11 / 32
11
Behind the Scenes of Motor Racing:
Published in 1960, and written by Stirling Moss's long time
friend and manager Ken Gregory, this book provides an amazing
insight into the world of motor racing in the 1950s.
It gives us the inside story on the development of Moss's
remarkable career, how he became a Maserati works driver in his
first full season of Grand Prix racing before moving to Mercedes-
Benz the next year to become apprenticed to Juan Manuel
Fangio. He returned to Maserati for 1956, before finally achieving
his ambition of driving for a British team in 1957 and 1958.
Those two years with Vanwall were quite remarkable and in 1958
brought Moss closer to winning the World Championship than
any other year in his career.
For 1959 Moss drove for Rob Walker and for the British Racing
Partnership (BRP), a company set up by Gregory and Alfred
Moss, Stirling's father at the end of 1957. BRP was set up to run
and prepare racing cars to a high standard so that the chosen
drivers had the best possible chance of success.
As Gregory was also deeply involved in the 500 cc racing movement and the early
development of the Brands Hatch circuit, there is much more to the book than Stirling
Moss's career. In fact, it really does tell the behind the scenes story of British motor racing in
the 1950s. It is a great read for anyone interested in racing in the classic era.
The book was donated to the VSCC library by Jim Brown.
British Grand Prix
In this book motoring historian Richard Hough tells the story
of the British Grand Prix from its beginnings as the RAC
Brooklands Grand Prix in 1926 and 1927 through the 1937
and 1938 RAC Donington Grands Prix and on to the
"modern" events from 1948 to 1958, although only the entry
list and results are included for 1958.
There are a couple of hiccups in the illustrations. First the
map of Silverstone is described as the circuit used from 1948,
but the text describing the 1948 event tells of a unique layout
using the runways as well as the perimeter roads. Second the
caption to the photograph facing page 93 tells of Talbot-Lagos
and Maseratis in 1948 when the photograph is clearly of the
four Alfa Romeos that raced in 1950. Otherwise it is a great
book and offers a fascinating description of the development
of the British Grand Prix.
Bob Campbell
Book Reviews from the VSCC Library:
Behind the Scenes of Motor Racing by
Ken Gregory
British Grand Prix by Richard Hough