AUTOMOBILIA

John Starkey

Published 2018 by Veloce, which supplied the review copy (Classic Reprint, first published 2002)

ISBN 978-1-787114-05-0

Review by Mark Holman

Although this book was originally published 17 years ago, I think it’s a good one for Veloce to bring back as a Classic Reprint because it covers such an interesting period of competition involving Corvettes.

Author Starkey starts the story in 1953, and covers Corvettes in all forms of racing between then and 1992. The focus is on US motor sport, from club racing, speed records, and drags to Sebring and Daytona, but the attempts at Le Mans with the Cunningham team and later Henri Greder — sixth overall in 1970! — and John Greenwood aren’t overlooked. Amazingly, a 1963 split-window Stingray claimed 40th place in the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1980!

Although there were some special-bodied cars, such as the SR2 and the XP87, many of the ’vettes racing in the early years were very stock-looking. Then along came the dramatic Grand Sport — what a shame the development of that one wasn’t allowed to continue — and the various wide-bodied cars. In the late ’80s, the GTP was a very fast car but sometimes let down by reliability and fuel consumption. Really, it was hardly a Corvette, being a mid-engined racer built on a Lola chassis.

All the key players in the Corvette racing story are included, especially Zora Arkus-duntov, plus many of the drivers who raced the cars with varying levels of success, such as Jim Crist, Phil Curran, and Dick Gulstrand.

The book ends with the development of the voluptuous Greenwood cars, the FIA homologation papers for the 1965 big block 427, the Corvette Indy, and a useful summary of all the production models from 1953 to 1996.

With a fine photo selection within its

182 pages, this is a very good read for Corvette enthusiasts who missed out when the book was first published.