RGS Atalantas

This excellent, beautifully presented 208-page hardback is far more than just a history of those familiar yet enigmatic Atalanta sports cars so often seen at historic race meetings. Author Alan Shattock is the son of Atalanta founder Dick, so this book is written from an insider’s perspective, with constant reference to Dick’s meticulous notebooks, archives and personal photographs. Alan is a constant presence in the story itself, often appearing as a child in early behind-the-scenes images, lending a terrific sense of context.

It’s also a vivid portrait of a lost era of British engineering, when small-scale car companies were springing up in their hundreds and every new idea was worth experimentation. Dick’s contribution in this sense is correctly portrayed as pioneering, his use of glassfibre bodies and ‘kit of parts’ ethos enabling dozens more firms including TVR. A fascinating, passionately written book. One of two Mustang books out this month – the other is a ’50 Years’ reworking of Donald Farr’s 2011 work on the Boss cars – but perversely the story of the least-loved ’stang is a more interesting read. Rather than retreading well-known stories, Cranswick tells a tale of fast-thinking engineers and marketing experts having to deal with the shock of the 1973 international oil crisis – as well as coming to terms with issues that had dogged muscle cars for years – and turning to inspiration as diverse as the De Tomaso Pantera and the Mercedes-benz SLC for inspiration.

Cranswick draws on a huge variety of Ford-insider sources and period reports to set the record straight, as well as demonstrating how the Mustang II and Pinto helped change American motoring at a painful time. You’ll look at Mustang IIS and Pintos differently after reading this.

The Life: Monaco Grand Prix By Stuart Codling, £19.99,

Most books on the Monaco Grand Prix have been photo-led, fawning and gushing in their approach. Not so this new work by veteran motor sport journalist Stuart Codling. This is Monaco with all the cloying gloss chiselled off. Part history book, part travelogue, and with well-worn myths busted with the turn of nearly every page, it’s immersive insider-journalism in the worldweary tradition of Thompson and Hemingway. It feels like a tract of knowledge and experiences Codling’s been desperate to get off his chest for decades, rather than yet another motor sport book. A beautifully written collection of little-known facts with no pulled punches.