and Jawa; Epilogue.

184 pages * 224 x 152mm * 40 illus * Hardback
ISBN 978-1-899870-21-9
£14.99