Cars at Speed: Classic Stories from Grand Prix's Golden Age [Hardcover]

Robert Daley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 2007

Long before he became a best-selling novelist, Robert Daley was a European sports correspondent for the New York Times. In 1961, he published his first book, Cars At Speed, an historical and contemporary look at Grand Prix and sports car racing at twelve of the worlds greatest circuits.

This hard-to-find and now collectible book, widely considered one of the best books ever written about sports car racing, returns here in a special edition, with a new Introduction by Daley as well as commissioned drawings of each featured circuit.

A rare opportunity to travel back in time to racings golden era, Cars at Speed offers a fascinating look at a time when danger and passion defined racing. Daley discusses the Grand Prix circuits of that era--e.g., Nu00fcrburgring, Monza, Silverstone, Zandvoort, Spa, Monaco--detailing the qualities, history, great races, controversies, and accidents of each. He focuses on the stories of drivers such as the Marquis de Portago, Phil Hill, Stirling Moss, and Jean Behra, among others, recreating the mythical quality of the Grand Prix in its prime.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Automobile Magazine, December 2007

“Evocative, accessible and incredibly well-written.”

        
Area Auto Racing News

“This hard to find 304-page book, widely considered one of the best ever written about sports car racing, returns in a special edition. It includes commissioned drawings of each featured circuit and artwork by well known racing illustrator Hector Cademartori.”

 

Victory Lane, July 2007

“This is a great writing that depicts the personalities, fears, thoughts, ambience, determination, danger, drama and magnificence of the 1950’s racers and their unique times.”

F1Fanatic.co.uk, Dec. 16, 2007

“If you’re looking for a last-minute Christmas present it should be very high on your list.”

                                           
Gayot.com,

“Daley writes with great detail and imagery.”
                                                                                                                                             

Motoring & Leisure (UK), September 2007

“Author Robert Daley captured the drama, excitement, romance and tragedy of this compelling sport at the time.”

 

Aug. 7, 2007

Auto Express (UK), August 2007

“This is a real treasure … A worthy, fascinating read.”
                                                                                              

Octane (UK), October 2007

“With its pacey, newspaper style, it’s a modern classic.”

                                                                                                                    

Classic Car Mart (UK), October 2007

“All from an author whose words were written as these exciting times were unfolding, this impressive reprint makes a fascinating buy.”

 

Book Description

This hard-to-find book, widely considered one of the best books ever written about sports car racing, returns here in a special edition, with a new Introduction by best-selling author Robert Daley as well as commissioned drawings of each featured circuit and artwork by well-known racing illustrator Hector Cademartori.  A rare opportunity to travel back in time to racing's golden era, Cars at Speed offers a fascinating look at a time when danger and passion defined racing.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks; 2nd edition (June 15, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760331170
• ISBN-13: 978-0760331170
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,044,371 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Re-Issue of a Racing Classic, January 27, 2009

By 

Stephen J. Triesch (Shoreline WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cars at Speed: Classic Stories from Grand Prix's Golden Age (Hardcover)

I purchased the paperback version of this book sometime in the late 60s, and I've returned to it many times over the years. Apart from it's hardcover format, line-drawings to lead-off each chapter, and a new introduction by author Robert Daley, this is exactly the same book that was issued many years ago. It captures an era (the late 50s and early 60s) in Formula 1 and international sports car racing that bears little resemblance to what we see today.

As Daley points out in his introduction, the two main differences between then and now are death and money. Then, several top drivers would die every year; the chance of a top grand prix driver surviving into retirement were literally less than the odds of surviving a round of Russian roulette. Now, Formula 1 has not seen a fatal accident since that horrible weekend 15 years ago when Ratzenberger and Senna died at San Marino

And the money: then, the driver's salaries were comparable to that of a successful insurance salesman, and endorsements were few and far between. Why risk an ad campaign on a driver who might be dead before the campaign could even get under way? Now, the drivers make millions on salaries and endorsements, and are part of a jet-setting international celebrity elite.

The world of Cars at Speed was a world in which advertising played a minimal role and in which old national rivalries were still in the forefront. The color of the car was determined by the country of it's manufacturer (red for Italy, green for England, silver for Germany, and so on). There were few if any sponsorhsip logos on the cars or on the drivers' uniforms; it was a game for wealthy sportsman and the manufacturers of world-class sports cars, not for international corporations marketing beer, cigarettes, or clothing.

Daley's format is essentially to focus on the sport nation-by-nation, with a chapter on each major grand prix and sports car event (in the latter group, the Mille Miglia, the Targa Florio, and Le Mans).

Daley captures the color and danger of the era very well, anecdotally and almost gossipy at times. He captures the specifics of time and place, the ambiance of the circuits. Speaking of the circuits, several of those featured in Cars at Speed - the old Nurburgring, Zandvoort, Reims - have not been used for years, victims of economics or heightened safety standards. Others - Monza, Spa, Silverstone - have seen major alterations, mostly in the name of safety - and bear little resemblance to the circuits described in Cars at Speed.

Daley is above all preoccupied with the danger of the sport, and that overriding possibility of death on the track is perhaps the main theme of the book. According to Daley, that aspect of the original book drew a lot of criticism from the fraternity of motor racing journalists, who downplayed the death and danger of the era almost to a fault. (In that vein, I remember a piece in the mid-60s, written - I believe - by Road & Track's then-F1 correspondent, Henry Manney, describing the death of a driver during the German Grand Prix (I forget the specific driver, perhaps de Beaufort or Anderson or Mitter). Manney's terse comment: "Also, sad to relate, poor _________ went off at Bergwerk and suffered fatal injuries." That was it.)

Middle-aged readers will read this with a sense of nostalgia for a more romantic and less commercialized era, albeit a much more dangerous one. Younger readers will read it with a different perspective, perhaps with wonder that so much death and danger was allowed to persist for so long before reforms were implemented. But they may also be fascinated by a look into a day when money wasn't everything, when the drivers seemed to have more varied personalities and interests than they do now, and when even a determined amateur could find his way onto a Grand Prix grid.

A final comment on some of the book's features: unlike Daley's The Cruel Sport, this book is all text with no photographs other than those on the cover. There are, however, diagrams of the circuits, and listings of the winners of major F1 and sports car races through 1961.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ghoulish, January 3, 2008

By 

Alfred E. "Old Sports Car Nut" (Chattanooga, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cars at Speed: Classic Stories from Grand Prix's Golden Age (Hardcover)

An interesting read to be sure. Mr. Daley regulary interjects rather morbid thoughts and incidents. Yes, these things happened, but one is left with the feeling those participants of the era/period (1935-1960)were borderline psychotics with a death wish. This era surely was a difficult transitional and learning period for those involved which, in my humble opinion, this author's perspective is overly negative and a bit sarcastic.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book on a DANGEROUS time in Formula One!, January 11, 2010

By 

J. Wages - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Cars at Speed: Classic Stories from Grand Prix's Golden Age (Hardcover)

This volume is a bit earlier, written in the 1961 season, just before Lotus introduced the goalpost 25. It is VERY interesting, capturing the period, esp. the thrill, romance in the eyes of the drivers and fans (romance and attraction of racing, rather than romantic/love/sexual), and overt deadly dangerous nature of racing from the 1950s and early 60s.

It isn't glossed, highly pictured, or cover much of the more well known drivers of the later 1960s. As it was written in 1961, most weren't around yet. The illustrations that are there show the track layouts of the period.

If one is very interested in the older history of Grand Prix racing (and the sports car racing up to the beginning of the 1960s and the beginning of the British rise to F1 dominance (which is still in place, as most teams are British-based and have huge contingents of Brits on the teams), then this book will be interesting.

Be warned: this period of F1 was VERY dangerous and drivers died on a regular basis, often a number in a single season. Daley says it like he saw it, warts and all. For me, that makes this book even more interesting, as the reader gets to know their heroes the way they were known by those around them. Some bubbles may get burst in the process. If unwilling to experience that, don't bother to read it.

As for me, I found it VERY interesting and WELL worth the price and time to read. It is practically a primary source on an era now mostly lost in romance and the fog of memory. It is from the period and of the period. To a history-person who loves F1 racing, this is a "must have" on your self, whether you agree with the author or not. Many surviving folks from the period likely HATE it, as it reminds them of the bad times that surround their good memories. I'd say it balances the story . . .
I'd recommend it and am VERY glad I bought it!