Description
‘a magnificent selection of pictures…impassioned text’
Classic & Sports Car
‘sheer quality…they say a picture is worth a thousand words…these ones tell millions’
Motorsport News
In this updated edition of the original In Camera volume covering the 1960s the world of sports-car racing springs to life through stunning full-colour period photography. From the harsh concrete of Sebring, the treacherous Sicilian country roads of the Targa Florio, the infinite corners, hidden apexes and never-ending crests of the Nurburgring, the banked Daytona and frightening Monza bowl and the aircraft velocities of Spa, Le Mans and Reims, all had to be overcome.
The evocative era portrayed in this beautifully presented, full-color photographic book belonged to Ferrari, Ford and Porsche, with occasional intervention from Maserati, Aston Martin, Chaparral, Lola, Alfa Romeo, Matra and Gulf Mirage.
Sports-car racing in the 1960s was a grand adventure involving very powerful and relatively crude cars racing at challenging circuits. The period started with the iconic Ferrari Testa Rossas and the unique ‘Birdcage’ Maseratis, and also saw the dying days of Aston Martin and Jaguar. Ferrari, partly due to their extensive experience of sports-car racing, dominated the races until the mid-1960s, when Ford appeared and upset the status quo – although Ford was more concerned with winning Le Mans rather than championships. The smaller sports-car class was virtually a monopoly for Porsche, who occasionally beat all comers in the slower races. With the advent of rule changes for 1968, Porsche would become the fastest and most persistent winners (after taking an unexpected beating from the John Wyer Ford GT40s), and the German manufacturer unleashed the fearsome 917 at the close of the decade.
The 1960s also featured a multitudinous cast of non-factory teams and professional privateers in a huge selection of machinery. Even more numerous were the legions of drivers of all nationalities who graced a typical grid.
This book captures every aspect of the period. Its carefully researched period photographs – many of them previously unpublished – are brought to life through the author’s detailed and atmospheric commentary to create a visually stunning, highly nostalgic record of this dramatic decade.
About the author
Paul Parker is the author of Formula 1 in Camera, 1950–59, Formula 1 in Camera, 1960–69 (Volumes One and Two) and Formula 1 in Camera, 1970–79 (Volumes One and Two), along with sister titles covering sports car racing in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. Additionally he has written Sixties Motor Racing with Michael Cooper, Jaguar at Le Mans 1950–95, Races, Faces, Places and Klemantaski: Master Motorsports Photographer. He is a freelance writer and a superb photo researcher, with work published in Octane, Motor Sport, Classic Cars, Forza!, Jaguar World Monthly and The Daily Telegraph. He also track tests historic cars and has raced a Lister Jaguar.
