Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126945
.., able by mail order (send check or
money order, plus $2.25 for postage
and handling, and add 6% tax if
you're a California resident) from
Megden Publishing Co., P.O. Box
217, Huntington Beach, CA 92648.
One more thing, there's a $125
deluxe edition of the book igned by
every Grand National Champion from
the series inception in 1954 to the
current champ, Bubha Shobert. Bound
in leather and embossed in gold, the
deluxe edition is limited.
Jack Mangus
c..e:::L.A. SLEEVE Co., POWER Products Div.
011-
7
~Free Order No.
1-I0O-I22-6005
Calif. Order Number &Tech. Info.
8311 Che... lIN., Santa h SprIngs, CA 90670
213-945-7578
GET ABRAKE 01 AGlUT UNE
American Racer 1940-1 980
By Stephen Wright
Hardbound. $34.95
.Webster's dictionary doesn't
offer an adjective that's up to
·the task of describing in one
word Stephen Wright's American Racer 1940-1980. Great? Yes.
Magnificent? Yes. Beautiful? Yes. Unparalleled? Yes. Those adjectives and
many more come close but still fall
short of the mark in properly describing this 240-page large (Ill>" x 12")
format book.
Books like American Racer are ofttimes lumped into the "coHee table
book" category. The mainly photographic approach, 375 photos in all,
and the open style in which they're
displayed might make the casual,
uninformed observer describe American Racer as a coffee ta ble book, bu t
it's not - it's much more. It's an
indispensable piece of Americana.
It's also a labor of love. Wright has
virtually put everything he owns on
the line to produce the book, which is
a companion piece to his American
Racer 1900-1940 which is still available.
Arranged chronologically (year by
year), the new American Racer actually covers the years 1937 through
1985, both in photos and in an appendix containing year by year race
results.
The vast majority of the photos
(which, by the way are beautifully
reproduced thanks to laser scanned
halftones) are of Class C racing (dirt
track and road race), speedway, drag
racing, land speed record attempts
and enduros are also covered. But the
book's strength is its indispensable
recording of Class C racing's finest
moments.
Among the photographers who
contributed to the book are several
whose work has graced the pages of
this newspaper over the past 22 years;
such as Walt and Dan Mahony, Dennis Greene and Bert Shepard.
I could go on and on in praising
American Racer 1940-1980, but I'll
stop right here because I just realized
there is an adjective that properly
describes how I feel about the book.
For tho e of you who have taken
more than a passing interest in American racers (and racing) in the span of
years 1940-1985, the book is a must.
American Racer 1940-1980 is avail-
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