|  | | | Customer Reviews: | | | Average Customer Review:
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers.
 Excitement and Nostalgia Nov 21, 2009
A clash of egos born of the spirit of competion creates the backdrop for the dramatic showdown in the mid-1960's at Le Mans between Enzo Ferrari, Henry Ford II and the spectacular machines they engineered to compete in the most prestigious race in the world. As well this is the story of the drivers who piloted the storied vehicles with daring and skill often risking life and limb in order to claim victory. A gripping account that anyone with an interest in fast cars and the fast life will cherish.
 A Gear-Head's Delight! Nov 19, 2009
Everyone who knows me, knows that I am a consummate car-guy. Specifically, I lead the pack in a Dodge. Everyone, also, knows that in the history of auto racing- Chrysler's Hemi continues unbeatable. No Fords, Chevros, or Ferraris, around here ever pass my Challenger without permission!
That said... I find AJ Baime's "Go Like Hell" (2009 304-page hardback) absorbing. This brilliant text is a quick read for the auto racing enthusiast. The book is well-written from interviews, book research, and the author's personal touring of the car racing world. It is comfortably resourced with 23 pages of end notes and eight helpful pages of period black-n-white and color photographs.
Baime presents the fast paced, colorful, story of Enzo Ferrari's and Henry Ford II's early and mid 1960s battle for the face of Formula One auto racing. Their fight across the race tracks of Europe and America, posited curiously by the author as an extension of World War II, reveals Ferrari's personal nationalism and Ford's familial obsession to win regardless. The story is dramatic, tragic, exciting, and memorable.
Author Baime brings statistics, celebrity conversations, colloquial expression, sports analysis, and personal reflection to this gripping ride through Ford's herculean efforts to beat Ferrari. Readers meet Lee Iacocca, Carroll Shelby, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Ken Miles, Phil Remington, Dino Ferrari, Giovanni Agnelli, Bruce McLaren, Mario Andretti, and many more. The various 1959-1967 Ferrari and Ford racing models are reviewed from tread to top and bumper to bumper. The development of Ferrari's 4 liter V-12 and the birth of Ford's historic 427 cid (7 liter) motors are told with reverence and insight.
Baime relates brilliant victories (at Indy, Daytona, Riverside, Sebring, Monza, Le Mans, and many more), pit row personality conflicts (between Goodyear and Firestone contractees), auto industry management mistakes (don't race a Ford with and Italian gear box!), fiery race car crashes, and "the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat", as Jim McKay used to say. An informative history of Le Mans wheels adeptly through the story like a Ferrari 330 P3's romp down the Mulsanne at 210 mph. This book is a gear-head's delight!
Baime's writing style is quick, concise, and forward, much like the race pilots of which he writes. You won't want to put this book down. Beware, there is some gruff language here (steering the book away from a fifth star) mostly in quotes. But, what else would one expect from the hard running-win at all cost-racing scene (and a "Playboy" magazine editor writing about it)?
If you have a spouse, relative, friend, or acquaintance who loves auto racing this book is an excellent gift candidate. If you're a gear-head wanting to learn about the face of racing in the 1960s this book is a must-read.
3 of 3 found the following review helpful:
Stunning look at the Ford/Ferrari rivalry at Le Mans in the 1960s Nov 16, 2009
Here in America, most people think the Daytona 500 and the Indianapolis 500 are the 2 biggest auto races out there. To those people I say, "Not so fast." The Grand Prix d'Endurance les 24 Heures du Mans (24 Hours of Le Mans) is the greatest single race in the world as it pushes a car to the absolute limits. It's also a race that as a child, I had a hard time believing that a single race would go on for 24 hours. I thought it was insane, and even now I still think it is to some degree. This book focuses on probably the most interesting period of Le Mans, and the struggle of Ford in trying to win the race outright.
A.J. Baime has written a detailed and engaging history outlining how and why the Ford Motor Company became so driven in trying to ultimately win Le Mans. The need to sell more cars was often achieved through racing victories as seen with the dominance of NASCAR by the Ford Galaxie. Le Mans dominance by Ferrari through the early 1960s also translated into sales of customer cars. There was the belief that if a manufacturer's vehicle won at Le Mans, the company must know how to build cars that can last, as well as having power.
The story that unfolds shifts between the Ferrari side and the Ford side. We get to meet the big names of the automotive world like Henry Ford II, Enzo Ferrari, and Carroll Shelby. Then we get the foundation for why Henry Ford II became so obsessed with winning at Le Mans. It would take 3 tries before his goal was fully realized in 1966. Subsequently the GT40 would dominate Le Mans in 1967, 1968, and 1969 to close out the decade. In between that we are told stories about many of the greatest race drivers that the world has ever seen ranging from men like Bruce McLaren to Phil Hill to Mario Andretti. What makes the story so engaging for the reader is Baime's ability to make the reader truly understand what was going on in the sports car racing world during the 1960s, and it certainly doesn't hurt that we get to know many of the individuals.
When reading this book, it becomes clear why auto racing these days will never match the "golden age" of racing during the 1950s and 1960s. Racing was a glorious thing, and the cars were simply machines meant to go fast. While we could debate the obvious stupidity in retrospect of the lack of car safety, it's the very lack of safety that makes this era so appealing. You had to have somewhat of a death wish to get behind the wheel of a Le Mans race car or a Formula One car. The amount of drivers killed during races is astounding, but what might be more astounding is how accepted it was. Safety was viewed as being unmanly so there were no great pushes towards it. Drivers tended to be surrounded by fuel, and things we take for granted now like seatbelts were an after-thought then. But what is just as amazing is how with the technology of those days, they were able to achieve speeds in excess of 200MPH on the famed Mulsanne Straight. Equally amazing, are driver reactions to the race cars reaching these insane speeds.
With the end of the 1960s, the golden age started to pass, but it would linger on in the early 1970s with the Porsche 917. For those who love reading about the GT40, the Porsche 917 story is one I suggest checking out. For as fast as the GT40's were, the 917 was even faster hitting 246MPH on the Mulsanne Straight. In fact one driver was reported as saying when he had to start braking for the Mulsanne Corner, the 917 was still accelerating.
This book is highly recommended for all racing enthusiasts, and even those with a passing interest in automotive racing or even automotive history, as the story itself is unlike any other out there. The Ford-Ferrari rivalry is one of the greatest stories in automotive history, and this book does that story justice.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Goes Like Hell! Nov 03, 2009
"Seabiscuit" for automobile racing! A fantastic read! I could smell the rubber and hear the engines whine. Great book.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Go Like Hell Oct 27, 2009
Fantastic Book. Read it in four days. As an American, car guy and a racer it made for a great read. Not only full of history but it was entertaining like a Burt S Levy book.
|
| |
|
![Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51V%2Beipy8-L._SL75_.jpg "Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray]")
![Across the Universe [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51T24FuHPEL._SL75_.jpg "Across the Universe [Blu-ray]")
![Underworld Trilogy (Underworld / Underworld: Evolution / Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51F27VzUl%2BL._SL75_.jpg "Underworld Trilogy (Underworld / Underworld: Evolution / Underworld: Rise of the Lycans) [Blu-ray]")
![Shakira: Oral Fixation Tour [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RQUEopdlL._SL75_.jpg "Shakira: Oral Fixation Tour [Blu-ray]")
