109
SnakesAlive!TheCreamof 1980s
BritishCobraReplicasbyPeter
Filby, £59.50, autocraftbooks.
co.uk, ISBN 978 0 9545729 3 8
Kit cars usually get short shrift in the
classic-car world, replicas even more
so. However, this tome is well worth
a read, simply because it’s about an
important part of British sports car
culture that usually goes ignored.
This isn’t a simple catalogue of
snake-fakers. Specialist-car authority
Peter Filby is the ideal guide, taking
us on a tour of just six takes on
the Cobra replica, all with roots in
the early Eighties, and crucially, all
very good sports cars in their own
right, properly engineered and with
colourful tales behind their creations.
The crucial connecting factor is
that of engineers, weaned on Fifties
and Sixties British sports cars, feeling
their loss and addressing it, rather
than boulevardier showoffs. This
spirit is exactly that which drove
Peter Wheeler’s reinvention of TVR
and Mazda’s creation of the MX-5. A
fascinating story that’s gone untold
in this kind of depth for far too long.
Recommended.
VintageBentleysinAustralia
byCHay,B Watson,P Schudmak
& T Johns, £125, imagespublishing.
com, ISBN 978 1 864707 85 4
Clare Hay’s works on vintage
Bentleys are always worth reading,
not only for their definitiveness,but
also for her knack of unearthing
details of individual cars long-lostto
time and unimaginative VandenPlas
tourer-replica rebodyings.
This volume adds a completely
new dimension too – the Australian
perspective. Working in collaboration
with the Bentley Drivers Club of
Australia, Hay has chronicled the
lives of all the Bentleys importedinto
the country throughout the Twenties.
It’ s an insight into a unique
motoring culture, balancing a
desire for handling, refinement
and performance with Outback
ruggedness. Dirt-racing and overland
expeditions are a world away from
Le Mans and London mews, but
it’s all here. The Australian Bentley
culture is documented too, from
wealthy early owners, via rescue
by resourceful mechanics, to the
thriving adventurers of today.MORE T0 ENJOY
Amazing World of
Classic Cars: An Insider’s
Perspective by Michael
Kliebenstein, vandp.net
A beautifully photographed
insider’s perspective on
life within the classic car
movement, watching it
evolve from the Seventies
to the present day.
Sumptuous, if a little
light on detail. Available
direct from Kliebenstein
himself via Vintage &
Prestige’s own website.Patina Volkswagens by
Mark Walker, £30,
veloce.co.uk
Yet another aircooled VW
book, but with a difference- it’s all about the worldwide
trend for preservation of
original condition, no matter
how worn, rather than
restoration and customising.
Unique.
DB4 GT Continuation:
History in the Making
by James Page, £40,
porterpress.co.uk
Page documents what could
be seen as a controversial
project here, but it’s a
fresh perspective on a
well-trodden subject, and
there’s enough original DB4
material here to please the
ardent Aston aficionado
too. Add typical Porter
Press high-quality execution
and thoroughness and it’s a
very good read.All these books are available
from Chater’s, many with
discounts. To find out more
go to chaters.co.ukMODELS
1:18-scale ‘rain effect’ Ferrari
250GTO BBR, £399.99
A fascinating experiment by BBR,
capturing the way a sprinkling of
rain sits on the polished bodywork
of a car using tiny blobs of water-
replicating resin – including two
clear arcs cleaned by the wipers
on the windscreen. Mesmerising.1:43-scale Koenig Specials
Ferrari Testarossa Turbo
Neo, £84.99
Neo has done an excellent job,
using unique wide-bodied tooling
rather than modifying a standard
body shell, creating a bespoke
feel. The high-contrast colour
scheme shows off its fine interior
detailing to great effect too.1:43-scale AC Aceca
Oxford, £24.99
Oxford has produced a desirable
model at an incredibly low price.
No fine chrome detail has been
skimped on, including individual
wire-wheel spokes; there’s also a
nicely visible high-contrast red/
black interior, glossy paint and a
good heft to its diecast structure.1:43-scale Alfa Romeo GTV6
Whitebox, £26.99
This 1:43 captures the GTV6’s
matt-finished, plasticky Eighties
charm well. But it doesn’t share
the well-judged proportions of
Whitebox’s nicely detailed 1:24s,
with a plethora of markedly over-
and under-sized details. All models are available from diecastlegends.comBOOKS & MODELS
IMSA 1969-1989
By Mitch Bishop & Mark Raffauf, £80, octanepress.com,
ISBN 978 1 937747 89 3
This book initially threatens to be a rather dry document about the off-track
business dealings underpinning a motor sport institution – IMSA – but quickly
and thankfully reveals itself to be a story of incredible depth and colour.
The authors, both lifelong IMSA insiders, reveal the real reasons behind the
evolution of America’s equivalent of the FIA and its fostering of European-
style sports car racing in the US.
As Bishop and Raffauf explain, what started out as an attempt to run
Formula Ford as NASCAR support races evolved into a series which influenced
the creation of several generations of sports-prototype. Remarkably
European-influenced touring-car racing took place under its banner too.
Bishop and Raffauf are in-depth and unflinching here too. A love-hate
relationship with Porsche, several family tragedies, drug-money in the sport
and even an amok serial-killer driver are frankly confronted. A slow-burning,
but substantial chronicle of a racing cornerstone.