The Last Road Race: The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix [Hardcover]

Richard Williams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2004

The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix marked the end of an era in motor racing. Sixteen cars and drivers raced over public roads on the Adriatic coast in a three-hour race of frightening speed and constant danger. Stirling Moss won the race, ending years of supremacy by the Italian teams of Ferrari and Maserati. Richard Williams brings this pivotal race back to life, reminding us of how far the sport has changed in the intervening fifty years. The narrative includes testaments from the four surviving drivers who competed—Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks, Roy Salvadori, and Jack Brabham.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'This is an evocative and compelling account by an author who knows and loves his subject. Whether describing men, machines or races, Williams writes with understanding, sympathy and real authority. You sense the spirit of the times in his pages, and you almost smell the nitromethane that fired up those engines. But have a care - after reading it you may fine yourself driving faster. I did. -- Alan Judd SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'Williams wears his knowledge and enthusiasm for such bygone days like a badge of honour... beautifully and passionately written.' -- David Tremayne THE INDEPENDENT ' William's touch remains sure... the glamour of the event still beguiles, almost half a century later.' -- Alasdair Reid SUNDAY TIMES 'The author presents us with a very human story - and a good yarn, too - that comes to life with interviews with the surviving drivers.' -- Stuart Downward THE OBSERVER 'Richard Williams's elegant narrative.' -- Timothy Rice THE TIMES

From the Publisher

In the 1957 Pescara Grand Prix, 16 cars and drivers tore over public roads on the Adriatic coast in a three–hour race of terrifying speed and danger. Stirling Moss won the race, beating the great Juan Manuel Fangio and ending years of supremacy by the Italian teams of Ferrari and Maserati. Although Pescara may not have been Moss’ most dramatic victory, none had as great a significance or a more mythic quality. There was never a race like Pescara ’57 again. Now Richard Williams brings this pivotal race back to life, reminding us how much the sport has changed in the intervening 50 years. The narrative also includes commentary from the four surviving competing drivers—Stirling Moss, Tony Brooks, Roy Salvadori, and Jack Brabham. A thrilling account of one of the most remarkable sporting events of the last century. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Orion Publishing (March 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0297645587
• ISBN-13: 978-0297645580
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #816,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars WHEN RACING DRIVERS MATTERED....., February 4, 2008

By 

Clyde P. Berryman (Williamsburg, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Road Race: The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix (Hardcover)

Richard Williams has done a masterful job of re-creating what I call "period-feel" in his splendid little book "The Last Road Race." What he actually does in the early-mid chapters is to examine the personalities of the key drivers who found themselves at Pescara in 1957 and how their driving careers started and evolved up to that point. He inserts characters such as legendary motor racing correspondent Denis Jenkinson, photographers Bernard Cahier and Michael Tee and plenty of local Italian officials into his account to give the reader a "you are there" sensation as the story unfolds and you begin to approach race day. Williams is not afraid to fast-forward in time to draw somewhat unflattering comparisons between what real racing meant back then in contrast to to the technology and money dominated, track-safety conscious Schumacher-era of today. At one point, Williams confuses the name of the Casablanca circuit (Ain Diab) with that of the pre-war Tripoli circuit of Mellaha but there are otherwise few obvious factual errors which would detract from this book. This is a truly good yarn about a watershed time in motorsport history and it is at its most evocative when Williams draws out the driver's personalities, often through long direct quotes of what they said about their friends, rivals, and themselves in the dangerous yet chivalrous world of late 1950's Grand Prix road racing. I can only hope that Williams and other authors like him will be further motivated to research other pivotal moments in motor racing history and to bring them to life as adroitly as he has done in "The Last Road Race."

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grand Prix cars along a country road..., January 30, 2008

By 

Harold James Reid (Burns, Oregon) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Road Race: The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix (Paperback)

From the color tinted black & white photo on the cover, the most evocative photo of Grand Prix racing in the 1950's that I've ever seen, to the Published Sources in the final pages; this small book is a treasure of personal reminisces, photographs by a great photojournalist, Bernard Cahier, and a detailed recreation of that special weekend of actual road racing through hills and villages surrounding Pescara, Italy. Truly, reading this little gem will transport you back to that time and that place; better put in your order quickly, I think I hear Musso's Ferrari coming up the long waterfront straight....

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Golden Era of Racing, August 17, 2007

By 

William I. Brown "VMI Cadet 76" (Bedford, VA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Last Road Race: The 1957 Pescara Grand Prix (Hardcover)

Richard Williams does a masterful job retelling the story of the last F-1 race at Pescara, won by Sir Stirling Moss. He adequately covers all the key players and gives just enough background about each, both on and off the track, to make the reader interested in the unfolding story. I appreciate the compact, small size of the book since it is much easier to handle and read late at night as compared to those monstrous coffee-table books publishers keep cranking out. I'd like to see Richard Williams do some more similarly-sized books on other races of the Golden Era, perhaps covering the Monaco GP during the 1960s. The 1961 race would be a good start, esp. now that Sir Stirling Moss has "officially" retired from racing.