ISBN2951364237
Le Mans 1960-1969 £29.99
weight 1kg by Michel Bollée (French text)
Sure to be popular among all the Le Mans collectors out there, Michel Bollée’s latest collection of photographs and cuttings shows many of the more unusual sights from the great race. Many of the rare photographs are from qualifying, scrutineering and the practice weekend and feature vehicles and modifications not seen during the race itself. One advantage of these non-race shots is that the photographer was able to get very close and many of the photos show an excellent level of detail that will be extremely useful to modellers. Roughly half of the photos are in colour and with those that aren’t the detailed captions often give descriptions of the colours which is a great help.

AUTO2003
Automodelisme Le Mans 2003 £5.85
weight 400g
Now in its 6th year of publication, Automodelisme’s photographic guide for Le Mans modellers just gets better. With the kits being released faster than ever it’s well worth the investment and will be a great help. Each car is featured in full colour with general shots and plenty of close ups to help with cockpit detailing, application of carbon fibre etc. Colour codes are given for the main body shade on every entry, as are dimensions and overall results. You can ignore most of the ads as you’ll find everything you need from the place on page 28 but the article about the 1923 grid made by Michel Elkoubi and Christian Gouel will give an insight into many of the models we can expect to see soon in Christian’s SLM 43 range. Can you really do without it?

ISBN2914920210
Ford au Mans £39.99
weight 1.3kg by Francois Hurel (French text)
Ford may not have had a consistent works presence in the great 24 hour race, but over the last 50 years their engines have powered a vast assortment of vehicles. The story starts much earlier, the first race in fact, with French Ford agent Charles Montier’s Model T based special finishing 14th in 1923 and returning the following two years. The first true Ford entered was in 1937 with a modified Model Y driven by MKH Bilney. These cars are all illustrated with a brief history but it’s in 1963 that the story really picks up with the V8 engined Lola Mk6 and AC Cobras. From the Cobras we move on to the most famous Fords of all and over half of the book is dedicated to the spectacular achievements of the GT40 during the late 1960s. After a couple of years gap we return with the various V6 Capris and of course the Gulf-Mirage cars which scored several good results including overall victory in 1975. Things then start to get a little fractured, as if perhaps the author realised he was running out of pages, with coverage of the Mirage M12 and C100s but nothing of the Dome or de Cadanet Lolas to name but a couple of omissions. There is a brief introduction of the Saleen Mustang from 1997 and the 1998 Panoz but it is here that the story ends, with no Saleen S7R or Panoz roadster. The book is well worth having for any Le Mans collector though as those subjects that are covered are well photographed throughout, mostly in colour, and there are dimensions and results sections.

ISBN0789308223 Retrofuturism, The car design of J Mays £24.00
weight 1kg
J Mays is considered to be one of the most influential car designers ever and this very stylish publication by the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art highlights some of his greatest hits and the influences behind them. Probably the best known, and certainly the best selling, of Mays’ designs is the New Beetle and it was from the same drawing board (well CAD machine!) that we saw the spectacular Audi Avus concept. No longer at VW/Audi, Mays now oversees design at Ford and has had a hand in the Ford Forty-Nine concept and the new Ford GT, which of course evokes the design of the great GT40. As you would expect from an art museum publication the photography and presentation are stunning. If you wonder what makes the current designers tick, then this is a must.

TAMMI099
TMMI Techniques Special Issue £3.50
weight 400g
We don’t usually stock Tamiya Model Magazine, but when we saw this issue we knew that there would be many of you out there (especially overseas) who have never seen the publication and would find this issue in particular very handy. As the name suggests the magazine was originally intended for plastic kit builders but has now diversified into resin and metal models. Detailed build articles include the fitting of Renaissance transkit (REN24144) to the Tamiya Focus and the assembly of Studio 27’s Toyota TF102 (STU20111). Other features include in-depth articles on figure painting, weathering techniques, scratch building for free from household waste and much, much more. Many of the features are aimed at the military modeller but the techniques will translate to our beloved cars and provide inspiration for some excellent models.