LOOK !  ***  VERY, VERY RARE, 'JOHN SURTEES - WORLD CHAMPION'- by 'Big John' himself and the late Alan Henry a UNIQUE HUGE HARDBACK volume in EXCELLENT condition ***

Hi Folks, I'm having one of my occasional 'clear outs' and this time I'm selling off a multitude of various graphic novels/books. This book I'm selling here is a highly sought after very RARE copy of JOHN SURTEES - WORLD CHAMPION. NOTE: This book is BY FAR the best biography ever written about the late, great John Surtees, the rest are utter crap by comparison.

This long-awaited book is a memoir by the only man to have won World Championships on motorcycles and in cars. Chapters of particular interest are those covering Surtees's formative years and the extraordinary 1960 season in which he raced both motorcycles and cars, winning two World Championships on MV Agusta bikes as well as taking second place for Lotus in the British GP, which was only his second Formula 1 race. 

- The early years (up to 1952): a childhood around motorcycle racing, apprenticeship with Vincent, then racing a Vincent Grey Flash.

- Getting established (1953-55): Moving on to ride mainly Manx Nortons, he did 86 races in one year, and in 1955 achieved his first grand prix win, in the 250cc Ulster GP on an NSU.

- The glory years (1956-60): dominating top-level motorcycle racing for five years with Italian team MV Agusta, taking seven World Championship titles on 500cc and 350cc bikes.

- The remarkable year of bikes and cars (1960): overlapping his last year of motorcycle racing with 17 car races, including four F1 World Championship events.

- Ferrari driver (1963-66): established in cars, he joined Ferrari, winning his first race - the Sebring 12 Hours for sports cars - and the following year becoming F1 World Champion.

- Can-Am champion (1966): after recovery from a huge crash in a Lola T70 sports car and acrimonious departure from Ferrari, he bounced back in North America to win the spectacular Can-Am series.

- Turning Japanese (1967-68): Honda invited Surtees to develop and drive its F1 cars for two years, with victory in the Italian GP at Monza the highlight.

- Becoming a constructor (1969-78): going into single-seater racing, including F1, F5000, with Team Surtees and cars of his own manufacture; Mike Hailwood won the European F2 Championship in 1972.

- The latter years (1978 onwards): fully active on the historic scene as a restorer and driver of motorcycles and cars, then nurturing son Henry's career until the tragic accident.

In retrospect, it seems the "swinging sixties" could well have referred to the way many of the F1 cars would swing all over the track when one item or another failed in the hastily assembled (and frankly damn dangerous) construction !
The book is full of interesting facts about John and his early years as he progressed through the ranks of famous motorcycles,
then it becomes a real eye opener often recalling lurid and repeated mechanical race failures and sometimes an interesting glimpse into what might have been.
Comparing his race starts and wins on motorcycles and those with cars it seems it was only through the really poor reliability of the fragile cars from that deadly era that precluded him from adding to his one and only F1 championship.
Truth be told, I felt a bit sorry for his first wife who attended almost every one of his car races as the diligent time keeper yet hardly really gets much of a mention. Big John was certainly a man of his own era and most certainly did everything his way.

 I can't honestly be arsed bumming up this product, if you don't know what your looking for, too bad. Needless to say, its an absolute steal at this price and it won't be available to re-list. IT TRULY IS THAT GOOD ! ! Totally unmissable for all true Auto Racing Fans !

NOTE: This particular copy is an ex-reference library copy which has very little viewing. It has (3 very small stamps inside - no stickers) and the overall content is indeed in EXCELLENT condition, a real snip at this price in fact.

Note:  Overseas bidders are indeed welcome but please, please REMEMBER, the postal costs for INTERNATIONAL deliveries is always substantially higher than those within the UK.  For overseas buyers, I'd strongly recommend using the excellent  GSP Postal service, where the buyer pre-pays the INTERNATIONAL LEG of the postage beforehand . I shall provide the total weight and relevant dimensions of the package as well as the outstanding invoice amount due to the buyer soon after purchase.


***THIS IS VITALLY IMPORTANT***  Please WAIT until the ADJUSTED POSTAL COSTS ARE ADDED to the final invoice BEFORE PAYING !! 

Incidentally: Check out all the other stuff I've currently got for sale. The Wife demands I get rid off the stuff I've collected over many years , so I guarantee you'll pick up some great bargains !!