Official book collectors thread

I just received it and I think it's a worthwhile purchase, though hardly definitive. It includes a number of models with very limited production, including one-offs like the Modulo and the Pinin, while omitting some more highly produced models like the 250 GT Boano, Ellena and Pininfarina coupes. And it is hardly up to date, since it ends with the Enzo, thus almost nothing from this century is included.

 

Sounds like a good book with a poor title. Thank you for explaining the cover picture. Strange and interesting story. Had not realised Jim Clark participated in hill climbs.

 

It's worthless IMO. I gave my copy away.

 

Just finished this. Had considered buying it, but it was on the shelf at the local library, so give it a read. Fun stories, but glad I didn't spend a decent lunch's money on it.


While it is definitely one sided, and some counter points of view would have provided a much more complete picture, it does demonstrate Ferrari FNA and Ferrari SpA's take over and homogenization of the Ferrari dealership network after Enzo's death. While it tries to make Burnett out as the victim hero, and many who knew him in the day might dispute that, he did help take the Ferrari brand in America to the next step in the late ‘70s and ‘80s from where Luigi Chinetti had brought it in the late ‘50s to early ‘70s.

 

I would agree with that. Jim Ciardella, the author, comes off as a "true believer" telling Brian Burnett's story. It's a box he never even thinks of stepping outside of. Clearly, Ciardella is not any sort of trained journalist with even the slightest investigative tendencies. I ended up concluding that Burnett was a big fish in a small bowl, who got his feelings hurt when he found himself in a bigger pond.

At around the same time The Dealer came out, there was another book called Let Me Sell You a Ferrari by Robert Guarino. I thought it was the better book, if you are looking for something that explains the life and times of a Ferrari dealer in the '70s and '80s. Even it, though, is anything but a gritty behind the scenes tell all. Car dealers, it would seem, are pretty much the same everywhere. Most concerned about their own private money making patch, and not especially in tune with the wider world and its affairs.

 

From what I understand, Autohaus got the same treatment as Ferrari Los Gatos did. Sell out to us cheap or you aren’t going to be able to sell at all.

 

Pretty much so. The tone of the two books, though, is very different. Guarino comes off as sanguine about having had a good, long run. Burnett, essentially unfiltered going through Ciardella, seems embittered and, my opinion, rather self-righteous.

 

Another publication that is not 100% Ferrari, but may still interest some:

https://www.chaters.co.uk/prod/22034/formula-1-grand-prix/kyalami-grand-prix-circuit-60-years-of-memories

 

Sadly Kyalami calls to mind Peter Revson and Tom Pryce. Not one for me.

 

Very sad losses, but it did include the only factory 512M victory in 1970 if you count the sportscar GP's and Mario's Ferrari 312B victory.

 

Sorry to ruin your day but that set is not complete any more, you're missing the "media" edition in its grey slipcase ! :-°
Wonder how many of those have been printed (and why have they send them only now, but I surely won't complain about that...)

 

Palawan just introduced their new book:
Seventies Motor Racing

https://www.palawan.co.uk/product/seventies/

 

also
0880 312P in '71
0890 312P in '72

 

It turns out I’ve read one of the winners (Driven to Crime) and will have another (Million Dollar Middle Man) arriving on Monday. There’s a very nice passage on Karl Ludvigsen in here, too…

http://royalautomobileclub.co.uk/news/royal-automobile-club-announces-winners-of-its-2023-motoring-book-of-the-year-awards/

 

Ferrari Testarossa
by Derosa, Gaetano

Code: 63129
Format: Hardback / 168 pages
Publication date: 26/11/2023
Availability: Pre Order.
Release date: November 2023
Price: AU $111.00

The Testarossa, one of the most "provocative" Ferraris of all time, caused a sensation from its "preview" at the Paris Lido in 1984. It boasted extreme styling, with a rear track significantly wider than the front and conspicuous air intake strakes on the flanks, while mechanically it sported a mighty V12 engine displacing almost five. The Supercars series could hardly fail to include a title devoted to this sensational car and recounting its technical and stylistic genesis. The book covers both the Testarossas "ancestors" - the 365 GTB/4 Daytona and the 512 BB - and its "descendants" - the 512 TR and the F512 M, not to forget the Spider version commissioned by Avvocato Gianni Agnelli and the sensational Mythos, the prototype designed by Pininfarina in 1989 and based on the rolling chassis of this car. The book is completed by the road tests that featured the car in the magazine Quattroruote.

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Another shelf warmer?

 

Shelf filler ?

My prediction would be yes.

 

It is in the same series as the F40 book by the same author which I am very pleased to own (alongside Keith Bluemel's book on the same subject). If the Testarossa book is to the same standard, as I hope it will be, then I will be delighted. I have a copy on order but had an email from the company I ordered from a few days ago telling me the publisher can't give them a due date, so not sure when I'll receive it.

 

How would you compare the F40 book by Derossa to the book by Bluemel?

Gaetano Derosa has published a number of titles with Giorgio Nada Editore, including Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider (2008), Fiat 124. Spider, Coupe e Abarth (2021) and, in the series "Supercars", Ferrari F40 (2022)

 

I also have both books, and from my point of view, the Derosa is better than the Blumel, which disappointed me a little.
The Blumel dwells too much on describing every bolt of the car, and listing all its sporting results, but accumulating these kinds of facts doesn't make it a good book for me. It skims over the conception of the car and doesn't talk at all about certain aspects such as the design.
The Derosa isn't as well printed, isn't as nice a book and doesn't go into as much detail, but it does cover all aspects of the car. And it's nice to read.
One tells a story, the other is a factual reference.
I'll be ordering the Testarossa with my eyes closed.

 

If you're looking for a good book on the Testarossa, I recommend the one written by Mark Hughes in the Salamander Supercars series, dating from 1988.

It's incredible how much information is contained in this slim book of just 64 pages, with the bulk of the design sketches, tons of detailed technical diagrams and numerous photos of the car being assembled in the factory.
And it's easily available for $10 on the internet. What more could you ask for?

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I pretty much agree with that. As Yan-Alexandre says, Keith's book has a lot more technical detail and a lot more on the race history of the F40. But actually there is surprisingly little overlap. The Derosa book is bilingual (Italian and English), the English translation being fair. I'm very happy I have both books.

As mentioned, I have already ordered the Testarossa book and will be ordering any more of the series that appear covering cars of interest to me.

Disclaimer: I know Keith (and there's one of my pictures in his book) and several of those interviewed in his book.

 

I'd like to introduce you to a book I've been working on for 4 or 5 years, and of which I received the first test copy today.

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As its name suggests, this is an observation guide that brings together all the visual evolutions of all the examples of the 250 GTO (liveries, variations in bodywork, etc.) over the years, from 1962 to the present day (and not just the racing period of these cars).
I produced all the illustrations (there are around 800), based on observation of more than 2,000 period photographs.

It is published in a 'large pocket' format (21 x 13 cm, 246 pages), so that you can, why not, take it to an event to identify a car, as you would a bird-watching book, for example - of course, the experts here wouldn't need it, but I thought it could also be a bit of fun.


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The 4.0-litre cars and some notable replicas are also covered in the appendices. Other sections include a list of the liveries of the cars entered in all the 1962, 1963 and 1964 World Championship events, as well as a 'spotting log' where you can tick off the cars you have seen and note the place and date of your observations.

Of course, technical and historical information about the car is also included, but it's brief - as you'll have realised, that's not the point of this book... which tries to be a slightly different way of talking about the 250 GTO.

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I now have to check everything, from possible printing errors to a complete fact-check, and I hope to be able to offer it for sale in 3 or 4 weeks' time.

It will be entirely self-produced and printed on demand individually (available to buy online).

I hope you like the idea, and I'd like to take this opportunity to ask your advice on the selling price.
In your opinion, what would be a good price for this book - and what would be the maximum price you'd be prepared to pay for it?

 

Great idea and very nice execution. I would hope for a complete ownership history to be included.

I can’t advise on possible retail price as I have no understanding of the economics of publishing.

 

Each car comes with an up-to-date owner's list, and there is a license plate index for quick identification