The Sports Car: Development and Design (John Stanford) lands on the shelves of my shop, where it will be found in my Transport Cars section. priced at £8.50! Call in and get 40% OFF that price when you mention this post…
London: B. T. Batsford, 1957, (First Edition) Hardback in dust wrapper.
Contains: Black & white photographs; Black & white plates; From the cover: After nearly six decades of evolution, the average motor car of today is a completely dependable unit, taken for granteewd mechanically and demanding little knowledge and less effort from its owner. Nevertheless, something important is often lacking the element of sheer pleasure in driving, of achieving something more than a mere journey. It is with the cars which have been designed, from the beginnings of motoring history, to give this special sort of pleasure to their drivers, that this book is concerned.
John Stanford, co-author with Cecil Glutton of The Vintage Motor Car, has written a critical and historical appreciation of the sports car, in which he traces the threads of its development and design from the 1903, 60 h. p. Mercedes and the 1910, 27/80 h. p. Austro-Daimler, through the celebrated Bentleys, Sunbeams and Vauxhalls of the Vintage years to the infinitely more powerful and complicated Alfa Romeos and Bugattis of the thirties. He concludes with a discussion of the products of the decade since the war, when lessons learnt in aircraft design have been applied to the sports car, to make available to the private enthusiast vehicles with ever-improving qualities of handling and performance. In no period does he confine himself to the largest or fastest cars, and so he is also able to give his attention to such stimulating machines as the type 13 Bugatti, the Amilcar, G. N., Austin Seven, M. G. and many others. While the book is most readable, it is also of value for reference purposes, as much technical information is given and performance figures are quoted for the majority of the cars discussed.
A valuable feature of the book are its 101 illustrations, which include 36 whole page drawings by John Dunscombe, presenting an historical panorama of sports cars through more than half a century.
Very Good in Good Dust Wrapper. Unlaminated dust wrapper a little edgeworn and faded with a crease to the foot of the upper panel. Previous owner’s lable to the first blank. Edges of the text block lightly tanned. Text complete, clean and tight.
Turquoise boards with Gilt titling to the Spine. 224 pages. Index. 9″ x 6″.
BookLovers of Bath 