Prototypes – The History of the IMSA GTP Series
By J.A Martin & Ken Wells
From 1981 to 1993, American road racing enthusiasts were captivated by IMSA’s GTP (Grand Touring Prototype) series. Harking back to the later days of the Can-Am, the GTP series was an amazing collection of the biggest, fastest sports racing prototypes from both large manufacturers and small, independent privateers. The variety of cars was broad and the racing electrifying.
J.A. Martin and Ken Wells’ new book “Prototypes: The History of the IMSA GTP Series” is a marvellous look at this more recent period in American racing history. The first 75% of this 512-page tome is devoted to in-depth looks at the teams, personalities and cars that made up the series. Individual chapters cover the efforts of Group 44, Dyson Racing, Jim Busby Racing, Preston Henn, Phil Conte, AAR, Comptech, Electramotive, Momo and many more.
Unlike many racing history books, “Prototypes” is not a monotonous narrative of “Who finished where.” Each of the chapters draws upon interviews with drivers, designers and team members to paint a behind-the-scenes look at what was involved to run at the front, or in some cases, just make the field.
But for those of you who are also looking for race results and statistics, not to worry. The last quarter of the book (210 pages) is a very detailed, race-by-race tabulation of all GTP race results from ’81 to ’93.
But, the icing on the cake is the large, beautifully illustrated format that publisher David Bull has chosen for this work. With over 500 color and black-and-white photographs (many blown-up to full-page size), this book is visually one of the nicest we’ve seen in a long time. A must have for any fan of the GTP.