9781899870561 - brooklands: the complete motor racing history de boddy mbe, william b. (4 resultados)

Hardback. Condición: Near Fine. Forget your carbon-fibre hypercars, telemetry, DRS, tyre strategy apps and drivers who spend half the race apologising over the radio. Before all that there was Brooklands ? a vast concrete bowl where men with spectacular moustaches and an apparently casual attitude towards self-preservation attempted to discover exactly how fast machinery, physics and common sense could be persuaded to travel before parting company. William Boddy wasn?t merely writing about Brooklands; he practically lived there. Having first fallen under its spell as a boy in the 1920s, he devoted decades to preserving its history, eventually producing what is widely regarded as the definitive account of the world?s first purpose-built motor racing circuit. This substantial 480-page volume charts everything from the circuit?s creation in 1907 through its golden years of record-breaking, Grand Prix racing and engineering innovation, before the outbreak of the Second World War brought competitive racing at Brooklands to an abrupt halt. What makes this book so remarkable is that it isn?t simply a catalogue of races and lap times. It is a love letter to an era when drivers routinely climbed into machines that looked as though they?d been assembled from girders, brass plumbing and optimism, then accelerated towards concrete banking with little more than a leather helmet and the comforting thought that "it?ll probably be fine." The cast of pioneering engineers, fearless racers, eccentric inventors and wealthy enthusiasts reads like Britain?s answer to the Wild West?only with considerably more oil leaks. The research is astonishing. Boddy knew many of the personalities involved personally, spent decades gathering photographs, programmes, technical records and first-hand accounts, and stitches them together into an absorbing narrative that captures both the excitement and sheer improbability of early motor racing. Whether your interest lies in vintage Bentleys, Napier monsters, aero-engined specials or simply the extraordinary people who believed 120mph on rough concrete was a splendid afternoon?s entertainment, there?s something here to delight. Of course, this is not the sort of book one casually flicks through while waiting for the kettle to boil. It is wonderfully, gloriously obsessive. Every race, record, machine and memorable incident receives the attention it deserves, making this a volume that rewards dipping into repeatedly?or disappearing with for an entire rainy weekend while muttering things like, "Good heavens, they really did that." Condition: Good. The book remains in pleasing, fully readable condition with the expected signs of a previous life. It has already survived over a century?s worth of motoring history, numerous enthusiastic owners and, presumably, the temptation to take the racing line through the living room. It is now patiently waiting for the next custodian who appreciates that speed may be fleeting, but a really good motoring history is built to last.…

Hard. Condición: Very Good Minus. Good Minus. Limited Edition. Limited ed no. 925/2000. DJ chipped and creased to edges with a few small tears, spine lightly sunned, tape repair to larger tear on front, tape has also been used to keep jacket in place. Closed edges lightly thumbed and ink notation, underlining and highlighting present throughout unfortunately. Otherwise tidy and sturdy. Size: 4to. …

Hardcover. Condición: Fine. Estado de la sobrecubierta: Nr Fine. 2nd Edition. Glossy green pictorial dust-jacket, a very light curve along the top edge and the spine lightly sunned. Book bound in green cloth with gilt titles, unblemished. Contents unmarked, appearing unused, as new.

Hardcover. Condición: Good. Good. Dust Jacket NOT present. CD WILL BE MISSING. . SHIPS FROM MULTIPLE LOCATIONS. book.