Customer Reviews

Indianapolis Roadsters, 1952-1964

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

 

 

from lacar.com book reviews:

...A scorecard or table illustrating the ties between particular cars, drivers, race records, and especially the car names would have been helpful.

Still, this book has value. Joe Scalzo's writing style is better suited to a magazine format. If you pick up Indianapolis Roadsters and read a few pages at random, you will gain a terrific insight into the days when roadsters ruled the Indy roost. But if you want a cohesive story to take shape or are a hardcore facts and figures kind of person, you will come away disappointed.

If it sounds as though I am flipping a coin to decide whether or not to recommend this book, you are almost right. As a research tool, this book answers very few questions. Yet the firsthand accounts and fabulous photography of a previously neglected topic are fine redeeming qualities and make Indianapolis Roadsters 1952-1964 worth a look.

This is a badly needed volume, at least to those of us who rememmber the "stand on the gas and turn left" days at Indy, when the cars looked like cars and things like aerodynamics and ground effects didn't exist... Some beautiful color photos plus a lot of b/w pics highlight it. The text skips about covering this driver, then that with what seems to be no special order at all....Surprisingly, only one photo of the car that started (more or less) the roadster era, the car driven by the great Bill Vukovich, who had the breaks gone just bit different would have won 4 STRAIGHT Indy 500's...(He had a steering failure which caused a crash just 8 laps from the end of the '52 race, won in '53&'54, suffered a fatal crash running away from the field in '55)However,the other great names of the roadster era are well-represented:Bryan, Ward, Rathmann, Sachs, Jones and of course, Foyt. The price is bit high, but the photos alone make the book worth it....

This book is not so much just about the cars as about the whole Indy roadster era. Scalzo covers the hard living characters who participated in the era of the "dinosaurs". His writing style is gritty and a little bit melodramatic but, believe it or not, has actually mellowed since his "Stand On the Gas" days. If you look back on "Indy's" past with affection, and disdain the current over-hyped, over-sanitized and over-marketed racing scene of today (like I, and Scalzo, do), you'll like this book. There are many beautiful photos of the cars that Scalzo talks about as if they were friends and characters he misses.

I thought this book was very informative about the lost era of solid axle roadster racing. It has some problems with continuity and has a tendency to wander. It does recount stories of people and drivers of the era, that probably won't be found in other publications. The author has his own way of conveying his stories and terms, regarding "iron cars and iron men that drove them"! Some will find it lacking in polish, but I think it fits the times. Gets hung-up on some drivers in the early 60's and doesn't give enough print to some BIG names of the early 50's! It brought back memories for me, since I worked for Parnelli Jones in the 70's.

Mr. Scalzo brings us a view to an era, all but lost. It's very real, most informative, and illustrated with outstanding period photographs.

The story is in a "Hell I was there" format. He tells it like it Was!
Back...not that many years ago, when Americans.....were Americans, acted like Americans...drove race cars like Americans,...While the rest of the world looked on in wonder. A most unique insight into the world of Championship auto racing in general, and AJ Watson, and his Indy 500 roadsters in particular. A great book on the subject, and a required place on your library shelf. perfectly captures this time frame. And now.... it's gone. Bravo Joe Scalzo

I own hundreds of racing books and this one is easily in my top 20 list. I have always been fascinated by the Roadster era at Indy, but by the time I was old enough to follow racing that era was gone. Joe Scalzo has really managed to make the era of the "big cucumbers" (as he calls the roadsters)come alive.

Several other reviewers felt disappointed because the book didn't concentrate too much on the technical aspects of the cars etc. I have a lot of books that take that approach, and while they do have their place, I'm sure glad this wasn't one of them.

In his own crude, sometimes over the top style, and riddled with slang, Scalzo has told a great story about the "characters" that made racing what it was including some great nicknames I never heard before. Not just the drivers like Ward or Rathmann, but also the first rate chief mechanics like Jud Phillips with his "Nothing's Perfect" catch phrase, builders AJ "Head" Watson & Eddie "KaZoom" Kuzma ,tin benders like Wayne "Fat Boy" Ewing, and owners like Zink, Elkins, Bruce Homeyer & Aggie all come across as real, sometimes eccentric , and yes, very talented & influential.

Sure, some of them drank, swore, and even fought with each other at times, but Scalzo has done more to make them seem human that nearly any other book I have. The book makes you feel that you personally hung around with all these characters and heard all these great stories at the old "White Front Tavern" in Indianapolis that used to be the racers hangout back in the day. The photos placed liberally in the book are simply outstanding as well.

This book has great photos, great content and lots of information that you would not find anywhere else. However, I was put off by Scalzo's '60's Hip Guy verbiage. But, those feelings seemed to go away about half way through the book.

Let's set one thing straight immediately - this book is not about Indianapolis Roadsters 1952-1964. This book is about the "colorful" individuals who drove, sponsered, built and maintained these cars. It's proper title should be "Red-Neck S**t-Kickers who Loved Indy Roadsters". As a nostalgic chronicle of the people involved in Indianapolis racing from 1952 to 1964 it's a good read, but based on the title I expected the cars to be showcased. And the author's whole-hearted admiration of the despicable conduct of some individuals who gave motorsports a bad name really turned be off.