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Exotics from Iowa and Wisconsin
Not many Americans are aware that "exotic" racing engine technologies, like dual overhead cams, intercoolers on superchargers, and multiple valves per cylinder -- were first fully developed in Iowa, New Jersey and California -- not in Europe. A few remarkable and mostly German-American engine builders, notably the Duesenberg brothers and Harry Miller (ne Mueller) developed the fastest automobiles in the world in America in the period before the Great Depression. These cars raced on the best tracks in the world, which were hand crafted out of 2 x 4 lumber. Americans were racing at speeds well over 100 mph on these wooden tracks by 1920 -- well before the nation had adequate roads for motorists. (Borgeson explains that the reason road racing did not catch on in the US was altogether basic: no roads). This is a very fine book, and it is wonderful to see it back in print. Another good book on this subject is "Gold, Guts and Glory," which is an unfortunate title but a fine collection of essays on the board track era by several different authors. Borgeson's classic is especially strong on Harry Miller. The author himself re-imported and restored one of Miller's famed front drive racers, a car purchased and "emulated" by Ettore Bugatti in the mid-1920s.
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Work of a legend...A must read for the enthusiast.
At the time of his recent death in France, Grif was just completeing this second edition of this brillient work. It will be published this fall by SAE. Larry Crane, Automobile Magazine's art director say, "he was the purest iconoclast I will ever know." Automobile, Nov. 1997. His work is legendary. His research was paralleled by very few. A must read for the fan of the car enthusiast.
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