Customer Reviews

The Ford that Beat Ferrari: A Racing History of the GT40

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are a couple of other great books on the GT40, but this one has some of the best period photographs along with its well written text. Other books also spend a lot of time covering the 1966 LeMans MK11s and the Gulf liveried LeMans winners of '68 and '69. This book does cover them as they are historically important cars, but the privateers like Comstock and Scuderia Bear are also covered.
Chapters cover construction and testing, races such as LeMans, Sebring, Daytona, and the many private GT40 teams and cars.
This book should be on every racing enthusiasts shelf.

The book in question..."The Ford That Beat Ferrari: A Racing History" turns out to be exactly that...as well as all that was implied by by Amazon's outstanding website. I know that this sounds like a " so what " statement, but it's not. I find most things do not live up to thier hype. So, when something does, it IS note-worthy.
As a side-bar, I am not your usual Ford fan. I am a die-hard Porsche nut...six real cars, hundreds of models and a complete library of all books ever written on the subject. So, why the deviation? Easy! It seems that a great many of the best drivers of Porsche race cars came over from Ford...and this fact provides me with yet another perspective. I highly recommend other Porschiphiles do the same. As Paul Harvey says, It just might give you " the rest of the story ".

This is a good book, but not a great book. I own several other books by the author, John Allen, on similar subjects and there is a definite bias towards a british view of the subject. I have read about every book available about the mid-sixties era of racing, especially the Ford contribuiton. Although I feel very knowledgeable on the subject, this book still filled in many empty areas I have on the subject and did it in a fairly enjoyable fashion. Having already stated I own many books on this subject I still am happy that I purchased this one. It is one of the better books on this subject. Enjoy

This book is truly astonishing for anyone who has an interest in the Ford GT40 or for racing in the '60's in general. The book has superb photos in both color and black-and-white of almost every detail of these cars as well as the mulitude of variations each car experienced. A history of each car is also included.
And of course, this particular edition is autographed by the incomparable Jackie Ickx. A "gotta have" for the serious fan.
Bob