MEETING THE DEMAND FOR THE MIURA

The much-acclaimed Lamborghini Miura Bible by Joe Sackey was first published by Veloce in November 2008. However the entire first print run was sold out in less than four months, leaving a lot of people disappointed. Now reprinted, the book is widely available again.

Named after a Spanish ranch famed for its ferocious bulls, the Lamborghini Miura’s flamboyance and engineering wowed the public when the car was unveiled in the mid-sixties. Yet despite its devoted following, there has been no authoritative publication on the car for over a quarter of a century ... until now.

This definitive volume is the result of 20 years of diligent research, and Joe is deservedly now credited as being the world's leading authority on the Miura. He makes the case that the Miura is nothing short of "The most beautiful sports car of the postwar era." Having himself owned, maintained and restored five Miuras, he knows what he's talking about.

This unique book features everything the enthusiast would want, from a specially commissioned studio shoot capturing the historic homologation prototype USA Miura SV, to production statistics, specification information, paint charts, and much more. With over 400 photographs and illustrations, this is the definitive guide to an iconic supercar.

Click here for more info about the book.

288 GTO specialist Joe Sackey is organizing the first-ever reunion of the cars in the USA, to be staged during the famed Monterey Historics & Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance Car Week in California during August 2009. He is also in the process of writing the ultimate book on the Ferrari 288 GTO for publication by Veloce in Autumn 2010.

DIGITISED: THE WORK OF PHOTOGRAPHER ZOLTÁN GLASS

The National Media Museum in Bradford, UK, is currently in the process of raising a photographic treasure. The project, which aims to scan a large proportion of the photographs housed in the Zoltán Glass archive, will systematically catalogue the work of the artist, whose main creative periods came in the 1930s and 1950s, and to make them accessible in digital format. The Bradford collection numbers around 6,000 images in total; the work is scheduled for completion in April 2010.

Zoltán Glass was one of the great photographers of the 20th century – and automobiles were one his favourite subjects. During the 1920s and 1930s he was also commissioned by Daimler-Benz AG to take many photographs of Mercedes-Benz vehicles. Glass, for example, documented the period of the classic Silver Arrows, the cars that dominated international grand prix racing from 1934 onwards. But he also turned his masterful skills to photographing the brand’s production vehicles for publicity material. He could even turn ostensibly uninspiring subjects, such as Mercedes-Benz vehicle production, into aesthetically pleasing images. After the death of Zoltán Glass in 1981, his photographic legacy was acquired by the National Media Museum, which houses one of Europe’s most important photographic collections.


At the instigation of Daimler AG, his work is now being catalogued and digitised. The project also involves feeding the original photograph captions into the database and reproducing the images in their original sequence. The process makes use of state-of-the-art technology, which enables the negatives and their immense wealth of detail to be photographed in high resolution using a calibrated high-end medium-format camera in order to create a neutral copy of the original. The results are first saved as files of approximately 100 megabytes in TIFF format. Finally, special software is used to convert the negative images into positives.

Once the work is complete, the photographs will be available for further historical editorial work and other projects.



Source: Daimler/Mercedes-Benz

STOCK NEWS: MINI COOPER (RALLY GIANTS) NOW AVAILABLE

Image taken from Mini Cooper (Rally Giants Series) by Graham Robson. See more great pictures from the book on flickr.

This is a comprehensive study of the career of one type of rally car – the BMC Mini-Cooper/Mini-Cooper S. In the 1960s the Mini became famous as Britain’s most successful rally car. It combined superb handling, a tiny body shell, high-performance engines and the excellence of front-wheel-drive in an irresistible package. Not only this, but the works team included famous drivers like Paddy Hopkirk, Timo Makinen and Rauno Aaltonen.
The works Minis not only won the Monte Carlo three times – 1964, 1965 and 1967 – along with the European Rally Championship in 1965, but also won events all over the world. Because Minis were British, and well-promoted, they became seen as giant-killers, and were the people’s favourite for many years. The car outpaced many of its rivals, and this book examines exactly who they were, and how they came to be defeated by the ‘mighty Mini.’

Even today, works Minis appear at every gathering of classic cars – and in 2009, Mini celebrates its 50th birthday. Packed with over 100 photographs, this book is a fitting and timely tribute to a much-loved Rally Giant.

Click here for more info about the book.

Check out this video of Graham Robson talking about the book at MINI United.

DAVID HEMMINGS INTERVIEW

David Hemmings - Porsche 928 Marque expert answers my questions at The Porsche Club GB National Event 2009 at Blenheim Palace.



Porsche 928 - The Essential Buyer's Guide by David Hemmings.
Don't buy a car without this book!
Expert advice from a marque expert.
Unique points scoring system to evaluate cars after inspection.
Walk away or stay? - quick initial evaluation of a car.
How to check the car's authenticity.
Which models are best.
The implications of restoration.
Is it the right car for you? - will it fit your garage, will you fit in the car?
Running cost details.
Detailed specifications.
Click here for more info about the book.

4-STAR CAR

Ok, we're not quite finished with highlighting the praise we've received for Porsche Racing Cars – 1976 to 2005! Here's another review for Brian Long's second volume, as published in Auto Express magazine last month.

PORSCHE RACING HISTORY

Thanks to Racecar Engineering magazine for its review of our "stunning two-volume set" on the history Porsche Racing Cars by Brian Long. The first volume covers 1953-1975 and the second covers 1976-2005.

"An excellent account of Porsche's racing history" – Racecar Engineering

Click to view larger image

THE RIGHTFUL KINGS OF THE ROAD

-PRESS RELEASE-


Take a trip back in time to see (or remember) what life was like on the roads in the 1950s, with this unique book from Veloce Publishing's Those Were The Days … Series. British Lorries of the 1950s by Malcolm Bobbitt is a well-researched historical account, which reveals much about Britain's commercial vehicle and road haulage industries of fifty plus years ago.

This book is a highly visual study of British lorries built during the 1950s, and contains 120 colour and black and white images, many contemporary. The photographic content extends to publicity material as well as the preservation scene depicting historic vehicles at work. All the familiar, and less familiar, names are described in great detail and the comprehensive text reveals much about life on the road in 1950s Britain, reminding us all of those marques that were household names at the time and now form a residual memory in the consciousness of many British citizens.

Malcolm Bobbitt has a lifelong interest in motor transport. In addition to contributing to various magazines, he is the author of thirty books, some printed in several languages, with subjects ranging from Bubblecars and Microcars, Motorhomes and British Police Vehicles to marque histories of Citroën, Fiat, Rolls-Royce, Rover and Volkswagen. The author, who is a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers and the Society of Automotive Historians, is acclaimed for his biography of W.O. Bentley and a history of Rolls-Royce to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the firm's tenure at Crewe.



Coming soon! British Lorries of the 1960s
by Malcolm Bobbitt.