Photos of book by author.
Never discount cheap books; sometimes they offer more value and interest than their price tags will lead you to believe. That was the case when I walked into a used book store in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, back in June 1976 and spotted the Color Treasury of Formula 1 Cars there on a discount table with a price tag of only $3.98.
Published in 1970, this 64-page hardcover book highlights all the significant race cars that have made Grand Prix racing the sport’s highest form of competition. Within the book there are no distinctive chapters per se, nor are any of the 94 photographs (91 in color) given captions. The limited text winds through the book haphazardly, with some pages only having a single paragraph, or two. However, the information provided is very in-depth and well written. As odd as it may sound, there is no author’s name or writers’ credits, but whom ever did write this book clearly had a deep understanding of the sport, its cars, its drivers and its rules.
The first 11 pages are an historical introduction to Formula 1, with several black & white illustrations detailing the variety of chassis designs, engines and even layouts of 12 of the most popular race tracks at that time including Mosport Park in Canada, Kyalami in South Africa and Magdalena in Mexico. Again, the text supporting these features is as authoritative as it gets, with lots of hardcore information that longstanding Formula 1 fans will enjoy reading.
The book’s primary focus is the cars, just as its title implies. And there’s lots of insightful information on all the great ones, backed by several photographs of each. There’s Moss’ Cooper, Clark’s Lotus 25, Rindt’s Lotus 72, Surtees’ Ferrari 158, Ickx’s Ferrari 312B, plus the BRMs, McLarens, Matras, Tyrells and Brabhams of the era, along with a look back at a few pre-war Grand Prix cars.
Through the years I have seen this book for sale at Carlisle, Hershey, the Charlotte Autofair and at Turkey Run in Daytona, and usually for no more than $10. While it may not be the most comprehensive book you can read on the cars of Formula 1, there’s loads of valuable and fascinating material that you will appreciate learning about.
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