Vintage American Road Racing Cars, 1950-1970 [Hardcover]

Harold Pace (Author)

Book Description

Series: 10 X 10 Series | Publication Date: December 25, 2004

American road racing began just after World War II and quickly blossomed into a movement. The Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) and the United States Auto Club (USAC), clubs that became fierce rivals in the 1950s and 1960s, were the principal race promoters. Race tracks popped up everywhere, at first on city streets, then at airports and U.S. Air Force bases, and finally at purpose-built circuits like Road America and Laguna Seca.Although most of the cars that competed in American road racing were built in Europe, an underground movement sprang up of "special builders" who constructed their racers in home garages and small-town machine shops. Some were so homely and slow that only the builders could love them. Others trounced every Ferrari in sight and are now on the wish lists of wealthy collectors the world over.Vintage American Road Racing Cars 1950-1970 is the first book devoted exclusively to American road racing cars of all types and sizes. Hundreds of race cars built in America have never before been mentioned in print, and this book chronicles those and other cars with vintage and modern photography, specifications, memorabilia, and the stories and characters behind each car.About the AuthorHarold Pace's writing and photography has appeared in such magazines as Automobile Quarterly, Class & Sportscar, Excellence, Sports Car International, Vintage Racecar Journal, and others. He lives in Weatherford, Texas. Mark Brinker is a vintage race car enthusiast who has raced at the Monterey Historics. He is a doctor with three published medical textbooks and 70+ published scientific papers. He hails from Houston, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

Review

SAH Journal – for the Society of Automotive Historians, October/November 2005 (circ.: unavailable)

“It’s exceedingly difficult for me to understand how a book so wonderfully comprehensive can be so very entertaining. How could such a book crammed with hard facts and cold figures and exact measurements be such a magic-carpet ride back to the halcyon days of American road racing? I’ll just answer my own question if you don’t mind. ‘Let Harold Pace and Mark Brinker loose to research and write Vintage American Road Racing Cars 1950-1970 and you have a real masterwork.’”

About the Author

Harold Pace's writing and photography has appeared in such magazines as Automobile Quarterly, Class & Sportscar, Excellence, Sports Car International, Vintage Racecar Journal, and others. He lives in Weatherford, Texas. Mark Brinker is a vintage race car enthusiast who has raced at the Monterey Historics. He is a doctor with three published medical textbooks and 70+ published scientific papers. He hails from Houston, Texas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Motorbooks (December 25, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0760317836
• ISBN-13: 978-0760317839
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,528,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Vintage American Road Racing Cars, 1960 - 70, July 21, 2005

By 

Magnut "Wayne" (Diboll Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vintage American Road Racing Cars, 1950-1970 (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book full of information and pictures of forgotten (and remembered) race cars from my younger days. These are the Autos I grew up watching run from my vantage point as an SCCA flagman...back in the days when the flag people stood ON the edge of the track, not hidden in some bunker safely out of the way.
The writers / researchers have done a great job of digging up some history on some of the more obscure specials that made the races entertaining and kept us going back "at the barn" on our own Hot rod, Jag powered and framed, plastic bodied, SPECIAL; which did eventually get built, but never made it to Pikes Peak
the aim of the project.
The writers even dug up a bit of info on a couple of cars I remember well, but have not seen mentioned anywhere else; the "Purina Checkerboard Special" as we all called it, and Jim Sanders' "FOMOCO Special", both of which are in my old vintage racing films from Galveston, Mansfield, and Eagle Mountain Lake races.
The book has been read from cover to cover, and will again befor going on the shelf with the other family keepsakes.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Book from Guys Who Lived It, July 8, 2005

By 

Andy Anderson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vintage American Road Racing Cars, 1950-1970 (Hardcover)

I've been racing since the sixties and at one time or another have either owned or raced against a lot of these cars. You can tell by the writing that these guys are not just out to do a vintage car coffee table book, but to write a real, passionate and amazingly complete book that you will wind up buying at least two copes of... one for the library, and one for the shop. It's a terrific book... You can tell that they lived the life and can really tell a story with kindness and humor.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars from the website of Victory Lane magazine, November 18, 2004

By 

L. Leif (Bloomington, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vintage American Road Racing Cars, 1950-1970 (Hardcover)

This review was posted by www.victorylane.com, the website of Victory Lane magazine, on November 15, 2004. Victory Lane is a vintage and historic racing news magazine.

"Auto racing of the 1950s and 1960s set the inspiration for today's vintage racing scene. One of the best books on the American Road Racing scene of the 1950s and 1960s is just out in time for the Holidays and the review copy just arrived at Victory Lane Magazine. 'Vintage American Road Racing Cars, 1950-1970' is by noted author, vintage racer and automotive historian Harold Pace and associate Mark R. Brinker. The book covers "The way we were," period rules, racing car manufacturers, hundreds of American Specials of the period, Engine swap specials, American racing kit car manufacturers, American racing engines, racing chassis and a great appendix. It will be great for those new to the sport, those who were there, officials and writers, as well as a terrific holiday gift for any racer. So well written, researched and with great photos, it just has to be the 'Racing Book of the Year'...."