Mike Hawthorn Golden Boy Limited Leather Edition Signed Book Ferrari 246 F1 1958

TITLE: MIKE HAWTHORN - GOLDEN BOY - THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BRITAINS FIRST WORLD CHAMPION DRIVER. SIGNED BY: TONY BAILEY & PAUL SKILLETER (AUTHORS). PUBLICATION YEAR/ DATE: 2008 (1st LEATHER EDITION). YES - OF JUST 150 NUMBERED EXAMPLES.

HARDBACK LEATHERBOUND PUBLISHED WITHOUT DUST JACKET, PRESENTED IN A SLIPCASE. SIZE & # OF PAGES.

24CM x 31CM - 438 PAGES. PJ PUBLISHING LTD - TONY BAILEY & PAUL SKILLETER. SUPERB FOR AGE, GREAT FOR YEAR 7.5 OUT OF 10 - DUE TO AGE AND STORAGE THE LEATHER BOOK COVERS SHOW SOME STUBBORN WHITE MARKINGS, AND A LIGHT SCRATCHING BELOW "GOLDEN"; SEEN IN CERTAIN LIGHT ANGLES. THIS EXTREMELY RARE TITLE IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE BOOK TITLED "MIKE HAWTHORN - GOLDEN BOY".

HOWEVER THIS IS THE LIMITED EDTION OF WHICH ONLY 150 WERE PRODUCED, EACH SIGNED & NUMBERED BY THE AUTHORS. COMES COMPLETE WITH A SLIPCASE BEARING A METAL BADGE READING "THE TOURIST TROPHY GARAGE"! MIKE HAWTHORN WAS BORN IN 1929 IN A SMALL SOUTH YORKSHIRE TOWN, THE SON OF AN ENGINEER WHOSE PASSION HAPPENED TO BE MOTORCYCLES AND MOTOR SPORT.

THE FAMILY MOVED SOON AFTERWARDS TO FARNHAM IN SURREY, SO THAT LESLIE HAWTHORN COULD BE NEAR THE BROOKLANDS RACE CIRCUIT. IT WAS NOT LONG BEFORE HIS SON JOHN MICHAEL ALSO BECAME ENTHUSED BY BIKES, CARS AND MOTOR RACING, AND AFTER SPENDING THE WAR YEARS AT ARDINGLY COLLEGE, MIKE WAS GIVEN HIS FIRST CAR - A FIAT 500, WHICH HE SOON LEARNT HOW TO FOUR WHEEL-DRIFT... BY THIS TIME MIKE HAD RESOLVED TO BECOME A RACING DRIVER, AND HE ENDURED FURTHER EDUCATION AND AN APPRENTICESHIP AT DENNIS BROS. AS NECESSARY EVILS UNTIL HE COULD TAKE TO THE TRACK.

THAT FIRST SEASON WAS CLUB RACING AT ITS MOST BASIC, BUT MIKE WON HIS FIRST RACE WITH THE IMP, AND HIS PERFORMANCES DURING THE YEAR WITH THIS CAR AND A RILEY SPRITE MADE THE ESTABLISHMENT SIT UP AND TAKE NOTICE. THAT THIS ASSERTIVE YOUNG BLOND DRIVER FROM FARNHAM WAS NO FLASH IN THE PAN WAS PROVED DURING 1952, WHEN MIKE DROVE A PROPER RACING CAR, A COOPER-BRISTOL. THE RESULTS WERE SENSATIONAL AND INCLUDED FOURTH PLACE IN THE BRITISH GRAND PRIX AT SILVERSTONE AGAINST MUCH MORE SOPHISTICATED OPPOSITION. AFTER THAT, THERE WAS NO STOPPING THE'FARNHAM FLYER', WHO SUBSEQUENTLY DROVE GRAND PRIX CARS FOR FERRARI, MASERATI AND BRM AND, IN 1955, 1956 AND 1957, WORKS D TYPES FOR JAGUAR.

IT WAS WHILE DRIVING A JAGUAR D TYPE IN THE 1955 LE MANS 24 HOUR RACE THAT HAWTHORN WAS EMBROILED IN CONTROVERSY, FOLLOWING THE TERRIBLE ACCIDENT WHICH KILLED OVER 80 SPECTATORS. IN 1958 MIKE HAWTHORN BECAME THE FIRST BRITISH DRIVER TO WIN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, WHICH HE DID WITH FERRARI, NARROWLY BEATING STIRLING MOSS. HE RETIRED IMMEDIATELY AFTERWARDS, INTENDING TO CONCENTRATE ON THE FAMILY GARAGE BUSINESS IN FARNHAM, BUT ON 22 JANUARY 1959, AND IN CIRCUMSTANCES ON WHICH THIS BOOK SHEDS NEW LIGHT, MIKE LEFT THE TT GARAGE AND EMBARKED ON WHAT WOULD BE HIS LAST, AND FATAL, JOURNEY. A FEW MINUTES LATER THE 3.4 JAGUAR SALOON HE WAS DRIVING CRASHED AT HIGH SPEED ON THE GUILDFORD BY-PASS, AND MIKE WAS KILLED ALMOST INSTANTLY. THIS BOOK DOES MUCH MORE THAN TELL THE STORY OF MIKE HAWTHORN'S RACING CAREER.

IT GOES BEYOND THE TIME HE SPENT BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A RACING CAR, AND ADDS DETAIL AND INSIGHT INTO THE 99 PER CENT OF HIS LIFE WHICH WAS SPENT AT HOME, AT THE TT GARAGE, AND WITH HIS FRIENDS, FAMILY AND BUSINESS COLLEAGUES. IT LOOKS AT THE PRIVATE CARS WHICH HE DROVE - THE FIAT TOPOLINO JPD 932, RILEY 9 SALOON, LANCIA APRILIA EYE 606, ALFA ROMEO 8C FGC 409, RILEY ULSTER IMP KV 9475, RILEY SPRITE BWK 324, FERRARI 212 COUPE VPF 500, LANCIA AURELIA WPD 10, JAGUAR XK140 PRW 476 AND JAGUAR MK1 VDU 881. THERE ARE ILLUSTRATIONS OF A HOST OF HAWTHORN MEMORABILIA AND COLLECTABLES, FROM AWARDS, ITEMS OF CLOTHING, PRESS CUTTINGS, MODELS AND ARTWORK. THROUGH THE RECOLLECTIONS OF THOSE WHO KNEW HIM, AND THROUGH MANY PHOTOGRAPHS NEVER PUBLISHED BEFORE, THE TRUE CHARACTER OF THIS EXTRAORDINARY MAN IS MADE REAL WITHIN THESE PAGES. THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM - GROWING UP.

THE TOURIST TROPHY GARAGE - THE FAMILY BUSINESS. VDU 881: A VERY SPECIAL JAGUAR SALOON. THE CHAMPION'S GIRL - JEAN HOWARTH.

THE ROAD TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP. WHAT REALLY HAPPENED IN 1959?

THE MIKE HAWTHORN ART GALLERY. CAREER RESULTS - AN IN DEPTH RECORD. DELIVERED AND HANDLED WITH THE UTMOST CARE. PLEASE VISIT OUR SHOP FOR MANY MORE MOTOR RACING & AUTOMOBILIA ITEMS. The item "MIKE HAWTHORN GOLDEN BOY LIMITED LEATHER EDITION SIGNED BOOK FERRARI 246 F1 1958" is in sale since Thursday, April 1, 2021.

This item is in the category "Sports Memorabilia\Motor Sport Memorabilia\Formula 1\Books & Magazines". The seller is "cotswoldroadandrace" and is located in Ringwood, Hampshire. This item can be shipped to North, South, or Latin America, all countries in Europe, all countries in continental Asia, Australia.

Period: 1950s
Modified Item: Yes
Sport: Motor Sport
Modification Description: Signed: Author
Motor Sport Type: Formula 1
Type: Book
Autographed: Yes