Description
By: Ed McDonough . 2nd hand book in good condition
The 'Sharknose' Ferrari 156 was one of the most distinctive, charismatic and successful of all Grand Prix cars. In 1961 this beautiful design, with its nostril-like front end and potent V6 engine, dominated the Grand Prix season and won the world championship. Its rear-engined layout confirmed that the days of the frontengined Formula 1 car were over, and its triumphs revived the reputation of the Ferrari racing team. In this car Phil Hill became the first American to win the drivers' crown, the Italian Giancarlo Baghetti became the only man to win a Grand Prix at the first attempt, and the German Count Wolfgang von Trips was killed at Monza on 10 September 1961, when the drivers' championship was within his grasp. Ed McDonough's highly illustrated book is the first detailed account of the short, brilliant career of the 156, and is fascinating reading and reference for everyone who is interested in motor racing and in Ferrari.
Although the Cooper-Climax started the rear-engined revolution in Grand Prix racing by winning the championship in 1959 and 1960, it wasn't until the advent of the Sharknose in 1961 that all the major teams adopted rear-engined designs. Ed McDonough describes in detail the shift in layout that gave birth to the SharknoSe and the intense rivalry between the leading .British and Italian manufacturers of the day. In particular, he records how British teams like Cooper, BRM and Lotus were ill- equipped for the 1.5 litre formula of 1961. Enzo Ferrari, however, was better prepared and grasped the advantage. The 156, the first fully developed rear-engined Ferrari, was an elegant and effective design that fully exploited the power of its compact V6. Immediately it demonstrated its superiority.
The cars dominated the 1961 season and featured in several of the most memorable Grands Prix of the early 1960s. The two major events in which the Sharknose was defeated by Stirling Moss's Lotus, at Monaco and the Mirburgring, are regarded as classic races of their time. And the disastrous Grand Prix at Monza, in which von Trips and several spectators were killed, implicated the car in one of the tragic episodes in the history of motorsport.
The advanced design of the 156 attracted some of the best drivers of that generation — von Trips, Hill, Baghetti, Richie Ginther, Olivier Gendebien, Lorenzo Bandini, Willie Mairesse, Ricardo Rodriguez and Innes Ireland. Even the Sharknose's great opponent of 1961, Stirling Moss, would have driven the Ferrari in 1962 if his career- ending accident had not intervened.
For this book, the author has interviewed a number of people active in motor racing in the Sharknose era. Their accounts and his close study of the design and evolution of the 156 give a fascinating insight into the history of a great racing car. He has also interviewed many of the leading drivers of the day, including Phil Hill, Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jack Brabham, Roy Salvadori, Tony Brooks, John Surtees and Dan Gurney, who vividly remember the car and the momentous 1961 season.
