Hillclimbing & Sprinting: The Essential Manual

Ferrari 330P4, Ford GT40, Chaparral 2D, Porsche 917, Mirage M1, BMW Monti, Abarth, Alpine, Lola, Maserati, Matra, Serenissima - every one of these sports cars and prototypes is a legend today. In the Sixties, they epitomised the frontier of what was technically possible - and what at times proved not to be possible. In the quest for critical tenths of a second, engine power grew to unimagined levels while aerodynamics became the catchword with engineers inventing some formidable tricks in the wind tunnels. At the same time, tubular chassis, monocoques, bodywork and even brake discs were being created from increasingly exotic materials. The mission was to win the World and European Championships that included famous races like Le Mans and Daytona plus other racing classics at Monza, Spa and the Nurburgring as well as in mountain hill-climbs. This book delves into the details of sixty exceptional race cars of the period that tackled the World Sports Car Championship and the explosive sprints of the European Hill Climb Championship between 1965 and 1969. From the Abarth OT Sport Spider to the Porsche 917, they all reveal their stories embellished by ca. 350 by now largely unpublished photos. "Details - Legendary sports cars up close" is a declaration of love for these automotive treasures and their extreme technologies that is revealed by taking a very close look under their exotic bodies.

"Lartigue et les autos de course" is a book that will fulfil the expectations of all car-racing lovers and surely find its favour among those who appreciate photography. It was published thanks to the efforts of Pierre Darmendrail (1) and Christophe Lavielle (2) who, with the valuable assistance and support from the Donation Jacques Henri Lartigue (3), delved astutely into the photographer's work, bringing it back to life in the pages of this book. 150 photographs and drawings, most of them unpublished, together with long extracts from his personal diary, are brought together for the first time in this book, dedicated to the great photographer Jacques Henri Lartigue's passion for racing cars. Lartigue carried his camera everywhere, taking shots when the fancy took him in the most varied settings imaginable: from the 1905 Gordon Bennett Cup to the 1978 Monaco Grand Prix, through the great era of the ACF Grand Prix races and the 1912 Gaillon hillclimb, the inauguration of the Linas-Montlhéry racetrack in 1924, the races in the "roaring twenties" in Saint Sébastien, La Baule or Cap d'Antibes and the Indianapolis 500 mile race in 1967... even the shooting of the films The Racers in Monaco in 1954 and Grand Prix in 1966, had attracted his insatiable curiosity. For our pleasure and enjoyment, Lartigue immortalised the Lorraine-Dietrichs, Darracqs, F.I.A.T., Schneiders, Delages, Peugeots, and other -racing cars like the Bugattis or Alfa Romeos, portraying through his unique and incredible talent, that "chic impression of speed".