FERRARI 1960-1965: THE HALLOWED YEARS

(Evro Publishing)

William Huon ISBN 978 1 910505 81 6 Reviewer’s own copy

At the risk of repeating myself, I think the 156 Ferrari GP cars of 1961 and the ‘P’ series of sports-racing cars are among the most elegant racing cars ever. They certainly feature strongly in this superb new book that includes hundreds of photos from the Cahier Archive.

In the 1960s Ferrari was the only marque trying to combine F1 with endurance racing; something the likes of Lotus, Cooper and BRM didn’t have to worry about. 1961 was a season of Ferrari domination in F1 and 1964 saw John Surtees become world champion after a strong run in the second half of the season. But the Prancing Horse did not feature strongly in the other four years covered, despite trying V6, V8 and flat-12 engines and being able to call on drivers such as Ricardo Rodriguez, Richie Ginther and Lorenzo Bandini as well as Messrs Hill and Surtees. Sports cars were a different matter, with the factory also being able to rely on top privateer teams such as Maranello Concessionaires, NART and Scuderia Filipinetti. Ferrari won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in all six years: amazing to think that at the time I write these words, the 1965 win was the last outright victory for Ferrari. They were challenged by Maserati and Porsche at tough circuits like the Nürburgring and Targa Florio but overall, the first half of the 1960s indeed were “hallowed years” for the Scuderia’s two-seaters.

The development of the cars, their drivers and each championship round are covered in a very readable style and the number and selection of photos is absolutely superb; a book to treasure.

$176 | Review by Mark Holman