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Automotive Book Store > Automotive books beginning with I
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Indianapolis Roadsters, 1952-1964 |
Author: Joe Scalzo
Published: 1999-12-03 |
List price: $49.95
Our price: $32.97
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As of: November 20th, 2008 12:34:13 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Plus and Minus
This book has great photos, great content and lots of information that you would not find anywhere else. However, I was put off by Scalzo's '60's Hip Guy verbiage. But, those feelings seemed to go away about half way through the book.
Indianapolis Roadsters, 1952-1964
I thought this book was very informative about the lost era of solid axle roadster racing. It has some problems with continuity and has a tendency to wander. It does recount stories of people and drivers of the era, that probably won't be found in other publications. The author has his own way of conveying his stories and terms, regarding "iron cars and iron men that drove them"! Some will find it lacking in polish, but I think it fits the times. Gets hung-up on some drivers in the early 60's and doesn't give enough print to some BIG names of the early 50's! It brought back memories for me, since I worked for Parnelli Jones in the 70's.
 Gearheads Beware - Race Team Soap Opera
Growing up in Indy, I have a few comments after reading this book:
OK B&W pictures, really bad text. Author loves to name-call everything from a California-centric point of view. Hoosier Clems (indicates his age), Flintstone Tires, ad-nauseum.
If you would like to read about the darker, vulgar side of a few select Offy-Watson roadster teams, this is your book. If not, save your money and check out something that is a little more up-lifting or techie regarding a great classic racing era at Indy from the 40's to the late 60's (my personal favorite).
Never heard of the author before this book. Definitely has an attitude. Could have been a racing media wannabee or photographer that never made it big. This book didn't help that endeavor in my humble opinion.
 beautiful photographs...not so great text....
This is a badly needed volume, at least to those of us who rememmber the "stand on the gas and turn left" days at Indy, when the cars looked like cars and things like aerodynamics and ground effects didn't exist... Some beautiful color photos plus a lot of b/w pics highlight it. The text skips about covering this driver, then that with what seems to be no special order at all....Surprisingly, only one photo of the car that started (more or less) the roadster era, the car driven by the great Bill Vukovich, who had the breaks gone just bit different would have won 4 STRAIGHT Indy 500's...(He had a steering failure which caused a crash just 8 laps from the end of the '52 race, won in '53&'54, suffered a fatal crash running away from the field in '55)However,the other great names of the roadster era are well-represented:Bryan, Ward, Rathmann, Sachs, Jones and of course, Foyt. The price is bit high, but the photos alone make the book worth it....
I loved this book!
This book is not so much just about the cars as about the whole Indy roadster era. Scalzo covers the hard living characters who participated in the era of the "dinosaurs". His writing style is gritty and a little bit melodramatic but, believe it or not, has actually mellowed since his "Stand On the Gas" days. If you look back on "Indy's" past with affection, and disdain the current over-hyped, over-sanitized and over-marketed racing scene of today (like I, and Scalzo, do), you'll like this book. There are many beautiful photos of the cars that Scalzo talks about as if they were friends and characters he misses.
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