Books in the Great Cars series

Built on a modified Jaguar XJR-14 chassis by Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) with Porsche engine and project approval to compete in the IMSA championship run according to WSC rules. Cancelled due to regulation changes, Joest Racing Team took over the project and claimed back-to-back victories overall in 1996 and '97.

The Audi R8 was the first in a line of world-beating sports-prototype cars from the Ingolstadt marque which would dominate Le Mans, and would see Audi remain at the forefront of international sports-car racing for over 15 years. If such an award could go to a machine, Audi 'R8-405' - the car featuring in this book - was surely the 'Man of the Match' for the 2000 Le Mans 24 Hours. In the end it would finish second, behind one of its team mates which had a far less-troubled run, but it was not for want of trying by Allan McNish, his co-drivers Stéphane Ortelli and Laurent Aïello and their mechanics. The Audi R8s would go on to dominate endurance racing for a further five years. The cars had already shown what they were capable of by finishing first and second on their debut, in the 12 Hours of Sebring in March 2000. At Le Mans, apart from a brief aberration when a Panoz led under a full course yellow, 'R8-405' led the race for six hours. Trouble then intervened, but the car's drivers never gave up, McNish setting fastest lap of the race in the morning still chasing his team mates Frank Biela, Tom Kristensen and Emanuele Pirro in the eventual winning sister car. That car would soon be on its way to Audi's museum, but 'R8-405' would race on in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), driven later that year by Biela and Pirro and winning at Texas Motor Speedway and Las Vegas. By the end of the season, '405' and the other 4-series 2000-season R8s would be rendered almost obsolete by Audi's introduction of a direct-injection engine for its new 5-series R8. That did not stop '405' from competing for a further year in the ALMS, albeit in private - Champion Racing - hands, with regular drivers including Andy Wallace and Johnny Herbert. Despite its tender years, it would later go on to qualify as an historic car, and a host of new opportunities opened up as it became one of the most raced of all the R8s. In 2020 the car was acquired by enthusiast Martin Halusa with every intention of taking it back to Le Mans in the future for the biannual Classic races. The enthralling story of 'R8-405' is told in fascinating detail in this book, supported by a stunning array of photographs showing the car in action in its two years of 'period' competition, together with a gallery of fine studio images showing this 'Great Car' as it is today.

Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe tells the fascinating history of the Daytona Coupe version of Carroll Shelby’s fabled Cobra with special focus on one of the six cars built. The fabulous Daytona Coupe, brutally purposeful in both looks and performance, was created to win the FIA World Sportscar Championship and duly did so in 1965, beating Ferrari in the large-capacity class – the category that really counted as it fired the public’s imagination. The specific car covered in detail in this book, CSX2300, took part in five championship rounds (one in 1964, four in 1965) and played its part in Shelby American’s unique team success. Truly one of the ‘Great Cars’, the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe is a most worthy addition to this acclaimed series of books. The expert text is supplemented by 300 period photographs, many previously unpublished, supported by a portfolio of commissioned special photography.

The story of the Bugatti Type 50, which heralded a new era with the introduction of the Molsheim marque’s first twin-cam engine, a supercharged 4.9-litre straight eight of prodigious power

This book tells the remarkable history of an Alfa Romeo Monza and its characterful drivers and owners, some with life stories worthy of a movie script

The compact Jaguar saloons of the '50s and '60s epitomised the image and resulting success of the Jaguar marque. This book provides an insight into the background, development and features of the Mark 1 and 2 cars, and is beautifully illustrated with superb archive images and modern studio photography.

The story of a unique example of the Maserati 250F