Indy Cars of the 1960s (Ludvigsen Library Series) [Paperback]

Karl Ludvigsen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ludvigsen Library Series | Publication Date: November 9, 2001

Journey into Gasoline Alley during the tumultuous 1960s, one of the most spectacular and controversial decades in the history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Featured are fantastic photos of the last Novis, the wild racers of Mickey Thompson, Brabhams and the successful Halk copies, the astonishing STP turbine cars of 1967 and 1968, Dan Gurneys Eagles from 1966, Lotuses, the battle between Fords, and the turbo-Offys.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Iconografix, Inc. (November 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583880526
• ISBN-13: 978-1583880524
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,555,773 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Biographical Background
Karl Ludvigsen

In addition to his motor industry activities as an executive (with GM, Fiat and Ford) and head of a consulting company, Karl Ludvigsen has been active for over 50 years as an author and historian. As an author, co-author or editor he has some four dozen books to his credit. Needless to say, they are all about cars and the motor industry, Karl's life-long passion.
Since 1997 Ludvigsen has been drawing on the photographic resources of the Ludvigsen Library to write and illustrate books on the great racing drivers. His first title in this series was Stirling Moss ' Racing with the Maestro. He followed this with Jackie Stewart ' Triple-Crowned King of Speed and Juan Manuel Fangio ' Motor Racing's Grand Master. Fourth in this series for Haynes Publishing was Dan Gurney ' The Ultimate Racer and fifth was Alberto Ascari ' Ferrari's First Double Champion. Next came Bruce McLaren ' Life and Legend of Excellence and Emerson Fittipaldi ' Heart of a Racer.
Also in the field of motor sports Karl Ludvigsen has written about road racing in America, the cars of the Can-Am series, the AAR Eagle racing cars, the GT40 Fords and Prime Movers, the story of Britain's Ilmor Engineering. His introduction to At Speed, a book of Jesse Alexander's racing photography, won the Ken W. Purdy Award for Excellence in Automotive Journalism. Other motors-sports titles include Classic Grand Prix Cars, a history of the front-engined G.P. racer, and Classic Racing Engines, Karl's personal selection of 50 notable power units.
Four of Karl Ludvigsen's books concern the Chevrolet Corvette, one of them an industry best-seller. He has written three times about Mercedes-Benz, twice about its racing cars. His books on the latter subject have won the Montagu Trophy (once) and the Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot Award (twice), both recognising outstanding automotive historical writing. In 2001 he again received the Cugnot award from the Society of Automotive Historians for his book about the early years of the Volkswagen, Battle for the Beetle, a Robert Bentley publication.
Karl Ludvigsen's Porsche history, Excellence was Expected, is considered by many to be a model of the researching and writing of the history of an auto company. He has updated it twice in a three-volume format for Bentley Publishers for the new Millennium. He is the author of a series of monographs on great Maserati cars. His book BRM V16 for Veloce Publishing tells the story of one of the most controversial racing cars of all time. In The V12 Engine for Haynes he describes the creation and consequences of all the cars ever powered by the iconic vee-twelves.
In 1997 Ludvigsen researched and wrote the catalogue for a special exhibition of Ferrari technological innovations on the occasion of the company's 50th anniversary and contributed a major section to the company's official 50-year history. He has updated this for the company's 60th anniversary. Karl's understanding of the Ferrari world combined with his Library's holding of the Rodolfo Mailander photo archive to produce Ferrari by Mailander in 2005, a Dalton Watson publication. In 2006 with Dalton Watson Karl has published The Incredible Blitzen Benz, the story of six great record-breaking cars.
In co-operation with publisher Iconografix, Ludvigsen has established the Ludvigsen Library Series of 128-page books drawing on the holdings of the Ludvigsen Library. The series now numbers 19 titles, including books on Indy racing cars of 1911 to 1939, the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the Indy Novis, Chevrolet's Corvair and Corvette, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL of 1952 and 1954-1964, the 300SLR of 1955, Porsche Spyders, Porsche 917, Jaguar XK120, XK140 and XK150, Land Rover Defender the Ferrari factory and American sports-racers: the Cunninghams, Chaparrals and Can-Am racing cars. More titles are in preparation.

Status: December 2006

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Walk Through 500 History, December 29, 2002

By 

M. Stephen Miller (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Indy Cars of the 1960s (Ludvigsen Library Series) (Paperback)

Indy Cars of the 1960s presents some classic photos of a period of great change at the 500. What is unique about this book is that it includes some photos of the non successful but technically interesting cars of the period. The Smokey Yunick sidecar, the Parnelli Jones 69 4wd turbo Ford and the Granatelli Plymouth to name a few. There are also a variety of photos of the engines and chassis mechanicals of the period including the turbines. This book is heavily focussed on the rear engined entries that predominated the 60's. The high quality B&W photos have amazing clarity. While some people prefer more prose, the captions not only describe the content, but offer little snippets of interest surrounding the subject presented.
In summary, snapshots of the period that leave you feeling that you just had a walk through the paddock.

Now, how about a book on Watson's?

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have..., August 19, 2005

By 

sengleman (Cincinnati OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Indy Cars of the 1960s (Ludvigsen Library Series) (Paperback)

A fantastic collection of B&W photos from one of the most interesting periods in Indy history. The book is printed on a high-quality glossy stock that make the pictures appear wonderfully sharp. Great pics of Watson roadsters, early Eagles, Coyotes, Lotuses, McLarens, and all of the experimental cars from the tumultuous transition from front- to rear- (mid-) engine cars. Quite a few pictures of chassis and engines, including things like the turbine car and the Hallibrand Shrike. This particular volume in the series presents the pictures chronologically (other volumes in the Ludvigsen series can differ).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I'd expected..., August 23, 2007

By 

Dan Bolton ""Tifosi"" (Central Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Indy Cars of the 1960s (Ludvigsen Library Series) (Paperback)

This book was somewhat of a disappointment...it's mostly pictures, and I was expecting an in-depth analysis of the engineering that went into the cars that defined the most turbulent era in Indy 500 history. I've read a lot of Ludvigsen lately, especially in Hemmings Sports and Exotic Car; where his writing is top notch...and I remember his work at Sports Car Illustrated [now Car and Driver] and Motor Trend. It appears that he only wrote the introduction to this particular book...it really doesn't go into much detail, just a few short lines on each page, below a full-page photo.

Karl has a way of making complex mechanical concepts clear, colorful and easy to understand, and I was hoping he'd go into detail regarding some of the innovations that the early 1960s brought to auto racing, especially those involving the advent of rear engine cars and wider tires, and while there is documentation of those events, it's brief and concise, with very little that hasn't been covered elsewhere in more detail, as in Roger Huntington's book, Design and Development of the Indy Car, which is woefully long out-of-print.

I was hoping for information on the 1964 Mickey Thompson Sears-Allstate Specials with 3-wheel steering, but there is virtually nothing about these cars in the book. The 1962 cars are covered, and the 1963 predecessors to the 1964 cars are, too...but there is nothing on the car that caused so much controversy and tragedy at the Speedway in 1964.

There are some rare photos, including one of a 1965 front-engine Ford DOHC powered roadster that didn't turn many laps at the track, and several photos of the STP turbine cars that are interesting, but overall, the book is a little thin. Not much detail, and not as much Ludvigsen involvement as the title may suggest.

If you're a hard-core fan of Indy in the '60's, the book is of merit...if not, you might want to give it a pass.

Dan Bolton