[Books] Le Mans 24 Hours Encyclopedia 1923-2010

[Lorenzo S]

I thought I might share a few thoughts on the new Vif Argent - Le Mans Racing, Encyclopedia of the 24 Hours by Christian Moity, Jean-Marc Teissedre and Alain Bienvenu.

It's big. Very big. In fact it weighs in at a whopping 11kg! First impressions are of extremely high quality production standards, with satin paper stock that has allowed very fine, detailed photo reproduction. The pages are all stitched into a cloth spine allowing the pages to be opened up almost flat.

Each year has a dedicated chapter with at least one small (10x5) photo of every car entered, along with a brief note for some of the more interesting cars and a listing of the entry and drivers.

I've only had the chance to flick through its 1500 pages but, so far I have to say I'm actually a little underwhelmed. As a complete reference source for basic information and singular photos for identifying cars it is unsurpassed. However, if you are looking for even a cursory précis of what happened each year then you're out of luck. There is very little written text and what little is present is very superficial. Even the statistics are limited to a results listing. As stunning as it looks, for an encyclopedia I was expecting far more information than just a picture book with captions.

If you can afford it, it is a beautiful accompanying reference to the ACO yearbooks (especially if you don't have any of the pre-1970's volumes) but, if the Haynes Official History of Le Mans series continues with the same quality as the first volume then I would have to recommend them instead. They have more history and background (all be it brief) with a better selection of statistics and more artistic and less clinical selection of photos.









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[jab]

That looks brilliant, right up my street. However, 2 things:

- having looked up the price, it's bloody expensive (300 Euros, which I believe is about £250). I've bought big encyclopedias (in particular, the F1 1950-2000 one) like this before and they were quite expensive but nowhere near that

- you can get pretty much all of this info on the internet. Perhaps not the pictures but probably all the entry lists

[Lorenzo S]

Yes it is a bit steep, but the quality is exceptional and for a small print run the price is what I would expect for 1500 pages in three hardback volumes.

That doesn't really alter the fact though that, as you say, most if not all of the information can be found on Wiki.

[Aysedasi]

As most Le Mans addicts would say, I'd love to have it! The fact that I can get all the info elsewhere is close to immaterial. Never would be able to justify that cost though......

[iucrmh]

I would suggest that you would struggle to find many of the pre-war Le Mans cars as photo-subjects on the web (at least not "legal" images). Some of those images are very rare - some probably unique. It is a bit tricky to read with a glass of wine, relaxing by the fire, unless you are an Olympic weight-lifter though.

It is an excellent piece of research, but could have been perfect with the addition of more extensive results, grids and test-day photos and data. Will we ever know the full entry lists from recent years (i.e. the entries which were rejected). I'd love photos of all the cars that appeared at test-days, but I think that I am a hopeless "completeist".....

Still, I will enjoy many hours flicking my way through my copy.

[ensign14]

Originally Posted by Lorenzo S

I've only had the chance to flick through its 1500 pages but, so far I have to say I'm actually a little underwhelmed. As a complete reference source for basic information and singular photos for identifying cars it is unsurpassed. However, if you are looking for even a cursory précis of what happened each year then you're out of luck.

You can get race narratives elsewhere very cheaply - Ian Bamsey's book, Ditlev Clausager's, the Brooklands books reprints. I am guessing that, like the Black Books, the aim was not to deal with a narrative, but to present the facts as an undisputed historical record. And where else will one get photos of the car that came 14th in 1937 or whatever?

[Lorenzo S]

Originally Posted by ensign14

You can get race narratives elsewhere very cheaply - Ian Bamsey's book, Ditlev Clausager's, the Brooklands books reprints. I am guessing that, like the Black Books, the aim was not to deal with a narrative, but to present the facts as an undisputed historical record. And where else will one get photos of the car that came 14th in 1937 or whatever?

I'm not disputing that race narratives are available elsewhere, however my dictionary describes an encyclopedia as "a comprehensive reference work ... on many aspects of one subject". Even if we agree that expecting a full race review for each year is unlikely for such an encyclopedia, it is more than surprising to me that the volumes don't even include a full set of statistics for each race. There's no comprehensive starters list, nor hourly positions, in fact, it doesn't even record the number of laps completed.

I am really enjoying looking at the cars that came 14th, 15th and 16th in 1937, but I was expecting so much more.

[ensign14]

I assume it's down to cost, it's time-consuming and expensive to get a new narrative. Plus it would presumably add at least 100 pages to the overall bulk. If there's one thing that has to go by the by to get the work published, I'd rather it be that.

[Matt Hunter]

I recommended this to a couple of friends who are involved with the race. It really is exceptionally well presented but as posters have said above the price is somewhat steep for the content supplied.
I am finding the decade books being produced by the ACO and Quentin Spurring are perhaps more detailed and certainly match this in terms of pictoral content. The writing in those is certainly impressive and possibly even better than this. For £40 a shout and with 8 volumes coming out it's certainly going to end up on a par with this in terms of overall price but they really are worth it. I consider myself a more contemprary Le Mans fan but I have found the 60-69 and 70-79 volumes particularly captivating. Can't wait for the next volumes to come out. Though unsure yet as to whether we will see the 80's or 40's next.

[Lorenzo S]

I have to agree, the Quentin Spurring/Haynes series is excellent and will eventually form a superb and thoroughly comprehensive history of Le Mans.

I will certainly be dipping into these books more often than the Vif Argent tombs, which are nothing more than a photo archive.

The third volume from Haynes was published earlier this month and covers 1949-1959. Just as good as the first two with some beautiful colour photos. The price has gone up to £45, but it can be found for half that.

[Lorenzo S]

Thought I should bump my old thread instead of starting another.

Volume 4 of Quentin Spurring's (Haynes) Le Mans 24 Hours: The Official History will be released on 15 November 2012. It will cover the eagerly anticipated 1980-1989 era.

The first three volumes are excellent, I will be buying this one as soon as it's out. I can't wait!

[nicanary]

I've become a collector of the Spurring books also.
They provide full results, AND there is usually a photo of each car in each race. Much more of a complete package than the huge "tome".

[Lorenzo S]

Anyone know exactly how the Haynes Le Mans series of books is going to pan out? Apparently there will be 8 volumes.

We have had;
49-59
60-69
70-79

next is;
80-89

which obviously leaves;
90-99
2000-09

but then what happens next?

Do we get all of the sixteen pre war races in one fat volume 1923-39,
leaving 2010-19 to be published a long time in the future or is 2000-2009 going to be the last modern era volume with the pre war split into two volumes?
Haynes should have finished the releases by about 2015 which will mean a long wait if they are going to cover the current decade.

[Lorenzo S]

I hate to answer my own question but I have heard from someone at Haynes Publishing.

Apparently, and unfortunately, Quentin Spurring has been ill and so the time scale for finishing the Official History series of books is unknown and may take some time.

However the plan at the moment is for the pre-war years to be covered in two slimmer volumes and 2000-2009 will be the last volume.

The release order should be:
80-89 - November 2012
90-99 - unknown
23-39 (two volumes) - ?
00-09 - ?

Hope someone finds this interesting!