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High Performance When Britain Ruled the Roads

Release on 2019-05-16 | by Peter Grimsdale

High Performance tells the exhilarating tale of their journey down the fast lane.’ Ben Collins, bestselling author of The Man In The White Suit and How To Drive ‘A wonderful glimpse "backstage" at the flamboyant mavericks and crazies ...

Author: Peter Grimsdale
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 9781471168475
Category: Biography & Autobiography
Page: 352
View: 602

High Performance When Britain Ruled the Roads

‘A band of stubborn pioneers rose from the embers of Britain’s cities after World War Two and created the finest automobiles the world had ever seen ... High Performance tells the exhilarating tale of their journey down the fast lane.’ Ben Collins, bestselling author of The Man In The White Suit and How To Drive ‘A wonderful glimpse "backstage" at the flamboyant mavericks and crazies who populated the British motor industry in the 60s.’ Alexei Sayle ‘High Performance is a cracking read and an adrenaline-packed tribute to the time when British mavericks “blew the bloody doors off” the competition.’ The Sunday Times 'Peter Grimsdale gives a very different and uplifting slant to the story of ... the post-Second World War British Motor industry. He focuses on people who did things differently and whose achievements are with us still ... thoughtful and stimulating.' Alan Judd, The Oldie Chosen as one of The Mail on Sunday’s ‘100 Summer Books’? In January 1964 a team of tiny red and white Mini Coopers stunned the world by winning the legendary Monte Carlo Rally. It was a stellar year for British cars that culminated in Goldfinger breaking box office records and making James Bond’s Aston Martin DB5 the world’s most famous sports car. By the sixties, on road, track and silver screen the Brits were the ones to beat, winning championships and capturing hearts. Stirling Moss, Jim Clark and Paddy Hopkirk were household names who drove the sexiest and most innovative cars. Designers like John Cooper, and Colin Chapman of Lotus, dismissed as mere ‘garagisti’ by Enzo Ferrari, blew the doors off Formula One and grabbed all the prizes, while Alex Issigonis won a knighthood for his revolutionary Mini. The E Type Jaguar was feted as the world’s sexiest car and Land Rover the most durable. But before the Second World War only one British car had triumphed in a Grand Prix; Britain’s car builders were fiercely risk-averse. So what changed? To find out, Peter Grimsdale has gone in search of a generation of rebel creative spirits who emerged from railway arches and Nissen huts to tear up the rulebook with their revolutionary machines. Like the serial fugitives from the POW camps, they thrived on adversity, improvisation and sheer obstinate determination. Blazing the trail for them was William Lyons, whose heart-stoppingly glamorous and uncompromising Jaguars propelled a bruised and bankrupt nation out of the shadows of war, winning the fans in Hollywood and beating ‘those bloody red cars’ at Le Mans. High Performance celebrates Britain’s automotive golden age and the mavericks who sketched them on the back of envelopes and garage floors, who fettled, bolted and welded them together and hammered the competition in the showroom, on the road and on the track – fuelled by contempt for convention.

Language: en
Pages: 352

High Performance: When Britain Ruled the Roads

Authors: Peter Grimsdale

Categories: Biography & Autobiography

Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-05-16 - Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Language: en
Pages: 320

Racing in the Dark

Authors: Peter Grimsdale

Categories: Sports & Recreation

Type: BOOK - Published: 2021-05-27 - Publisher: Simon and Schuster

The inspirational story of the Bentley Boys, and the Le Mans 24-hour race of 1927 that sealed their astonishing place in history. Using the frame of that extraordinary race, in Racing in the Dark Peter Grimsdale paints a picture of a remarkable car at the historic moment when petrol overtook

Language: en
Pages:

Congressional Record

Authors: United States. Congress

Categories: Law

Type: BOOK - Published: 1963 - Publisher:

The Congressional Record is the official record of the proceedings and debates of the United States Congress. It is published daily when Congress is in session. The Congressional Record began publication in 1873. Debates for sessions prior to 1873 are recorded in The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of

Language: en
Pages: 324

The Information Society in Europe

Authors: Ken Ducatel, Juliet Webster, Werner Herrmann

Categories: Computers

Type: BOOK - Published: 2000 - Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

An examination of a range of technological issues at stake in the European Union, from employment and the labour market, to implications for political processes and democracy. It discerns social trends but finds there is considerable room to use the technologies as a force for social change.

Language: en
Pages: 252

Indianomix

Authors: Vivek Dehejia, Rupa Subramanya

Categories: Literary Collections

Type: BOOK - Published: 2015-03-06 - Publisher: Random House India

A quirky look at India using popular economics Why does the stock exchange dip during a lunar eclipse? Why don’t cars with safety features lead to fewer injuries? Why did Nehru ignore the Chinese threat in the lead-up to the 1962 war? Why is it that a stranger might risk