Dalton Watson Fine Books

In this richly illustrated book, Terry O'Neil details the origins of a remarkable racecar, the Ferrari 333 SP. This vehicle heralded the famed automaker's return to professional sports car competitions after an absence of more than twenty years. Introduced on the American racing circuit in 1994, it found instant success and continued to be a major player in numerous races in the US and Europe. Of the 126 races the 333 SP entered, it emerged victorious in nearly fifty, making it one of the most successful sport prototype cars in Ferrari's history. Containing over eight hundred images--many of them never published before--O'Neil's book is a vivid look at this inimitable automobile.

Carroll Shelby's creation of the Cobra automobile during 1961-1962 transformed an aging British sports car into a 1965 World Manufacturers GT Championship winner for Shelby American. Today, the Cobra is still one of the most recognized automobiles in the world. This book narrates the work required to develop the first production Ford-powered AC Ace 3.6 roadsters that today are referred to as Mark I Leaf Spring Cobras. Seasoned Cobraphiles, novice enthusiasts and especially those who had the foresight to buy the cars, will enjoy the hundreds of fascinating snippets and backstories. The author has researched each of the 125 production Mark I Cobras built and conducted several hundred interviews with the people connected with each car. This endeavor uncovered unknown histories and facts, as well as hundreds of previously unpublished photographs and documents. Despite the lion's share of accolades going directly to Carroll Shelby and the staff at Shelby American for the success of the Cobra, some portion of that credit rightfully belongs to the hardworking craftsmen employed at AC Cars in the 1960s. The Cobra could not have been created without them. Virtually everything except the Mark I Cobra's Ford engine and transmission had been hand-built by old-world craftsman in England. That partnership reflects the best of the Anglo-American spirit and produced one of the most iconic automobiles ever built.

Since the unveiling of the Lamborghini Miura – the world’s first V12-powered mid-engine road car – at the 1966 Geneva Motor Show, this marque from Sant’Agata Bolognese with the raging bull emblem has been one of the most famous and desirable purveyors of the supercar. Valentino Balboni, legendary former Lamborghini test driver, has been famously quoted as saying “Lamborghini is a carmaker that makes engines, the job of the designers was to design the engine cover.” Yet, in its almost six decades long history, the supercar maker has constructed just four different engines: the extraordinary Giotto Bizzarrini-designed V12 that powered Lamborghini’s flagships for the best part of five decades, a promising V8 that almost brought the company to its knees, a V10 that uses many Audi components and has been the mainstay of the marque in the last two decades, and lastly another newer V12, powering the Aventador. However, what has really distinguished Lamborghini, has been a series of models with remarkable, groundbreaking shapes, each one a veritable design revolution. Cars like the Miura, the Espada, the Urraco, the Countach and the Diablo astounded and startled automotive fans just as much by their daring shape, form and aesthetic purity, as by their second-to-none engineering and trendsetting packaging. This book celebrates the design history of Lamborghini through numerous period reports and previously unpublished images, delving into the extraordinary shapes and the intrepid personalities who made Lamborghini what it is today. .

The straight eight engine, also known as the inline eight engine, was the driving force behind some of the most fascinating luxury vehicles of the first half of the twentieth century. From its introduction in the 1920s through its demise in the 1950s, the straight eight graced a number of upmarket vehicles from makers like Pontiac, Packard, and Daimler, and even appeared under the hood of the hyper-exclusive Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, of which only eighteen models were produced. Although it was eventually replaced by the V8 engine, the straight eight engine can be found in some of the most valuable and sought-after vehicles of all time. Keith Ray's The Straight Eight Engine is the first volume to be published about this extraordinary mechanism. Featuring four hundred images, the book is a lush tribute to an automotive component likely to never be equaled for smoothness and refinement.

RS as in Rennsport: Audi's most evocative abbreviation represents special cars, fantastic drivetrain solutions and abundant traction. Born of a partnership with Porsche, these two letters evolved into a constant in most Audi model lines. Motoring journalist Constantin Bergander and photographer Peter Besser provide an in-depth look into a fascinating series of automobiles, full of power and elegance. This meticulously researched book tells the captivating story of all RS models, introduced first in 1994, from the disruptive Audi Avant RS2, all the way to the fully electric Audi RS e-tron GT. It explains the powerplants, the various all-wheel drivetrains, and the strategies behind the cars.

Pourtout is a name often mentioned as one of the greats of French coachbuilding. It was the company behind the rakish Darl’mat Peugeots of the 1930s and the famous ‘Embiricos’ Bentley. From modest beginnings, founder Marcel Pourtout – latterly working with designer Georges Paulin – created a respected business that bodied some of the world’s finest and most interesting chassis. When bespoke coachwork became a thing of the past, Carrosserie Pourtout was one of the few companies to survive. It moved on to fresh areas of activity. Quick on its feet, it thrived in a newly dynamised post-war France, whilst remaining a family business under the direction of Marcel Pourtout’s second son Claude. Extravagant publicity vehicles, notably for the ‘Tour de France’ cycle race, replaced special-bodied Hispano-Suizas and Delahayes. Then Carrosserie Pourtout became involved with ACMAT, for whom it created a cab body that redefined the image of the company’s rugged trucks, these becoming a staple of armed forces around the world. Finally it became France’s leading converter of Peugeot light vans and a sub-contractor for the aircraft and oil-prospecting industries. Written by award-winning author Jon Pressnell, this is the first history of Carrosserie Pourtout and has been compiled with the full and generous support of the Pourtout family. Using surviving documentation from the archives held by Kévin Pourtout, it tells the complete story of this enterprising small business, from its inception in 1925 to its demise in 1994.

A comprehensive celebration of the Bentley Mk VI. The Bentley Mk VI was the best-selling model produced by Rolls-Royce Ltd when motor car production resumed at Crewe after World War II. This model later evolved into the R-Type and the Bentley Continental, as well as a Rolls-Royce counterpart, the Silver Dawn. The most radical post-war change was the fitting of standardized pressed steel bodies, though some 20% of Bentley Mk VIs and somewhat lesser percentages of the R-Type and Silver Dawn models, as well as 100% of the Bentley Continentals, continued the pre-war practice of having custom bodies from such coachbuilders as Park Ward, Hooper, and H.J. Mulliner. Comprehensive histories of these and other coachbuilders are included in this book, and all cars fitted with coachbuilt bodies are listed. This is a companion book to Martin Bennett's Rolls-Royce: the Post-War Phantoms IV V VI and Rolls-Royce Silver Wraith.

This bookcelebrates the striking wedge cars that first appeared at the 1968 Paris MotorShow. A surreal wedge-shaped sculpture of steel, glass, and layers of scalymetal astounded show-goers with its daring shape and extraordinary form. TheAlfa Romeo Carabo was an exercise in lateral thinking at just about everylevel. With headlamps covered by retractable slats and, for the first time,doors that opened with scissor action, the Carabo rewrote the rules ofautomobile design, kick-starting an avalanche of wedge forms — a trend thatremained in vogue for the best part of the next two decades.  A bold departurefrom traditional automotive design, captivating the imagination and emphasizingsharp lines, low profiles and angular contours, the wedge shape, characterizedby a sharply tapered front end that widens towards the rear, was not merely a stylisticchoice, but a reflection of advances in aerodynamics and engineering. Byminimizing drag and improving stability at high speeds, these cars demonstrateda commitment to performance and efficiency. How the motorcar designersgradually moved towards the wedge shape is described in this book whichculminates in a celebration of the many variations that can be seen today.