Rattle Traps
THE RACING CAR: Development and Design. By Cecil Clutton Preston; Technical Editor, A. G. Douglas Clease. (Grosveno1
Press, 25s.)
PIT stops are no longer a feature of formula Grand Prix motor racing. The cars can carry the fuel to stay the course and thi tyres are so tough that there is rarely need for wheel changing But the team manager, although he is not now seen supervisinl those amazing moments of concentrated action, when mechanic' perform prodigies of skill and strength, is still a commandiol figure in the pit. He it is who plans the tactics of his drivers who, with stop-watches and lap charts (in which, however, Mr Wyer expresses modified faith), reduces the, frenzied dance 1( a order and determines to a tenth of a mile an hour the spec( which his leading car must maintain to win. Lap by lap, tbi signals go out. The driver is kept informed of his position, of th( amount by which his nearest rival is gaining upon him. Mr. WYel tells us that the popular idea that the signal 'faster' is often shov4 is erroneous and he throws light on the psychology of the racIni driver in action when he describes why a signal to slow a drivel may disturb his rhythm with disastrous effects. Most of those w11( follow motor-racing know the work of Mr. John Wyer with 0' Aston-Martins and in Motor Racing Management he shows that he writes a book as well as he manages a racing team. Full} documented, with illustrations of lap counters, time sheets anc other special equipment, with some good photographs, this I! the best book on motor-racing I have read for years. Mr. Wyer' criterion for judging the quality of a racing driver is particular]) interesting; it is by his ability to cope with high power-to-weigh' ratios. It seems that, at 150 brake horse power to the ton laden weight, the car can be handled safely by many drivers; betweell 150 and 200 b.h.p./ton the driving problems increase in difficulty' but at over 200 b.h.p/ ton the really great driver is needed. The Racing Car is a carefully compiled and illustrated, historical survey. The joint authors cover the period from 189' to the present day and give detailed information about all the racing cars that have made their mark, from the Panhard of the Paris-Bordeaux race to the Mercdcles-Benz and the Vanwall CI recent years. The Bugatti cars that carried the French racing bine, to so many victories are a reminder of the intense enthusiasm an the technical thought and labour that were lavished upon racing in the great formative,days. Mr. St. John Nixon is well known as a student of automobile development and a motorist who has seen the car grow up on; who has always taken an active part in aiding its progress. Lot Brabazon writes a preface to this richly informative book.
Motor Cars To-day and The Practical Car-Owner 1llustra'' are both concerned with the dissemination of useful knowledge Both are illustrated with reproductions of photographs and °, line drawings. Car-Owner has many pages in colour as well 3' one of those ingenious, multi-leaved diagrams in which succesi sive transparent leaves are peeled away to reveal fresh details ° the interior of a mechanism—in this instance an engine.'
OLIVER STEW01
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