Sunshine, Speed and a Surprise - The 1959 Gold Prix of the United States

2nd hand book in acceptable condition

By: Joel Finn .

This is a story of speed, challenge and championships.

In the decade after World War II, in an America gone patriotic and car crazy, racing promoter Alec Ulmann created an unlikely sports car race circuit on an airfield near Sebring, a sleepy town in central Florida. Within a few years, tens of thousands of spectators made the trek to the events he organized there annually. The best American and foreign cars and drivers competed in Ulmann's innovative and highly competitive international 12-Hour race. This was the era when road racing came to maturity in the United States, when big events and new tracks were being created, and when the legends of American racing made their mark on the sport.

After years of negotiation and effort, Ulmann scored motor racing's biggest prize: his circuit in Sebring would host a Formula 1 Grand Prix race, the first to be staged in America. Better still, his event would take place at the end of the racing season: the 1959 FIA World Drivers Championship would be decided in what turned out to be a surprising finish.

To increase interest in the event and attract a wider American audience, Ulmann organized additional racing competitions for the Grand Prix weekend.The first American Formula Junior race was held here in conjunction with the 1959 Grand Prix of the United States.The first internationally sanctioned race event for compact cars was also held here with Corvairs, Larks, Falcons, Ramblers and Valiants competing against imports including Jaguars, Volvos, and VWs.

Chronicled here is the remarkable achievement of Alec Ulmann in successfully pulling off this world- class event. This story of the drivers, mechanics, press and corner workers, brings the excitement of the events and the races to life.

The story is told through 330 period photographs that nearly growl with the sound of racing. Author Joel Finn was an observer and participant in the 1959 event and also friendly with the race principals. He has competed at Sebring many times over the years and has driven his own 1959 Cooper T-51 Formula 1 car there with great success. Finn brings to the story a vivid sense of the personalities, technology, luck and drama of the weekend in 1959 when Formula 1 racing came to America.

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