2 991 for WEC Manthey Racing .

[cmk]

I have to get my hands on that. Singer is a fascinatingly entertaining man, even in his non-native tongue of English. I love the interview with him in the episode of Chris Harris on Cars where he drives the 962 at Weissach, Singer enthralls but always with a sort of twinkle in his eye.

I haven't thought about the Freisinger win at Spa in ages. Halcyon days those were, following races via the DSC live reports when streaming races online was a pipe dream and I hadn't even started university yet!

[rich07]

Originally Posted by vincegail

It's an excellent read! Very highly recommended and at 20 GBP an absolute bargain:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/24-Mans-Hour...4732414&sr=8-1

Cheers!

If its out of print then the chances of it coming back into stock would be pretty slim eh?

[vincegail]

3 are still available! Click a little further than the first page of that listing:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-lis...&condition=new

[The Badger]

Originally Posted by porman

Badger! I can't believe a fan such as yourself doesn't have this.

It is in English as others here have mentioned and it is in fact an excellent story. If you don't have Porsche and Me (Hans Mezger) yet, I would highly recommend this book too.

Ahem ...... well , my family visited my brothers family for dinner yesterday , and I mentioned that book to my brother ..... he said , I have it upstairs and its in English . So upon opening the front cover there was a notation that my wife and I gave it to him as a Christmas present in 2008 ..... so its now in my house , and I am going to read it with joy .

So , it turns out that I did buy the book , but just not for me !!!

[Spyderman]

[porman]

Originally Posted by The Badger

Ahem
So , it turns out that I did buy the book , but just not for me !!!

We are an odd bunch! My brain can only contain so much information before something spills out.

Don't forget Hans Mezger's book.

[rich07]

Originally Posted by vincegail

3 are still available! Click a little further than the first page of that listing:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-lis...&condition=new

Thankyou-I'll have to get onto that and get myself a copy.

Originally Posted by The Badger

Ahem ...... well , my family visited my brothers family for dinner yesterday , and I mentioned that book to my brother ..... he said , I have it upstairs and its in English . So upon opening the front cover there was a notation that my wife and I gave it to him as a Christmas present in 2008 ..... so its now in my house , and I am going to read it with joy .

So , it turns out that I did buy the book , but just not for me !!!

Great story Badger

[Dario911]

Ok, we're talking about books. Let me suggest you an interesting reading. I've found this book casually, in a bookstore. The title is "Tutte le Porsche" (All the Porsches). It is an handbook were you find all the Porsches ever produced, or almost. For each car, you find an introduction, the story and technical datas, as well as a wonder sketch and a picture. Racing and street cars are all in the book, and it is very interesting 'cause you find some very rare cars. A great book, and is cheap: only 14€!
The only trouble (not for me, ) is that it's in italian!
The same book has been written about Ferrari, the title is "Tutto Ferrari", and is a little cheaper (13€).
I have both of them... great reading!
I have many other interesting Porsche books, if you like...

P.S.
Are you asking why I have in my personal bookshelf "Tutto Ferrari"?
Well, you have to know your enemy... isn't it?

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by porman

Don't forget Hans Mezger's book.

I want to thank the various people in this thread for bringing up the Mezger book. I bought the Singer book back when it came out, but had no idea that Mezger had recently released a book. I received my copy just the other day and have been enjoying reading it!

Richard

[The Badger]

What exactly does it cover ?

[porman]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

I want to thank the various people in this thread for bringing up the Mezger book. I bought the Singer book back when it came out, but had no idea that Mezger had recently released a book. I received my copy just the other day and have been enjoying reading it!

Richard

Glad that you are enjoying it. I suppose you could say he had his hands in a few things at Porsche.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by The Badger

What exactly does it cover ?

Regarding Han Mezger's book...

I am not finished with the book yet, and I don't have it in front of me, but it basically starts out with a short history of his life prior to Porsche. He had wanted to be an aerospace engineer initially, but the post war conditions in German at that time made that impossible. He then became interested in auto design and due to shortage of engineers during that time, he could have worked for a lot of different places (and probably for more money), he wanted to work for Porsche. He joined Porsche straight out of school.

Roughly speaking he breaks things up into chapters based upon cars (911, 917, 906, 908, etc), the various F1 cars/engines (early 60's engine, the TAG turbo and later efforts), special projects, etc. It is a mixture of technical details, personal anecdotes, raw history presenting in a roughly chronological order. The technology side is not super in depth (at least so far). Or at least I didn't think it was. It might be to a layperson, but I expect most who read this book likely understand what he is talking about.

It is interesting to hear how each previous project helped the next. For example how as he came to understand head design (combustion chamber, valve angles, sizes, etc.) that he was able to use that knowledge to improve older engines (such as the 4 cam Furhmann engine) as well as future designs. He comes across a bit of a troubleshooter, problem solver. Bring him in to solve problem X and then he is back on some other project.

I find the anecdotes entertaining. For example there was one about how one of the factory drivers at the time (can't remember the name) got into a push-up contest with Ferdinand Piech while they were at Le Mans. Piech lost and sent over a case of champagne to settle the bet. Mezger and a mechanic got into the champagne early and became completely drunk in advance of their teammates!

I flipped forward and it covers right up to his retirement (around 1993 if I remember correctly) with some post retirement thoughts. As I read each chapter, it leaves me wanting more. This is not a comment on the lack of information, but more that I think this is the last time I will hear this type of detail from someone such as Mr. Mezger.

Has Ferdinand Piech written an autobiography? If so, has it been translated into English?

Richard