Behind the Wheel
By Robert Puyal
Subtitled “The Great Automobile Aficionados,” this book presents vignettes from the lives of some 80 individuals who forged their own direct or peripheral links to the automobile, its performance and our appreciation of it. Some are famous drivers from racing history, others made their mark in other meritorious fields, but all shared a singular passion for what is perhaps mankind’s most delicious invention, the automobile.
The subjects for these thumbnail profiles range from Henry Ford to Preston Tucker to Enzo Ferrari, from Camille du Gast to Hellé Nice to Michelle Mouton, from Tazio Nuvolari to Jim Clark to Ayrton Senna and from James Dean to Steve McQueen to Paul Newman, all superbly illustrated with period photography wonderfully reproduced.
Many of the people discussed here will be familiar to readers, but Puyal tries his best to tell their individual stories from a fresh perspective. Such is his skill that even his tales of those who may be more obscure provide interesting encapsulations of their exploits. One can learn a lot from this book.
Available for US$45/£30 from distributor Rizzoli International Publications at www.rizzoliusa.com
