Customer Reviews

Novi V-8 Indy Cars 1941-1965 (Ludvigsen Library Series)

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2 star:		(1)
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Growing up in Indiana, and first seeing the Novi as a teenager, I can still see the unmistakable Novi racing cars at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After seeing (and hearing) these cars in person, all other racing cars, even today, seem less powerful and glamorous. No other cars captured the imagination the way the Novis did. Karl Ludvigsen's book brought back many fond memories of a time when the cars seemed faster and more dangerous, and the drivers braver, even though the speeds of that time pale by comparison with comtemporary racecar performance. As an example, when a Novi passed by on the Indy track, you could actually feel the concussion, and its sound made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Forty years later, I have not heard anything else like that. The Novi drivers--Paul Russo, Bobby Unser, and Jim Hurtubise, all became larger than life just because they were piloting a Novi. It was the ultimate marriage of horsepower, frightening acceleration, and courage. I enjoyed the Ludvigsen book because it took me back to that time. Perhaps it was my age then, or how impressionable I was before reaching adulthood, combined with the unmatched mystique and history of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway that etched the memory of the Novis in my mind forever. Anyone who never got to seem them run at racing speeds at Indy truly missed something special, and those of us who did were truly fortunate.

This is a terrific photo study with appropriate titles on a fascinating racing engine, it's bullders, and the cars that used it. In pre-TV days, I used to listen to the Indy race on the radio and was always intrigued with announcer covering the event when he called out Paul Russo in the Novi V-8. Now I have the photo history showing these beautiful cars and that motor! This book is a "must" for anyone interested in the great Indy races of the past.

Great pictures of this famous race car. This book is of the normal high quality associated with Ludvigsen books. I am especially fond of the 2 Kurtis 500F cars that were built for the '56 race and there a several really nice photos of them.

The book is quite good and technically precise. My only disappointments were that all the photos were black & white and that my favorite Novi, the 1963 Hotel Tropicana Special, driven by "Herk" was not clearly shown.

Lots of pictures, B/W only! Some good diagrams, but lacking in information to go with them!! Didn't care for the Granatelli interview! If your looking for meat on the subject, this is not it! Should have more on the drivers and Jean Marcenac/Lewis Welch/Radio Gardner!!