Johnny Tipler

Of the three years that Ayrton Senna drove for Team Lotus, 1985 to 1987, was one of the headiest periods in the history of motor racing. Not only were titanic battles raging between the four leading teams — McLaren, Williams, Ferrari and Lotus — in the second phase of the mega-powerful turbo era, rivalry between the top F1 drivers, on and off the track, was wound up to fever pitch.

Selected by both Top Gear and Classic Car magazines as Book of the Month for November 2005.

On Amazon: Ayrton Senna - the Team Lotus Years by Johnny Tipler

Here’s the full story of all Alfa Romeo saloon cars (Berlinas in Italian) from 1910 to the turn of the century. Fabulous full-colour production.

The history of the Jensen car company has been full of change and upheaval, but it holds one symbol of permanence and continuity, known to motoring enthusiasts the world over: the Jensen Interceptor. This enormously powerful, thirsty supercar is perhaps the most potent embodiment of the Sixties’ British sports car, and against all the odds it survives today - in much the same form.

Nicknamed “Super Swede”, Ronnie Peterson rose from karts to F3 to become European F2 Champion in 1972, and came closest to winning the F1 World Championship in 1973 and 1978. By common consent the fastest driver in Formula 1 in that era, Ronnie Peterson was, paradoxically, a quiet shy person and an all-round nice guy. As Johnny Tipler’s book reveals, Ronnie invariably strove to wring the ultimate performance out of anything he drove.and that, ironically, was probably what cost him the F1 World Championship. Not content with nearly winning, he sought to annihilate the opposition and, in the process, subjected cars and tyres to stresses greater than they had been designed to accept. If they didn’t break, he usually won, but not often enough to gain the title.