Author: Des Hammill
Publisher: Veloce Publishing
Des Hammill was given free access to Walter Hassan's papers. He also managed to track down surviving key players from the company's motor racing heydey in the 1950s and '60s. This book is a history of Coventry Climax racing engines and how they developed out of normal production engines, for the most part, yet were powerful enough to power Formula One World Championship winning cars. This hardback is for the technically minded who are interested in the history and development of motor racing engines. It goes into great detail analysing the difficulties encountered by an engine manufacturer trying to make world beating machinery on a tight budget. It is quite amazing how many of the key British motor engineers in the 1950s were involved with Coventry Climax. This book has a number of interesting anecdotes from former employees and users of Coventry Climax products. This well-illustrated book traces the history of Coventry Climax, from the time that it went public in 1951 to the time that it was taken over by Jaguar in 1963. The book includes a useful index and a chapter detailing the technical specifications of the various V8s, 4-cylinder and flat 16-cylinder engines that the company produced. The book also includes the fire-pump and outboard motor developments that eventually led to the development of the base engine for the Hillman 'Imp' range in the early 1960s. Overall, this is an excellent book dealing with engineering concepts and practices that took place almost 50 years ago. This book is a welcome insight into a forgotten company.
The book is available in print or ebook format from the publisher by following this link: Veloce Publishing | The home of fine automotive books
Published 2004
Price: £19.99
ISBN: #978-1903706831
