Description
This book is indispensable to every follower of motor sport, be he enthusiast, driver, engineer or historian. It has been achieved by a unique collaboration in authorship.
Before his major accident, no one disputed that Stirling Moss was the fastest driver in the world, but few may have realised the extraordinary level of his success over a period of more than a dozen years. In this period he started in 466 races and was placed in 290 of them; he was first in 196. Only lacking, perhaps, the caution of Caracciola his driving had the vigour of Nuvolari, the relaxed air of Farina and the craft of Fangio. Since the latter’s retirement in 1957, this has made him the finest driver of his time, and one of the finest of all time.
Success apart, he has driven a wider variety of racing cars than anyone in history, ranging from 5ooc.c. single seaters up to 5,000 c.c. sports cars. In total, over 40 different designs, or an average of more than three different motor cars for each year of his racing life. In this book he discusses all the single-seater racing cars that he has driven.
His collaborator, Laurence Pomeroy, had his first taste of racing cars at the age of five when he was a passenger during a test run of a 1912 Vauxhall entered for the French G.P. of that year. Between 1927 and 1937 he was closely concerned with the design and development of the Zoller supercharger which contributed to the racing and record successes of B.M.W. and D.K.W. motor cycles and E.R.A. and M.G. cars. During the years 1937-58, he was Technical Editor of The Motor, and in this time made a deep study of racing car development and behaviour. His two volumes The Grand Prix Car are recognised as required reading for the serious student of the subject. He has personal experience of handling cars as old as the 1908 G.P. Itala; as powerful as the 646 b.h.p. 1937 Mercedes Benz and as advanced in design as the 1955 2½ litre Mercedes Benz.
In this book he describes what the various cars which Stirling drove were like from technical viewpoints, and why they were made as they were. Stirling, for his part, gives his account of how they differed and how they behaved in the supreme test of greeting the checkered flag before anyone else.
Hardback in generally very good condition, good boards with minimal bumping, some minor foxing to page edges in places. Good dust jacket, very bright with rubbing to edges, slight tear to spine extremities. Scarce.
