Book Reviews
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The Sagging Book Shelf Read any good books lately? There has never been a shortage of books written about Cobras and Shelbys. The popularity of the cars, reflected in both heightened interest and the continuing escalation of values, has resulted in an ever expanding number of books written about these cars. Rick Kopec has reviewed just about every book relating to Cobras, Shelbys, GT40s or racing in that era. While most are no longer in print, amazon.com is usually pretty good at finding used copies that are in pretty good shape. The books included here are in no particular order. B O B B O ND UR A NT Am e r i c a ’s SHELBY, T HE R ACE DR IVER – Un c r o w n e d Wo r ld D r i v in g With R em em b ranc e s b y Carr o ll C h a m p io n by Phil Henny. Shelby by Art Evans. Softbound; 11˝ x Hardbound; 11 3/8˝ x 8 3/4˝; 189 8 1/2˝; 192 pages; 229 black & white pages; 138 black & white photos, 74 photos. Photo Data Research, LLC, color photos. Published by Editions 800 S Pacific Coast Hwy, Redondo Cotty, Portland, OR. Beach, CA 90277. 310-540-8068 pho - M I L L I O N D O L L A R M U S C L E www.philhenny.com $75.00 [email protected] $29.95 CARS by Colin Comer. Hard-bound; 9 Phil Henny has done it again. The Just about every book written 1.2˝ x 11 13/4˝; 192 pages, 242 color former Shelby American race mechan - about Shelby or his cars makes refer - photos. Published by Motorbooks, ic and fabricator turned author has ence, usually very briefly, to his racing Galtier Plaza, Suite 200, 380 Jackson put together an excellent narrative of career. His competition experience in St, St. Paul, MN 55101. $34.95 the life of Bob Bondurant, one of the the 1950s provided him with the prac - Five years ago this book would Cobra Team’s most notable drivers. tical knowledge and background—the have been a work of fiction, written by Turning the pages of this book is like gravitas—which enabled him to speak someone with an overactive imagina - going through Bob’s personal scrap - with authority about sports car racing. tion and maybe a touch of wishful book, and maybe that’s the way it was When Ford became excited about thinking. But today, thanks to the envisioned. There are a dozen pages of using the Cobra and GT40 to burnish atmosphere that swirls around the introductions, a foreword, an author’s their performance image, they turned upper levels of the collector and mus - note, two pages of acknowledgements to Shelby. And he was anything but clecar market (which includes the tele - and some dedications before the book bashful about being their racing vised-in-real-time Barrett-Jackson even begins, giving it the feel of a good expert. auction every January in Scottsdale, old boys network — which it is. All of His racing experience lasted eight Arizona, the speed-of-light communi - these guys were attracted to Shelby years, from 1952 through 1960. This cation of cell phones, text messaging American early in their careers and book provides a year by year examina - and the internet and the automobile- now, in their golden years, they are tion of his racing record, using period as-investment climate), like it or not looking back with an appreciation and photographs and Shelby’s own remem - million dollar musclecars have become sense of obligation to each other. The brances of each event. The five page more or less a reality. The book is books is filled with photos of most of appendix lists every race he drove in: divided into two sections: seven-figure Bondurant’s races, those he raced with date track, event name, car, entrant cars and six-figures and rising. All are and against, and a bit of narration name and finishing position. worthy of being mentioned. This is a explaining what happened and why it Art Evans has written a handful coffee table book which means the was important. Portions of race pro - of books dealing with various facets of photography, almost all of it in color, is grams, grid sheets, posters and track west coast sports car racing in the nothing short of superb. The examples diagrams all help to put you there. It 1950s. Like the others, this one is well chosen for inclusion are all restored to takes you from Bondo’s sports car rac - researched and profusely illustrated, perfection. You don’t have to be a big ing days through his driving school in using period photos that provide an money investor to appreciate this Phoenix. It’s a pleasant trip. excellent examination of the history of book. You can thumb through it and Shelby’s career. hope that your dreams come true. There are also some sloppy errors you would expect from a freshman in a high school writing class. For exam - ple, describing the finish of the 1968 Daytona 24-Hours, which included Group II (Trans-Am) cars, he says, “ At the end of the race, it rolled to the fin - ish in third overall just behind three Porsche 907 prototypes... ” Huh? Here’s another example of specious thinking: In describing the 1968 Trans-Am program, Wyss says, “Shelby’s mechanics during that year still tell horror stories of engines arriv - ing from Dearborn that were missing vital parts like push rods. The long SHELBY. The Man. The Cars. The simmering belief of the Shelby crew L e g e n d . by Wallace A. Wyss. that Ford Dearborn favored the Softbound; 6˝ x 9˝; 208 pages; 49 black NASCAR racers was fueled by Ford’s SHELBY CARS IN DETAIL. & white photos. Iconografix, PO Box sending of bum engines to the Shelby C a r s o f th e Sh e lb y Am e r ic a n 446, Hudson, WI 54016. $19.95. team in ’68. ” Co llection by Frank Barrett & Boyd Wally Wyss is no stranger to the So, someone at Ford (unnamed, of Jaynes. Hardbound; 11 3/4”x131/4”; world of Shelby American. He has course) wanted Shelby to lose the 1968 272 pages; 154 color photos. 3 black & been lurking around the periphery of Trans-Am series—even though the white. David Bull Publishing, 4250 E. the hobby for more than 30 years. His company was paying them a fair Camel-back Rd, Suite K150, Phoenix, first book, “Shelby’s Wildlife,” is the amount of sponsorship money. AZ 85018 602-852-9500. $149.95. worst reference source for these cars According to Chuck Cant-well and If you look up “coffee table book” ever written. Ironically, it has proba - Lew Spencer, when Ford sent tunnel - in the dictionary you’ll see a picture of bly sold more copies than any other port engines to Shelby they came with this book. It’s that good. Here’s the book on this subject. This has, no orders to install them without touch - premise: take 26 of the most histori - doubt, prodded him into this follow-up ing them. They had already been cally interesting cars currently being book. dyno-tested. Uh, without push rods, displayed in the Shelby American It contains 18 chapters. Each one Wally? Collection in Boulder, Colorado, com - begins with an anecdote or narrative, These are just a couple of exam - pile a synopsis of their history and written in the second person by some - ples. Trust us, there are plenty more. why they are important, and then get one who was there—someone who We found questionable comments, a professional photographer to take could see someone else sweating or quotes or ideas on just about every studio shots of each one — both por - could hear someone’s comments made page. Truth be known, we could not traits of the entire car and detail shots under there breath. The problem is bring ourselves to read the entire of significant features. Take the pho - that Wyss wasn’t there for any of it. book. It was just too tedious. That’s tos, which are virtually perfect in com - He puts words into people’s mouths the way it was for us, and if you’re position and execution, and put them and extracts thoughts from their familiar with the story of Shelby and into an oversized, hard cover book. heads—things he records as facts but his cars, we suspect that’s the way it Other marques wish they had some - which he could not possibly know. It’s will be for you, too. The things we thing like this. Since the Shelby fine writing as far as fiction goes, but know are erroneous made us wonder if American Collection features primari - there is no room in a book like this for things which we didn’t could also be ly Cobras, they make up most of this fiction. erroneous. This doubt clung to every book. But there are a few GT40s, a In relating the oft-told Shelby page. We suspect the buyers of this couple of R-Models, a ‘65 GT350, and story, Wyss gets most of the facts book will form two groups. Those who AC Ace, one of the Ferraris that right. What is troublesome are his don’t know very much about the Shelby raced in the late 1950s and the continual attempts to draw conclu - Shelby story, and those who are curi - white-with-blue-stripes Falcon Sedan sions which may or not be right.