Illustrated profiles of the greatest motorsports pairings of man and machine, from the winner of the first Indy 500 race to the Audi R10 the dominated Le Mans for nearly a decade.

Le Mans is one of the longest-running and most spectacular endurance races in the history of motorsport. Spanning from the first 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1923 to the present day, Art of the Le Mans Race Car takes the reader through a visual review of 90 years of significant, stunning racing machines. Featured cars include racers from Bentley, Talbot, Alfa Romeo, Cunningham, Jaguar, Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, and Audi, to name but a few. Striking studio photography specifically commissioned for this book from James Mann, one of the world's leading car and motorcycle photographers, highlights the functional art of race car engineering, allowing readers to lose themselves in the myriad of mechanical details within. Each car includes a profile setting out its place in Le Mans history, accompanied by historical images and commentary from drivers, designers, and engineers. Written by renowned journalist and broadcaster Stuart Codling, Art of the Le Mans Race Car offers a fresh, visually breathtaking telling of the beautiful vehicles that have graced the world's most beloved endurance race.

Illustrated profiles of the greatest motorsports pairings of man and machine, from the winner of the first Indy 500 race to the Audi R10 the dominated Le Mans for nearly a decade.

Professional automobile racing has always been dominated by sanctioning bodies whose main goal was to ensure competition. That has meant seeing that cars are well matched--in body shape or chassis/engine combinations or engine size. But what about an all-out competition, in which one team's idea of the fastest race car could be pitted against another’s, regardless of mechanical “parity”? This was what the International Motor Sports Association’s (IMSA) Grand Touring Prototypes (GTP) race series was about. The Series ran from 1981 to 1993, and it was one of the most exhilarating racing experiences of all time. This book is the first to profile the amazing machines that resulted from the GTP’s flat-out competition among different--and passionate--ideas about what might be the fastest way around a track: the V-12 with its better ground-effect tunnels but higher center of gravity (CG); the flat six with its low CG but severely-restricted ground-effect tunnels; and others that employed elaborate wings and air dams. Here are the people behind this engineering free-for-all, the culmination of almost a century of automobile racing experience. And here are eighteen of the most competitive vehicles they designed. Using photography, diagrams, drawings and first-person accounts from the men who built them, Inside IMSA's Legendary GTP Race Cars offers a detailed look at the technology that drove some of the world’s most exciting race cars, the likes of which may never be seen again.

"An illustrated history of the Ford Motor Company's classic race and street cars, including Cobras and Shelby Mustangs, from 1961 to 1971"--Provided by publisher.

The story of Kar-Kraft began, as did many others in the automotive industry, with an axe to grind. In 1963, Ford was seriously interested in purchasing Ferrari. Ferrari was a legendary brand with considerable success in racing, and Ford saw the acquisition as a great way to be instantly successful in the racing arena. When Enzo Ferrari realized that Ford would not give him complete control of the racing program, he backed out of the deal late in the process. Ford had spent millions in vetting and audits, which then set in motion a vengeful response against Ferrari. The result was the unthinkable: Ford beat Ferrari at Le Mans. Ford wanted to become competitive quickly, but it did not have the race history or resources in house. To remedy the situation, Ford searched the U.K. for an independent company to help accelerate its race car development. It first settled on Lola Cars and set up Ford Advanced Vehicles. Later, Ford brought its LeMans effort to the U.S. and the Kar-Kraft relationship was established. Although Kar-Kraft was technically an independent company, it really only had one customer: Ford Special Vehicles. Kar-Kraft's story doesn't begin and end with the GT 40 that took the win away from Ferrari at Le Mans. Ford expanded upon the program and organized an all-out assault on racing in general. Cars were prepared for Trans-Am, NASCAR, NHRA, and Can-Am competition. Street versions of the Boss 429 were assembled under its roof. And fabled prototypes including the LID Mustang, Boss 302 Maverick, and Mach 2C were all assembled in Ford's contracted race shop. And then, out of the blue, its doors closed for good on a cold day in 1970. History tells us that Ford won Le Mans, the Daytona 500, and the Trans-Am championship. But it doesn't tell us how this was accomplished. Author Charlie Henry (a former Kar-Kraft employee) has enlisted the help of many of his former co-workers to bring you the very first book ever published on Ford's all-encompassing special projects facility, Kar-Kraft. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial}

Explores the women involved in automobile racing from the late nineteenth century through the 1950s, briefly profiling the careers of these daredevils and their impact on the sport and prevailing attitudes about women.