Good racing or auto books

Do you guys have any recommendations for any good racing or auto books. Just read go like hell and it was great.

I'm reading "Closing Speed" by Ted West a novel about the 1970 World Sports Car Championship. 2/3 through it and it's very good.

I really enjoyed Blood, Sweat and Gears. Any book that describes how a bunch of engineers turned the family shopping trolley into a race car and got Bob Tullius to drive it is worth reading IMHO.

The Martian is all about figuring out how to fix things with what you got. It's super entertaining to read and Grassroots did a podcast with the author.

The Unfair Advantage by Paul Donohue is a favorite of mine. The Limit: Life and Death on the 1961 Grand Prix Circuit by Michael Cannell is also quite good, and I'd feel like I was committing an injustice if I didn't mention The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.

www.cobraferrariwars.com

La Carrera Panamericana: "The World's Greatest Race!" by Johnny Tipler

Monte Carlo Rally _ The Golden Age, 1911-1980 by Graham Robson

Alan Mann - A Life of Chance by Alan Mann and Tony Dron

Cannonball! by Brock Yates

Anything on the Mille Miglia, Targa Florio, Le Mans etc...

Any of the books by B.S. Levy.

Smokey Yunnick's "Best Damn Garage". It is actually three books. Man was far more than a racecar mechanic. Had a lot of fun in life if even a quarter of it is true and a lot of suckage if another quarter of it is true.

The chapters with the pet ocelot that was not as domesticated as it was supposed to be were quite funny.

Driving with the Devil is about the early moonshiners and how they became the first generation of NASCAR drivers.

Blood and Smoke is about the birth of Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the 500. Really shines a light on how dangerous racing was in the early days.

The Unfair Advantage is quite simply the best book on racing that exists. Written from the inside by Mark Donahue, if you want to know how a lot of technical innovations we take for granted came to be, read this book.

The Limit is the story of the 1961 Grand Prix season, mostly covering Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips. Great stuff about internal Ferrari politics with Enzo and such.

The Mechanic's Tale is Steve Matchett's book about being an F1 mechanic in the 80s and 90s. Lots of good anecdotes about the drivers and such.

Flat Out, Flat Broke Perry McCarthy's book about him trying desperately to break into F1 in the early 90s, only to end up as the first (black) Stig on Top Gear. Very entertaining, and he was good friends with guys like Damon Hill and Johnny Herbert.

My Sweetest Victory by Alex Zanardi, tells his life story of coming up through the ranks in Italy, through F1, CART success, back to F1, then his accident and recovery. His passion and charisma really come through.

Senna vs. Prost For me, coming of age as an F1 fan in the late 80s, there was no better rivalry than these two. And if the book's description of Senna's death doesn't choke you up, you are not human.

Ford: The Dust and the Glory comprehensive history of the Ford Motor Company's racing efforts, going back to Henry in the 999. Set some time aside for this one.

The Reckoning by David Halberstam may be 30 years old, but there's still no better account of how the US automakers got themselves in trouble via hubris and laziness. A bit dated now, but still so, so good.

That's all I can think of right now. When I get home I can take a look at my bookshelf and see what else I've missed.

watching this.

I'll second the art of racing in the rain

Agreed. I've got a dog named Enzo because of that book.

I'll agree with "The Unfair Advantage" and add the autobiography "Don Garlits and His Cars".

I'll put in another vote for "The Unfair Advantage" by Mark Donohue.

For technical information plus some subtle humor, any Carrol Smith Book, especially "Nuts, Bolts, and Fasteners." http://www.carrollsmith.com/books/index.html

I'm a Lotus guy. There are lots of Lotus books but my favorites are "The View from the Pit Wall" by Peter Warr, "Colin Chapman, Inside the Innovator" by Karl Ludvigson, and "Lotus the Early Years" by Peter Ross.

We've been through this before, but I thought "Racing in the Rain" had very little to do with racing and was probably more of a dog-lover's book.

I'd also say to stick with the early B.S. Levy books. The later you get in the series, the more difficult they are to read because he lost his editor and he badly needs one.

If you're looking for a "how-to" rather than entertainment then "Going Faster" by Carl Lopez is the ultimate.

The Mudge Pond Express by Sam Posey

Touch Wood (really) by Duncan Hamilton... in all fairness, this was written decades ago before "wood" meant more than what a tree is made of; "touch wood" is a British expression like our "knock on wood"

Inside Shelby American by John Morton... which is more about his life in racing than Shelby American

All But My Life by Sterling Moss (copyright 1963)

Into the Red by Nick Mason and Mark Hales

American Road Racing -The 1930s by Joel Finn... original printing, bought new in the 70s; amazing book about the Collier brothers and their friends who started ARCA; great vintage pics too; Joel Finn wrote another book about the Bridgehampton street races in the early 1950 but it's out of print and very expensive in used condition.

Kings of the Nurburgring by Chris Nixon (original printing, bought new, his last book before passing)

Watkins Glen 1948-1952 The Definitive Illustrated History by Phillippe Defechereau

Shelby American by Dave Friedman

The New Matadors by Ken Purdy, photography by Horst Baumann... About early 60's sports car and Grand Prix drivers and racing

City of Speed by Joe Scalzo... about LA's history with racing, constructors, and speed equipment manufacturers

Sunday Driver by Brock Yates (I bought the book in the 70s and Brock signed it for me at Lime Rock in the late 90s when he was there with his restored T-bucket road racer The Eliminator)

The Unfair Advantage by Mark Donohue (original printing, bought new in the 70s ... and to be a jackass nit picker, not "Paul" and not "Donahue"

How to Make Your Car Handle by Fred Puhn

Prepare to Win by Carroll Smith

And of course, all of Burt's books (all signed copies; all purchased from him at various events)

And of course, all of Keith what's-his-name's books

And of course, all of Kas's books

Last but not least, The Beetle Handling Book by Gary Card (the definitive book on how to make an early swing axle VW Beetle handle better; been out of print for 30 years)

I love them all and have read many of them more than once. Many of them are out of print but if I didn't purchase new, I was able to buy good used originals online, some from small UK book shops.

There are more, but they're scattered around the garage, attic and basement

Another for 'Unfair Advantage'

I enjoyed "Fast Guys, Rich Guys and Idiots" by Sam Moses as well...and "Sunday Driver" by Brock Yates.

...and "The Last Open Road" by Burt Levy

I like Winning Autocross Techniques , Real World High Performance Turbocharger Systems, and How to Swap GM LS-Series Engines. Those are predictably how-to books.

maximum boost by corky bell. i wouldnt recomend it for fun reading though

CarRacer wrote: The Martian is all about figuring out how to fix things with what you got. It's super entertaining to read and Grassroots did a podcast with the author.

Just finished reading the martian because of this thread. Great recommendation!

I'll second Sunday driver by Brock Yates.

Im just commenting so i can find this thread back next time i go the library / amazoning.

Besides Garlets, any good drag racing books or early hotrodding ones out there?

Wasn't there a book just published about how the "Grey Ghost" nearly won in Trans-Am?

In reply to Appleseed:

That's the book "Blood, Sweat and Gears" I linked to above.

Derp.

"Faster" by Jackie Stewart

"The Art and Science of Grand Prix Driving" by Niki Lauda

"My Years With Ferrari" by Niki Lauda

Anything by Dave Friedman: He was a photographer for Shelby American in the '60s and has compiled a number of books in this era. I have "Shelby GT40" , "Chaparral" and "Indianapolis 1960-1969" and there are more.

"American Racing - Road Racing in the 50s and 60s" by Tom Burnside and Denise McCluggage

"Ferrari Formula 1" by Ranier Schlegelmilch ...to name a few on my shelf!