Fifty Years of Ferrari: A Grand Prix and Sorts Car Racing History [VINTAGE 1997] [FIRST EDITION, FIRST PRINTING]

As new condition textured red oversized boards with gold spine lettering contained in an as new condition non price-clipped color photographic dust jacket. Includes List of Other Books by Alan Henry; Foreword by Jody Scheckter, 1979 World Champion; Prologue; Appendices consisting of: 1) Biographical Details of Ferrari World Championship Drivers; 2) Ferrari Constructors' Championship placings since 1958; 3) Ferrari Formula I World Championship Grand Prix Victories; 4) World Sports Car Championship Race Victories From 1953-73; Bibliography and Index. Profusely illustrated with both black-and-white and color photographs. "This fascinating book - by Alan Henry, whose own motorsport connections go back 25 years - celebrates the 50th anniversary of the world's most famous racing team with an unashamedly personal history, featuring people and events from those early days up to Maranello's Formula I revival bid with Michael Schumacher. Superbly illustrated, and packed with vivid recollections and anecdotes, this first-hand account records not so much what happened, but what it was ll like." - from the rear outer jacket. "This magnificent book celebrates the 50th anniversary of the first competition appearance by a Ferrari, and offers an unashamedly personal view of the world-famous racing team. Highlighting significant events, and drawing on interview material with key players, Alan Henry - whose own connections with motor sport go back 25 years - builds a framework around which he records not so much what happened but what it was all like. On 11 May 1947 the first competition car to bear the Ferrari name and Prancing Horse emblem competed in a sports car race at Piacenza, driven by Franco Cortese. Taking that as the starting point, Alan Henry paints a vivid picture of the team's progression over the years. He freely admits to giving certain events or personalities more space if they tickled his particular fancy. So, for example, the Rodriguez brothers, relationships between the Ferrari Dino 246 drivers, David Piper's recollections of racing as a Ferrari sports car privateer, and Niki Lauda's time at Maranello all represent stories within the story. Then there was Enzo Ferrari himself. Ferrari's achievements as a motorsport pioneer are well chronicled - so is his inconsolable grief at the death of his son, and thereafter the perverse pleasure he got from fostering a destructive sense of rivalry among his own drivers. Some he loved, others he virtually ignored. When Jean Behra was killed at Avus there wass not so much as a wreath from Maranello at his funeral. Yet when Chris Amon reached his 40th birthday, more than 10 years after driving for the team, he received a congratulatory message penned in Ferrari's favourite purple ink. Whatever the results they achieved, Ferrari's racing cars always radiated an aura of classical romanticism. But, says Alan Henry (risking eternal damnation as a heretic) they were seldom absolute pace-setters. Maranello frequently squandered its resournces just as it seemed on the brink of consistent greatness. Now, however, with Michael Schumacher at the wheel, they have a driver who can make the crucial difference. In any case, Ferrari continues to exert an almost narcotic sense of fascination on its many thousands of passionate followers worldwide. This book - gorgeously illustrated, and full of personal recollections, plus race and driver statistics - probes that magical aura and discovers what really made the man, and his racing team, tick." - from the inner front jacket flap.…