Overview

Sports prototype racing is about endurance, for the drivers, for the teams and for the companies involved. In this story we see the effort, the blood, the sweat and the tears, reputations won and lost, life and also death. The cars were some of the most evocative ever seen, in the case of Alpine they had a passion and dedication for racing over a long period with stunningly beautiful, creative, slippery aerodynamic designs that allowed them to take many class wins and outright victories in championship racing, and in volume 2 ultimately under Renault ownership a victory at Le Mans, which had been its target since 1963. This story covers every race from 1963 to 1969 it includes races in the USA, and in the Far East, the Targa Florio and the prestigious Le Mans 24 hours. Le Mans and the marketing opportunities it can provide to the major car companies are vast. Victory at Le Mans is the ultimate target. Models covered: Alpine Sports Prototypes Models: M63, M63B, M64, M65, A210, A211, A220, A221 Features: * First time the full story of the Alpine Sports Prototypes in English * Tells the story of the designs of the early cars * Looks at the racing on the World sports car scene in the 1960s * Describes the efforts to get class wins at Le Mans * Examines the success and failures of the V8 cars * Shows the politics and changes in Renault, Alpine and Gordini in the 1960s * Follows the development of the Turbo engine * Features details of testing the Le Mans cars and solving the problems * Looks at the men behind the scenes and the drivers that made it happen * Many interviews and personal experiences recorded

Full Product Details

9781845841911

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""A very accomplished effort."" - velocetoday.com ""Smith really gets his teeth in the subject as the plethora of quotes from team members confirms. A wealth of evocative photos complements the superb research."" - Classic & Sports Car ""Insightful quotes from insiders, racing anecdotes, charts, cutaway diagrams and plenty of good photographs make this a useful and entertaining work."" - Classic Cars ""Both books appear to be very well researched, with all the main people involved in the Alpine organisation represented and the use of excellent quality photos from behind the scenes, all of which really enhance this fascinating story."" - Motor Sport ""Congratulations to Smith for creating a worthwhile English language history of these grossly overlooked French sports-racers. Recommended."" - Octane ""A very accomplished effort. If only everybody spent their retirement years this productively!"" - speedreaders.info ""Rather than describe the story in dry prose, Roy Smith makes you feel almost like you have sat down to a long French dejeuner, fueled by a nice Bordeaux, with all the protagonists who are still alive today. There are many charming and hilarious anecdotes that really flesh out what life was like in the racing world of the 1960s. The book itself is extremely well executed, with pleasing graphic layout and a wealth of fascinating archival photos and drawings in B&W and Color. You can get lost for hours in all the photographs, as you track the gradual changes to each car, from race to race. The printing quality and paper are also very good. Definitely a great gift for the true car geek who likes comprehensive and well-illustrated books!"" - automobiliac.com"

A very accomplished effort. - velocetoday.com Smith really gets his teeth in the subject as the plethora of quotes from team members confirms. A wealth of evocative photos complements the superb research. - Classic & Sports Car Insightful quotes from insiders, racing anecdotes, charts, cutaway diagrams and plenty of good photographs make this a useful and entertaining work. - Classic Cars Both books appear to be very well researched, with all the main people involved in the Alpine organisation represented and the use of excellent quality photos from behind the scenes, all of which really enhance this fascinating story. - Motor Sport Congratulations to Smith for creating a worthwhile English language history of these grossly overlooked French sports-racers. Recommended. - Octane A very accomplished effort. If only everybody spent their retirement years this productively! - speedreaders.info Rather than describe the story in dry prose, Roy Smith makes you feel almost like you have sat down to a long French dejeuner, fueled by a nice Bordeaux, with all the protagonists who are still alive today. There are many charming and hilarious anecdotes that really flesh out what life was like in the racing world of the 1960s. The book itself is extremely well executed, with pleasing graphic layout and a wealth of fascinating archival photos and drawings in B&W and Color. You can get lost for hours in all the photographs, as you track the gradual changes to each car, from race to race. The printing quality and paper are also very good. Definitely a great gift for the true car geek who likes comprehensive and well-illustrated books! - automobiliac.com

Author Information

Roy Smith is a retired company director who has a life long passion for motor sport, and, since 1968, Alpine Renault in particular. He began writing in the 1960s for club magazines, mainly interviews with the notables of the time. A 40 year business career in sales and marketing developed an attention for detail that was required for the preparation of this work about the Alpine Sports Prototypes and his current book about the development of the Renault Turbo Formula 1 cars. He has written many Alpine related articles since 1989 for various magazines, and is the UK correspondent for the French Alpine Renault Magazine, Mille Miles.

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