Great Cars – serie

This book tells the remarkable history of an Alfa Romeo Monza and its characterful drivers and owners, some with life stories worthy of a movie script. Built in 1933, ‘221130’ was raced that year by the Hon. Brian Lewis and won its debut at Brooklands and the arduous Mannin Moar race on the Isle of Man. The car continued to be raced until the war by John Cobb (1934) who later was a land speed record holder, Luis Fontes (1935) who was also an aeroplane racer, Anthony Powys-Lybbe (1936–37) and Fay Taylour (1938) who was interned during the Second World War for her Fascist links, at venues as diverse as Vila Real (Portugal) and Phoenix Park (Ireland). Post-war, a succession of notable owners included Peter Hampton, the Hon. Patrick Lindsay and Hubert Fabri, all passionate collectors, to arrive at its status today as one of the more important surviving Monzas, and a car with so much charisma and historic interest that it is a most worthy addition to the acclaimed ‘Great Cars’ series

This glorious book tells the story of the celebrated lightweight Jaguar C-type, chassis number XKC 051, that Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt drove to victory in the 1953 Le Mans 24 Hours. The car went on to have a busy post-works racing career, first with Ecurie Ecosse, then with privateer drivers Bill Smith and Geoffrey Allison. Among its small number of collector custodians in later years, the names Briggs Cunningham in America and Adrian Hamilton (son of Duncan) in the UK stand out. The development of the C-type is described, focusing on the three lightweights of 1953 with thinner-gauge aluminum bodies, pioneering disc brakes, and aircraft-style fuel tanks. All this is covered in fascinating detail, supported by interviews with drivers and mechanics, a fine collection of period images and studio photographs.

Launched in 1930, the Bugatti Type 50 heralded a new era with the introduction of the Molsheim marque’s first twin-cam design, a supercharged 4.9-litre straight-eight engine of prodigious power. At a time when brute force was needed to win the Le Mans 24 Hours, a competition version was developed and three such Type 50s took part in 1931. The car around which this book is focused, 50177, was leading the famous endurance race when the team withdrew it owing to tyre failures that had afflicted the sister cars, causing one to crash heavily at high speed. The fascinating story of 50177, and the Type 50 in general, is told in this brilliantly researched and superbly illustrated book in the Great Cars series. Introductory chapters explain the economically perilous world of 1931, the genius of Ettore and Jean Bugatti, the bloodline of large-capacity Bugatti engines, and the Type 46 from which the Type 50 was derived. There follows an in-depth exploration of the Type 50’s design and development, including the Miller inspiration behind its twin-cam engine. The four Le Mans races in which Type 50s took part form the core of the book and tell a story of promise unfulfilled. The subject car, 50177, raced three times, in 1931 as a works entry with race no. 5 (driven by Albert Divo and Guy Bouriat) and in 1934 and 1935 with works assistance as no. 2 (driven by Pierre Veyron and Roger Labric). A section about the drivers presents illustrated biographies of the four men who raced 50177 as well as the four others in the 1931 works team — Louis Chiron and Achille Varzi in no. 4 and Maurice Rost and Count Caberto Conelli in no. 6. Post-war, three-time Le Mans winner Luigi Chinetti bought 50177 in 1949 and took it to America, where it spent nearly 50 years with five different owners. The last of them was Miles Coverdale, a passionate Bugatti collector who kept the car for 23 years and uncovered much of its history through correspondence with former works mechanics, notably Robert Aumaître. Co-authors Mark Morris and Julius Kruta, wellknown in the Bugatti world for their immense knowledge and enthusiasm, present a wealth of fresh information and illustration in this fine book.