GTO 64 - Book by Doug Nye

Quote above concerning my new GTO/64 work: "This one sounds like the best of the two GTO books....I ordered mine from Motors-Mania as usual."

Thanks but hey fellers - in all fairness please do NOT dismiss James Page's two-volume GTO book as somehow being a lesser option.

My book covers just the seven /64 cars. His covers the whole boiling...1962-63-64. It's comprehensive - and it was an enormous task for him.

James is a good guy, a good writer and a diligent researcher and those Porterpress books are - in my opinion - a MUST, doing much to a) set the record straight on all of the cars and b) to bring their assorted ownerships up to date.

Jess Pourret of course did a wonderful job way back, which was not only pioneering and ground breaking but which set an immensely high standard worth emulating. But his GTO books are age-old titles now, researched, written and produced way back and to some extent they do show their age... Please take a look at James's work before you might dismiss it - and then in future regret having done so.

Yes, you've got it, we Brits stick together.

But seriously, please don't miss out by thinking either/or where these two titles are concerned.

DCN

 

To make up for this I will order two copies of each title.

 

Hi Doug, I think they are both fantastic looking books. You just have a longer proven track record. We all plan on getting both GTO books and some several copies

I wish someone like you would tackle the Carrera Pan America and do that race justice. Phil Hills books touched on that subject some but so much has not been published yet. And alot of Kodachrome was shot at that race by American's, unlike in England where they were still shooting black and white Just kidding as the Brits helped improve and develop the film for Kodak.

 

As a well known contributor on this forum would say..."it's only money, why not buy both? "

 

Right answers, boys... Thank you again.

Interesting point about early colour photography. We hold some colour shot at Le Mans and Brooklands as early as 1937-38, and a little in the late 1940s-1950-52, then my crusty - and much-missed - colleague Geoff Goddard shot a roll of Ferraniacolor home-process film at the 1954 Spanish GP when on his honeymoon in Barcelona.

But as a professional racing photographer he simply couldn't find a customer to publish any of those images. So he went back to shooting almost exclusively black-and-white until 1961-62, when the magazines and some books at last began to print in quantity, in colour. The dearth of high-quality colour photography of UK and European motor sport until the '60s was a question of there having been no paying demand to justify any supply.

Only the better-off pros and of course happy-snap amateurs would willingly carry the cost of shooting colour without an end customer to reproduce it. Most notably Jesse Alexander and Henry Manney shot great colour in Europe, self-funding, and Swiss publisher Ami Guichard's top-quality 'Automobile Year' annual used colour most notably from the wonderful Yves Debraine.

DCN

 

Well, contrary to Doug's approval of the "right answer" to the question of buying both high-priced books, I would like to say that I was shocked by the price of the GTO64 book. I have been buying books like this for over 50 years and it is getting to the point where I may stop due to the continually climbing prices.

 

And don't forget that you or your heirs will need to dispose of them at some point. Enough is enough! There are too many omnivores on FChat.

 

This project is most unlikely ever to show a profit for its backers in any case. The simple truth, gentlemen, is that quality costs...

DCN

 

Oh - and PS - a comment here has just made me realise that I have been producing books for 52 years... "Why?" I ask myself..."Why?"...

DCN

 

What a waste of time!

 

Why?

Because you are bloody good at it!

Not just good at writing but a great authority and historian. I think you were the only expert involved with selecting cars for the Goodwood FoS and you did an amazing job there. Personally I would have had a Ferrari Festival of Speed but I realise Goodwood need to cater to a wider audience! You have many fans (I count myself as one) who await your (Ferrari) books on the edge of my seat. I admit that the delays are frustrating but also admit that I know absolutely nothing about any of the processes involved in producing books. When I see that the Enzo Ferrari book has been delayed (again) I just look forward to receiving one, one day, and rejoicing that, at the moment, the price has not gone up! Until that day I can afford to buy (invest in?) other books so thanks for the delays: I just hope that as the Evro website says: it will be worth it!

 

Can you (or someone) please educate me with how a book shows ‘profit’ for its ‘backers’?
Case in point: GTO 64 book…
Sells 1000 books for £280…
£280,000
Less royalties for images
Less printing costs
Less margin for publishers
Less profit for backers (who are they and what is their incentive)
Less costs (mark up) that distributors make…

how does it work?

 

Absolutely true.

If the book is sold through the trade, 40-60% of the cover price goes to the book dealer.

Selling 1,000 books on a niche topic like this is a tall order, there are only seven owners.

If one does all the selling and distribution in-house, through a dedicated website and/or eBay, I would estimate that at least half the print run would need to be shifted before a break-even point is reached, maybe more. The author is unlikely to get paid at his normal daily rate for creating something like this, it is truly a labour of love. Original photography is both difficult to track down and has grown to be very expensive, some of the photo agencies have become somewhat greedy or appreciate the value of their assets. It depends what side of the fence you are on.

Be grateful that someone is prepared to invest in projects like this for all of us to enjoy and appreciate.

jb

 

I sent a message to the publisher’s personal email address a couple of weeks ago and have yet to receive a reply. I’ve never quite understood the lack of attention paid to people who are trying to give you their money.

 

A few moments ago I received an email from the publisher which says:

"Many apologies to those who have been seeking information about our new book telling the complete story of Ferrari’s 250GTO/64. News of the book sneaked out far sooner than anticipated, but I can assure you a new website about the project is currently under development and will hopefully go live by the end of this week, 23 July 2021.

The standard edition has 452 pages and includes over 550 photographs and will cost £280.00, not including delivery charges. Shipping from the printers in Hong Kong is still suffering delays but we are hoping to start sending out books during the first or second week of September. We will keep you informed as the situation develops

There is also a special, leather-bound edition available, limited to an edition of just 100 copies, all numbered and signed by the author. This edition will cost £1250.00, again not including delivery charges."

I can only assume that I received it as a purchaser of their Phil Hill books since I hadn't attempted to contact them (and the email address is not the one on the website for the book about the Chinese housing development).

I might add that I find it slightly bizarre to say news sneaked out earlier than anticipated when surely it was the publishers who put the preview on Issuu in the first place.

 

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Does anyone know if the 250GTO/64 website is live?

 

should be live imminently (tmr or next day).

 

The website is now live at GTO/64 – The Story of Ferrari’s 250GTO/64 (gto64.com)

 

Thank you all very much for your expressed interest and support - I really hope that any who do feel inclined to invest find that our work has been worthwhile.

DCN

 

I'll be purchasing a copy Doug.
Is it possible to arrange it to be autographed inside?

 

Errmm - who by?

DCN
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By Your Grace, of course.

(Bows, takes three steps back, leaves the room).

 

Three guesses....