Search results for ""Dalton Watson Fine Books""

A rich resource for investigating the history of a short-lived but influential British carmaker. The Allard Motor Company archives are a particularly rich resource for those investigating the history and influence on the British motor industry of this short-lived but significant carmaker. The production records included in this comprehensive book cover the years of operation 1946-1958 and sit alongside many previously unseen official photographs, documents, and correspondence. Supported by an easy-to-use reference spreadsheet, Allard owners are invited to open to the pages where their car is featured, and casual observers can also learn about the indelible impact this small British car manufacturer made on motoring history. Author Gavin Allard—the grandson of Sydney Allard, who led the company into post-war Britain and beyond—details the people that built the cars, the dealerships that sold them, and the drivers who took them to the roads.

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Maison V. Morel was founded in 1845 by Victor Jacques Morel (1814-1879) and became one of the most important Parisian coachbuilders during the second half of the 19th century at a time when France dominated the industry, replacing England as leaders in the field. Antoine-Joseph Grümmer (1834-1909) succeeded Jacques Morel in 1879 and the company became known as Société J. Grümmer, formerly Maison Morel. This book introduces the reader to many previously unpublished documents and illustrations of exceptional carriages and cars that were the pride of their owners both in France and overseas and describes their importance in the day-to-day life of Parisian high society. Mention is also made of the many high-quality suppliers who contributed to the manufacture of the carriages including Hermès, Louis Vuitton, and Boyriven.

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Between 1959 and 1964, the Meister Bräuser racing team was a leader in US road racing. With Harry Heuer and ace Augie Pabst driving Scarabs, all-American race cars, the team chalked up an unprecedented run of championships. Besides its on-track successes, Meister Bräuser was a leader in promoting team identity. It was one of the first to utilize an enclosed tractor trailer rig to transport the cars and as a rolling at-track machine shop. All the vehicles were painted in the team colours of dark metallic blue trimmed with white and accented by red pin stripes. The team members were outfitted in matching uniforms. The Team ran for only five years, but in that time set a mark for professionalism, wins and championships. This book recounts the history of the team with their triumphs and their failures, is a valuable addition to US racing history.

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Occasionally a spark of inspiration can become the catalyst for transition. Just such an occasion took place with the construction of Thompson Speedway in 1940, a five-eighth-mile banked oval track, dubbed “The Indianapolis of the East.” A road course joined to the oval in 1952 enlarged the track to form the first privately-owned complex where sports car drivers could race safely. It transformed the face of sports car racing in America, and hastened the demise of the dangerous open-road events together with the majority of flat and boring airfield race venues. These two volumes tell the story of the ground-breaking racetrack and, as far as possible, detail the drivers and cars that participated in the races. They are profusely illustrated with contemporary photographs showing well-known drivers such as Briggs Cunningham, Bill Lloyd, Bill Spear, Lance Reventlow, Walt Hansgen, George Constantine and Denise McCluggage in action driving Maseratis, Jaguars, Porsches, Coopers, Ferraris and other makes that they imported from Europe and that are now in such popular demand. Today, the Raceway has been regenerated and runs as a successful venture under the control of Jonathan Hoenig, great-grandson of the original owner. Volume One, The Formative Years: 1945-1959, covers the years 1938-1960 and describes the development of sports car racing at Thompson as early as 1945. It explains the politics involved between land-owner, John Hoenig, and Raceway manager George Weaver, and their unsuccessful attempts to establish a working relationship. Their disagreements led to the development of the Raceway’s second layout by Weaver as it separated from the Speedway Oval in 1958. Volume Two, Changing Fortunes: 1960-1977, sees Hoenig and Thompson Raceway in Windham County Court in 1961, the culmination of a long-standing dispute over share holdings. SCCA policy changes in the first half of the 1960s involving the conflict between professional and amateur status also contributed to the eventual demise of the Raceway under Weaver’s control in 1967. Subsequently, the venue was revived by the Hoenig family, with a new track that incorporated the original Speedway oval, but the fuel crisis, a lack of investment and a general decline in spectator interest led to its closure again in 1977.

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Many of the iconic vehicles of the second half of the 20th century, from simple but beautiful Fiats, Citroëns and BMWs to astounding Alfa Romeos, Lancias, Maseratis and Lamborghinis, rolled out of the coachbuilding facilities of Carrozzeria Bertone and the design studios of Stile Bertone. A succession of cutting-edge concept machines during the 1960s and the 1970s further cemented the belief that Bertone was not only the most audacious, but also arguably the most progressive and innovative of all the Italian design studios After the studio closed, several of the important concept cars, as well as the emblematic production models were either retained or later collected by the coachbuilder in a private museum housed at the Stile Bertone near Turin, and this book describes these extraordinary cars. In over 350 pages and using innovative photography, the work of 9 Design Directors and 63 of their cars is described. The book is written by well-known automotive journalist, Gautam Sen, and former Design Director of the Collection, Michael Robinson, in both English and Italian. Many of the cars have been freshly photographed specially for the publication

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Responding to many requests to reprint The Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental by Raymond Gentile, an out of print Dalton Watson book published in 1980, we are excited to introduce this new, much expanded publication. Written with Raymond Gentile's blessing and assistance, the author, Andre Blaize, has used his extensive database which he has been compiling and updating for over forty years to provide an exhaustive study of these desirable cars.Introduced in 1930, the Phantom II Continental is one of the aristocrats of automobiles, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mercedes SSKs, Bugatti T50s and Duesenberg Model Js. The history of every Phantom II Continental is described in these pages, supported by over 2,000 illustrations. The cars are shown at different periods of their lives: when new in the 1930s, in early post-war days, sometimes in derelict state and, fortunately more often, in glorious restored condition.

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The history of the A6GCS gives a very good insight into a time in Italian motorsport which was mainly contested by wealthy amateurs. Maserati built remarkable racing cars in the 1950s that are highly valued by drivers in historic racing today. The darling among these cars is the A6GCS. Small, agile, and relatively easy to drive, it was THE car in the 2-liter class for the numerous amateur racing drivers in countless hill climbs, on the circuits, and in the legendary Mille Miglia. In race-crazy Italy, the car was always the focus of the spectators, tens of thousands of whom stood on the streets to watch these small red racers pass by. The names of many of the drivers have been forgotten today, but the vast majority of the A6GCS are still here and are used in numerous historic racing events. This book pays tribute to perhaps the most romantic Maserati racing car of all time.

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The history of the rear-engined Birdcage Maseratis: Tipo 63, 64 and 65. 1959-1965. The competition history and technical specifications of all 10 rear-engined Birdcage Maseratis constructed, and their direct competition: Ferrari, Porsche, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Lotus, Cooper, Lister, Scarab, Chaparral, Sting Ray and Old Yaller Also included is the background of the private team owners who bought the cars: Briggs Cunningham, Count Volpi, Lucky Casner, and John Simone.

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A reprint of the 13 rare 1930s magazines published by Bentley Motors describing how owners of Derby Bentleys toured with their cars during that period. The first volume contains the magazines, the content of which illustrates the lifestyle of pre-World War II society. Since then the photograph locations have changed dramatically with the proliferation of the motor car. The magazine articles were often written and photographed by the Bentley owners themselves, providing charming and entertaining content. The second volume includes an extensive introduction which identifies the majority of the cars (something Bentley Motors failed to do at the time of publication) and exhaustive indices of the cars, chassis and registration numbers and the locations in which they are photographed.

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The definitive history of one of Porsche’s most beloved and competitive racing champions. Forty Six tells the unlikely underdog story of the car that scored Porsche’s first racing victories and helped establish their commercial success: the 356/2 063. Beginning at the company’s post-World War II nadir, Bill Wagenblatt illuminates how Porsche rose from the ashes to overcome multiple trials and near-disasters to compete with this vehicle at Le Mans, the Liege-Rome-Liege Rally, and Montlhéry, where they set new racing records in the 1950s. Wagenblatt follows the tale into the twenty-first century, making clear how the 356/2 063 helped set Porsche Motorsport on its way to becoming the juggernaut that we know today. Including a wealth of archival photos and documents that have never been before published, along with a unique look at the car’s US history, Forty Six is the definitive history of one of Porsche’s most beloved and competitive racing champions.

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The years between the two World Wars was an extraordinary period for the French luxury car trade and during this time, Carrosserie Gaston Grümmer was one of the leading coachbuilding houses in Paris. Thanks to this recently discovered and previously unpublished archive, Gaston’s son, Philippe Grümmer, in association with one of the best French automotive historians, Laurent Friry, takes us back to this glorious time. Descended from a long line of coachbuilders, Gaston Grümmer was the son of Antoine-Joseph whose company, J. Grümmer formerly V. Morel, produced first, from 1845, exceptional horse-drawn carriages and from the 1890s, automobile bodies. Trained in the family business before World War I, Gaston Grümmer, spent the war as a soldier, first on horseback, then in the trenches and finally in the air as a pilot. At the end of hostilities, he brilliantly re-launched the family business transforming it into the Société Anonyme des Etablissements Grümmer. As the company moved towards the production of series bodywork for various manufacturers, Gaston decided to break away to build custom cars and in 1924 he created his own company, Carrosserie Gaston Grümmer. For the next ten years he achieved great success on both aesthetic and technical levels, winning many awards. Volume I describes Gaston Grümmer’s early life and the activities of his company up to and including 1933, illustrated with many period photographs, catalogues and press reports. Volume II covers the two last years of the company’s existence, 1934-1935, and describes Gaston Grümmer’s finest achievements in design – the Hirondelle and the Aéroprofil – for which he won many honours. It is followed by an exhaustive appendix detailing the company’s archive of chassis listings of car bodies, the drawing register, a section on the few known remaining cars with Grümmer bodies, and a list of awards received that results in a reference book on coachwork of the 1920s and 1930s that is essential for any student of the period.

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The star of some of the most beloved films of Hollywood's golden age--including Bullitt, The Great Escape, and The Magnificent Seven--Steve McQueen's unflappably roguish persona earned him the nickname "The King of Cool" and the highest salary of any movie star of his time. Marshall Terrill's new book draws on more than five decades of media coverage, memorabilia, and research to serve up a slew of quotations straight from the mouth of the man himself. Steve McQueen in His Own Words lets us hear directly from this iconoclastic actor through a wide array of sources: interviews, published articles, personal letters and audiotapes, providing an intimate view of McQueen as an actor, filmmaker, racer, pilot, husband, and family man. Accompanying the hundreds of quotes are an equally impressive number of photos, illustrations, personal documents, and memorabilia, many of which are published here for the first time. Steve McQueen in His Own Words paints a portrait of a complex, contradictory man who managed to become one of the greatest icons in cinema history while never sacrificing the passions and beliefs that drove him.

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