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Úvod »Automobily osobní a dodávky»BMW»Modely do roku 1952 » Classic Racing Cars
Vazba: | Vázaná | ||
Počet stran: | 160 | ||
Rozměry v mm: | 215 x 280 | ||
Počet obrázků: | 150 | ||
Rok vydání: | 1978 |
Through seven decades of automotive history the Grand Prix car has been at the pinnacle of design, has been the ultimate symbol of motoring power and speed. The outstanding cars of those 7o years are studied in this book, through informed profiles of 40 famous road and track racing designs.
Each chapter describes a car in depth, analysing the technical make up of machines from the earliest Grand Prix cars, which achieved startling speeds through brute engine power and the efforts of heroic drivers, to the highly sophisticated world champion-ship machines of the 197os. Many were trend-setting designs, some were the products of painstaking technical refinement, others were expressions of automotive genius. All were pace-setters in the highly competitive world of international motor racing.
Through these profiles, the evolution of the racing car is traced from the mammoths of the Edwardian era, through the first positive trend towards all-round efficiency to the `golden age' of the 1920s, when technology blended with artistry in the svelte Alfa Romeos, Bugattis and Fiats which epitomised Grand Prix racing and Harry Miller pro-duced some of the greatest all-round track cars. Mercedes and Auto Unions of the 193os represent a period when technology was all-important, while the Italian, German and British cars of the 1950s, which were the last to be built on traditional lines, contrast with the new wave of rear-engined cars which set the pattern for the 196os and 1970s. From that period the author describes cars from Cooper, BRM, Lotus, Ferrari, Eagle, Honda, Porsche, Brabham and McLaren, the contrast between generations being high-lighted by descriptions of a traditional Indianapolis roadster and the Lotus which brought the rear-engined revolution to American track racing.
Throughout the personalities of designers are recalled, as are the great drivers who raced the cars and the achievements of these team efforts.
Classic Racing Cars is illustrated with contem-porary photographs, colour studies of pre-served cars, and cutaway and detail drawings 44 which complete this fascinating study of a cross section of international racing history.