My Life Full of Cars - Tapa dura

This fascinating autobiography follows the life of professional racing driver and motorsport writer Paul Frere, and the cars he has owned, driven and tested throughout his lifetime. Packed with technical detail and personal anecdotes, this extraordinarily detailed record tells of buying his first car, a 2LTS Ballot; his race debut in the Spa 24 Hours sharing an MG with Jacques Swaters and finishing fourth in class; F1 in the 1950s racing for HW Motors and Ferrari; winning Le Mans in 1960; and driving and developing Japanese cars.

Having successfully pursued simultaneous careers as a professional racing driver and motor sport writer, motoring journalist Paul Frere has based this book on the detailed records he has kept throughout his life of cars he has owned, driven or tested. Containing technical details and personal anecdotes, Frere recalls the family's first car, a Fiat 501, and its perilous journeys along French roads still ravaged from World War I, and frequent punctures from horse shoe nails; and buying his own first car, a 2LTS Ballot, from a former Ballot race mechanic who used it as a breakdown van. He recounts races including his race debut in the Spa 24 Hours, sharing an MG with Jacques Swatters and finishing fourth in his class; Formula 1 in the 1950s racing for HW Motors, Equipe Gordini, and Ferrari; coming in second in the 1956 Belgian Grand Prix after only 10 laps of practice in a car he had never driven before, and winning Le Mans in 1960, and driving and developing Japanese cars to suit European tastes.