50s and 60s Motoring Books

[mickusmickus]

Hello all,

Just a quick post to see if anyone has come across any good books relating to 50s and 60s motoring/racing/production etc etc.  Always looking to read something a little different and I have to say this is an area I havent ever "read" into.

As a lover of anything automotive, this post isnt really centered around FE-FC Holdens, nor is it really centered around Australian motoring.  I am open to any suggestions!!

MICK

[customFC]

Big Wheels Little Wheels is a must for any Holden fan.
It is the story of Sir Laurence Hartnett.
Regards
Alex

[Bob_FC_Ute]

The Life and Work of Sir Harry Ricardo is a very interesting read about Sir Harry.
Harry Ricardo is considered to be one of the leaders in developing the internal combustion engine and the diesel engine.
I had never heard of him until a couple of years ago. There is another book written by Harry Ricardo "The High Speed Internal Combustion Engine" which I have just ordered from the UK.
Harry was delving into Superchargers, Turbochargers, combustion chamber design and high octane fuels well before WWII and continued until the seventies.
I did a "Google" search and there was almost 3 million references to Harry.
Bob

[mickusmickus]

Thanks guys!!  Looks like I have some reading to do!!!

[RET]

As far as reading on Holden and GM-H is concerned...

Big Wheels Little Wheels is a great read, but just wearing my historiography hat for a moment, some of it needs to be taken with a large grain of salt. Being Hartnett's autobiography, it is very much his perspective, and other historians of his time at Holden and subsequently take an altogether different view on some of his recollections. But I agree with Alex, it's well worth tracking down.

I also think John Wright's "Heart of the Lion" and "Special" are probably the best Holden histories published. The former is an extremely detailed account of the company's story, whereas the latter is more a look at Holden's place in the fabric of post-war Australia. Both are excellent.

A bit harder to find is Nancy Buttfield's "So Great A Change", which is the history of the Holden family in Australia. Like Hartnett's book, it needs to be viewed somewhat critically, but it offers a different perspective of the company.

Lastly, Don Loffler's books on the early Holdens (he's written four, focussed entirely on the 48 and FJ) are terrific. They have a terrific mix of facts and figures to go with the personal stories. "She's A Beauty", "Still Holden Together", "The FJ Holden" and "Me and My Holden".

Hope that's helpful.

RET

[KFH]

I have to thoroughly agree with RET about "Heart of the Lion".  I was given a copy for Christmas and found it a very in-depth story of GMH and the Holden connection and an easy book to read. I have one of Don Loffler's book and have read the remainder of them.  I also found them to be excellent reading.

Keith

[mickusmickus]

THanks to all who replied.....just ordered the new improved edition of "She's a Beauty" by Don Loffler.  Apparently has 6 new chapters and about 100 extra period photos.

Will post a review once I have read it if anyone is interested!

MICK

[Spinner]

On a slightly more international vein, a book that I remember from my childhood (my father received it for some achievement at high school) was The Stirling Moss Book of Motorsport.  Published circa 1953.

From memory, it was a very good book.

[Harv]

More like 60-80s than 50-60's, but a copy of Traction Action (Jon Van Daal) made a good gift for Dad last year. Lots of photos of Castlereagh and Surfers drag strips that brought back memories. Would love to get hold of a copy of "A drag racing pictorial: Castlereagh's fastest summer!" by Mike Harding, but seems to be like rocking-horse poo.

[mickusmickus]

SHES A BEAUTY ARRIVED TODAY!

From the quick flick I have had through it, looks to be an awesome publication.  Cant wait to sink my teeth into it!

MICK

[mickusmickus]

Hello all,

Just thought i would throw in my opinion on the book by Don Loffler's "She's a beauty", for those who have yet to read it.

Awesome archive of original photographs, great insight into how the first Australian built car came about, but in some cases the detail gets a little too in depth.  In all honesty if you weren't a die hard Holden fan OR for that matter a die hard OLD Holden fan I doubt you would make it all the way through.  I enjoyed the book but wouldnt say it was easy reading.  

My favorite part of the book was the section about stories from the plant.  A chapter devoted to publishing the first hand accounts of some of the employees at the various plants around Australia.  One of the stories really took my fancy; a first hand account of how they used to clean and maintain the biggest of the sheet metal presses (the Hamilton Press).  Here is a video taken from another post showing the actual press:  [url]http://aso.gov.au/titles/sponsored-films/birth-car/clip1//[url], imagine being in the jaws of this thing being held open by nothing more than a piece of timber!!!!!!

All in all, a must read for any true HOLDEN fan it gets a healthy 7 out of 10 from me.

MICK

[mickusmickus]

My latest undertaking was a book called "James Dean at Speed" by Lee Raskin, all about legendary actor James Dean and his obsession with all things cars and bikes.  The book is more of a photo diary of James Dean's life, however every photo comes with a back story.  The book has personal accounts from James Dean's family and friends as well as a blow by blow description of the horrific crash that ended his life, complete with photographs of the wreck.

The book goes into good detail about how WILD James actually was when it came to speed, with story after story from friends who were scared half to death by his obsession.  He was even banned by a number of his producers from riding his motorbikes or driving his cars during filming, for fear of him hurting himself. 

For me, any excuse to salivate over a Porsche 356 or 550 spyder is a good one.  There are also a number of stories about his Triumph and Indian motorcycles which I found quite interesting.  The book is a larger hard cover layout so not something you could throw in your bag to read on a holiday.  Once the final page was turned I found myself flicking back and forth for days looking over all of the amazing black and white photographs and re-living some of the stories.

This book is going straight to the pool room for me, 9 out of 10.

MICK