Eighty-Four Hours of Endurance Daytona/Sebring/Watkins Glen 1970-1971
By Michael Keyser
This book captures the battle fought between Ferrari, Porsche and Alfa Romeo for the World Endurance Championship during the 1970 and 1971 seasons. The weapons those factories created for this fight—Ferrari’s 512S, Porsche’s 917 and Alfa Romeo’s T33/3—remain among the most formidable racing cars ever constructed, and are nicely showcased here.
During those two seasons, these cars raced at the 24 Hours of Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Watkins Glen Six Hour in the United States, totaling 42 enduring hours each year and thus the 84 hours that give the book its title.
The pages are filled with more than 500 photographs from Keyser’s impressive archive (220 b/w, 290 color), accompanied by detailed race reports, results and maps that transport the reader magically to the three classic venues. The book opens with a capsule history of what went before and led the sportscar world championship to the two seasons under scrutiny here, how the rules evolved to provide the fertile soil in which these cars were nurtured.
While the text is illuminative, this is what I like to call a photos-with-captions book, one that can transport the reader back to a time when the world was somewhat less complicated and more enchanting. Available from publisher Autosports Marketing Associates Ltd. at (410) 785-2693 or online at www.autosportsltd.com
